Big & Small

Yellowstone is all about thermal features (and bison, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone). The Grand Tetons are about majestic mountains majesty (not that we saw much of them). Bryce is all about hoodoos.

Zion is about many things. An earlier post showed some of the massive granite and sandstone mountains that were created by the waters of the Virgin River. Interestingly, the majority of the sediment washed out by the Virgin happens on 15 days a year, after a rain storm up on the plateaus or when the snow melt hits.

Entrance to the Narrows, May 2012

But it's also about the river itself, and about smaller spaces and things you can see in the park. At the end of a paved path along the Virgin, the path ends and the trail continues in the riverbed itself as the canyon wall press in to the river, forming the aptly-named Narrows. While we didn't do it, we saw many people starting the hike upstream. Some were wearing special rubber shoes they rent along with walking sticks, others were in sneakers, or hiking sandals, or waterproof boots. All were (I hope) expecting to get wet at least up to their waist. Because the people we saw coming down later were.

Virgin River Waterall, May 2012

A little further downstream we saw this nice waterfall. It's hard to imagine how this calm little river carved the massive canyon, but it did.

The environment close in to the river, and even up the cliff walls, is not the desert that Zion is surrounded by.

Wildflower, May 2012

Growing out of the rock walls we saw orchards and other plants. They find the water that is seeping through the sandstone from the plateau above, and thrive. Another example is the Emerald Pool, where water coming out from the face of the rock cascades down to form several marshy pools. This is the water cascading into the Lower Emerald Pool (there's also a Middle and Upper). You can see the overhang created by the water eating away at the soft rock. This natural canopy will probably not last very long (in geologic time).

Lower Emerald Pool, May 2012

The pool itself isn't very interesting to an Easterner; it looks like a mosquito breeding ground on someone's lawn where there is poor drainage. But the surroundings and apparently impossible way the water is collected is really interesting.