May 6 - Onto Zion National Park!

For once, we didn't rise early on our transition morning. We were enjoying the comfortable bed too much! Still, we had the hotel breakfast and didn't get on the road too late - around 8:20.

We headed due south, not stopping until Cedar City 230 miles later for lunch, groceries, and a charge. Rain was more on than off during the drive but no other issues. The drive was not too scenic since we were on I-15. Lunch was great at CupBob, Korean BBQ in a cup. We both agreed it was tasty and would get it again. We think it's a small local chain.

We hit the road again and just 20 minutes later we arrived at the Kolob Canyon entrance of Zion National Park, which is much less busy/visited than Zion Canyon. It was still raining so we spent a bit of time in the visitor center hoping it would quit; still we enjoyed being the only tourists in the center and getting the undivided attention of 2 rangers and the guy working the gift/souvenir area. The rain did not show signs of slowing, but we drove the scenic road anyway. We planned to do a hike, but our preferred hike would be too muddy, according to the park ranger. We took a few pics and moved on to the canyon (main) entrance to Zion. 

When we arrived at the Zion Canyon entrance, we tried in vain to park at the visitor's center. The parking lot was huge but the cars seeking parking far exceeded the spaces. We had been told that Zion was a very busy park, but I think we underestimated what this would look like. 

We were extremely fortunate to have scored a campsite inside the park at the Watchman Campground, which was about .3 miles from the visitor's center and the shuttle bus that you have to use to visit the canyon. So, we went on to our campsite, parked there, then walked 6 minutes or so to the center and got more information and viewed a few exhibits. 

Even though the rain had stopped, we decided against a hike and instead took the shuttle bus to the top of the canyon and back. The formations in Zion seems similar in scale to the Grand Canyon. Other parks great, but the scale of the walls and monuments here is at a whole different level from other parks. 

Back at our campsite we decided on sandwiches for dinner. We also set up the canopy that attaches to the back of the car for extra shelter from potential rain and sun. This was the first time that we had set it up on this trip and it ended up being a very good thing to have! After that we took what we hoped would be a scenic walk but instead just circled the South campground currently under renovation. Less than scenic. However, we could tell that the campground is really going to be nice when it finally re-opens.

Our wildlife sightings in the canyon included a few turkeys and two mule deer who came right into our campsite. Lots of squirrels, too, that were way to interested in our food. There were also these strange little birds that scurried around on the ground - we think they are quail but weren't quite sure. It cooled even more in the evening, and we had a fire before we set up and went to bed. We were both glad the rain did not resume. Day 1 of Zion was a good day.

We think this was a quail.

The Watchman, standing guard over our campground.

We call her "Super Red" when she has her cape on!