Zion National Park, Aug. 23, 2013

Good morning it is August 23, 2013 and boy has it been a mixture of weather and landscape today. I woke up in Mt. Carmel, Utah and found that it had been showering all night long. I had my breakfast and checked out of the motel because I found that I did not need another day in the area. I almost hated to say goodbye to the beautiful hummingbirds at the motel.  I headed for the Zion National Park which was 30  or so miles away on highway 89. It started raining again as I was driving and proceeded to get heavier as I approached the park. The drive into the park is beautiful with great tall cliff all around and a road that is as crooked as any I have seen and most of the road was down hill toward the park. At one point the road goes through a tunnel ( Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel ) that at the time it was completed in 1930 was considered the longest. It is 1.1 miles long and cost $1,896,000. There is a change in elevation of 800 feet from the park to the tunnel. Interesting this tunnel has several fairly sharp turns in it and it is down hill going west. Some are right turns others are left turns. I have never seen turns in a tunnel like this.  Along the way there were areas where you could see out of the tunnel wall on the right side. At these points the wall was literally  the edge of the mountain and these openings were for fresh air. The drive into the park as I said was breath taking. I have been looking on this whole trip to see some big horn sheep. Today I finally saw some. In fact I had to stop the car and follow a couple of them down the road. I saw 5  in total. Four in one group and a single one standing on a rock ledge near the road watching the cars go by. He was not the least bit afraid. One guy walked across the road taking pictures from different angles and the old boy just turned his head so he could keep an eye on the guy. In spite of the rain this made my day.

In 1909 President William Howard Taft named the area a National Monument with the name of Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1918 the acting director of the National Park Service changed the name to Zion National Monument. It was believed that the Spanish and Indian name would deter visitors who if they could not pronounce the name might not come to visit it. On November 19,1919 the United States Congress established the monument as a Nation Park. The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate Zion National Monument in 1937, but was incorporated into the park in 1956.

Zion National Park like all other areas I have seen trace human activity in the area back thousands of years. As in other areas these people were called Ancestral Puebloans who grew corn and squash and stored their surplus in granaries. These people along with their neighbors the Fremonts stayed in the area until around 1300 A. D. when they abandoned the area. Later the Southern Paiutes farmed the Zion canyons and were there when the first white settlers came to the area. These white settlers were Mormons who came to the area to in the 1850s and 1860s to grow cotton in the warmer climate in southern Utah. The Mormons established towns and settlements in Grafton, Rockville and Springdale all within the area of the park.Interestingly the early Mormon settlers called the area Zion for the sanctuary and refuge the area provided. the massive stone formations elicited feelings of reverence for those who stopped to reflect on the majesty. They and visitors to the area gave names names to prominent landmarks as: Angels Landing, the Great White Throne, Altar Of Sacrifice, thew West Temple and the Three Patriarchs: Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The Southern Paiute gave some extraordinary features of the canyon names after Paiute theology. One of the prominent features is The Watchman, a monolith, that rises 2,400 feet above the river but it was raining so hard and was so foggy I was not able to see it.

Pattern In Stone Mountain Side ( Checkerboard Mesa )

Enlargement Of Checkerboard Mesa Sign

Checkerboard Mountain Side

Enlargement Of Checkerboard Pattern

Hillside On Road To Zion National Park

Hillside On Road To Zion National Park

Hillside On Road To Zion National Park

Hillside On Road To Zion National Park

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park. They Are Not In A Hurry. This Is Their Home.

Big Horn Sheep Grazing On Side Of The Road To Zion National Park

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park. I Think This Guy Is Saying " You Are Getting A
 Little Close To Me. "

Big Horn Sheep Standing On A Rock Near The Road To Zion National Park. Isn't He A Fine Specimen ?

Big Horn Sheep On Road To Zion National Park Looks Like He Is Standing Guard.

One Of The Tunnels On Road To Zion National Park

View Of Country Side

View Of Country Side

Waiting In Line At A One Way Tunnel And Yes It Is Raining. This Tunnel Is 1.1 Miles Long And Is One Way For Almost Any Vehicle Wider Than A Car. Rangers At Both Ends Of The Tunnel Control Access To The Tunnel. No Escort Car Is Required They Just Stop The Traffic While The Wide Vehicle Is In The Tunnel. There Is A Fee For Oversize Vehicles.

Rainy Foggy Weather And Very Crooked And Steep Road Leading To Zion

Mountain On Road To Zion National Park . You Can See How Steep This Road Is As It Enters
A Curve On The Left. I Was Unable To Find Many Places To Pull Off So I Could Get More
Photos Of The Switch Back Turns On This Road. There Were Many Like This One. In Fact I
Am On One Looking Down At This One. No Time To Be Taking Your Eyes Off The Road

Switch Back Turns

Side Canyon Off The Side Of The Road. Looks Like An Arch Might Be Forming In The Mountain Side.

This Is One Of The Ventilation Windows In The Long Tunnel

Zion National Park

Zion National Park Visitor Center

At the Visitor Center it was now raining again very hard. I checked with a ranger who was monitoring the weather radar on his computer and telling people who asked that the rain was expected to continue for next 3 hours. He said there would be a window of clear weather for a short while before the next rain moved in. That settled it for me because in this park you have to take a shuttle and get off and walk trails to see what you want to see. I did some shopping in the book store and headed out of the park and on to Interstate 15. This morning it was a cool 52 degrees back in Mount Carmel when I got up. About noon when I got to Las Vegas and had lunch it was 101 and it stayed in the 101 to 104 range until I got here at Bakersfield, California where I am spending the night. Also, the terrain changed from lush green to dried and parched grass. The traffic in both directions from Las Vegas to Barstow, California was literally bumper to bumper and moving at the speed limit which in most places is 75 MPH. I guess I am a day ahead of schedule and will arrive at daughter Janice's house tomorrow. 

I want to continue to remind you that God loves you and so do I.

Today's Comment:

" We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. " Romans 15: 1.

Grandpa Bill