Zion National Park

Not far away as the crow flies is my next destination, Zion National Park, another canyon of interest.

I forgot to mention the short drive down route 9 from Bryce Canyon to Zion Canyon, before arriving at Zion, the road goes through a long tunnel, the Zion, Mount Carmel tunnel, I did not give it much thought 'till I got to the tunnel, it is a normal, circular tunnel that allows one lane of cars in each direction.

My problem was my height, I am 12 feet to the top of my roof mounted air conditioning units and the tunnel is 13 feet high at its highest point, meaning all oncoming traffic must be stopped to allow me to carefully drive down the centre of the road, moving a little off centre could be very expensive, I could lose two air conditioning units, not a good idea. I had to pay for the road closure.

Having got through intact, I am now faced with a corkscrew road running down the face of the mountain, little protection along the edge, certainly none that would stop 10 tons, each hairpin requiring full lock and taking it all very gently. After that and other adventurous drives, I would now take my bus anywhere without giving it a second thought, I feel I am now a fairly seasoned driver of large vehicles.

Zion National Park is a canyon 15 miles long and up to a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan coloured Navajo Sandstone by the north fork of the Virgin River. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert

The road into Zion Canyon is 6 miles long, the only vehicles allowed on the road are the free shuttle buses, the road ends at the “Temple of Simawava” (the coyote god of the Paiute Indians). At the temple the canyon narrows and a foot trail continues to the mouth of the Zion narrows, a gorge as narrow as 20 feet.

The canyon is a haven for serious rock climbers, the many polished granite rock faces of “Alter of Sacrifice” “Angels Landing” and the “Great White Throne”.

Wildlife living in the canyon consist of a number of Mule Deer, so named because of the huge mule like ears and small groups of wild Turkeys.