More Rain
It's official. It has now rained at every one of our destinations and at least once each week of this trip, except for our time in Vernal (Dinosaur National Monument). That is quite a record for a 7-week trip. It not only rained at Zion today; it also snowed in the slickrock area above the tunnel. It didn't snow much, but there was snow frosting the trees on the rim of the canyons and patches of snow were scattered on the sides of the mesas.
Rain had been forecast for today, so we were prepared
for another day indoors. When the rain let up in the early afternoon, we ventured out to the Visitor Center. Zion has one of the nicer
visitor centers and a huge bookstore. We continued our tradition of sponsoring a bighorn sheep every time we see them at Zion. This was
the fourth bighorn we've sponsored. Since we don't have to pay to enter the parks, we try to donate money for a specific project (e.g., protecting bighorn sheep) or to an organization that supports parks. From the Visitor Center, we could see the clouds swirling around
East Temple. We didn't have any of our photographic equipment, so we were limited to using our iPhones to take photos.
We drove back to camp to get
our camera gear and then returned to the slickrock area above the tunnel in hopes that we might get some of the formations peaking
out above the clouds. Instead, the first thing we saw at the top end of the tunnel was a blob of snow on the highway. That didn't seem
possible, but as we looked at the cliffs along the road, we saw more patches of snow. Instead of opening up as we had hoped, the clouds
were even thicker as we drove higher. The amount of snow also increased along the rim of the mesas. Pine trees were flocked with snow
at the top of the taller features like Checkerboard Mesa. The clouds prevented any warm light, but the snow-covered pines were still interesting. We saw bighorn
sheep only from a distance today, and the poor lighting discouraged any real photographic efforts. We shot a few images at the east end
of the park to show the snow, but today was a lost day photographically.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and clear, so we're hoping for a good sunrise and a good final day in Zion. The trees are starting
to change to their golden hue faster with the cooler temperatures. The canyon cottonwoods will probably peak mid-week next week--right after we leave.
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