Last Day in Zion
Because access to the main canyon of Zion has been limited to the park shuttle, we haven't ventured into the main tourist area. The shuttle was supposed to be closed down at the end of October, but they extended it an extra week. We normally time our trips so we arrive after the shuttle ends because it's not really practical to carry backpacks, tripods, and camera equipment on the shuttle. We've spent all our time on this trip in the slickrock area above the tunnel because the shuttle doesn't work well for us.
We caught the
shuttle at the Visitor Center and rode it to the Temple of Shinawava
at the opposite end of the canyon. Even this late in the season, the shuttles were full. If you decide to get off at a start, you may not have a seat on the next shuttle. The Temple of Shinawava is where the hikers begin
the trip up The Narrows. Our goal was much less ambitious. We wanted to check out the Pulpit right next to the parking area and then
hike up the trail toward The Narrows. The trees and bushes around the Pulpit were still green, but the angle of the sun provided some
separation from the canyon wall behind it. It wasn't the shot we hoped for, but it was still interesting.
The hike toward the narrows is a gentle stroll along a shaded trail that follows the river. As we continued upriver, the towering walls of the canyon crept in to frame the cottonwoods along the Virgin River. As we turned a corner and cleared the trees, the river was suddenly right at our feet. The cottonwoods were still in a lime-green phase, but it was still a striking view. When we walked down to the curve in the river, we could should shoot both up-river and down-river. Each provided a dramatic view with golden cottonwoods against red canyon walls.
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We rode the shuttle back to the Zion Lodge to buy souvenirs and then returned to camp for lunch. We wanted to make one final foray into the slickrock country to shoot our now-familiar herd of bighorn sheep.
We had no problem finding
bighorn sheep. We saw the first group of about 15 bighorn near the smaller tunnel, but they were all ewes.
We've seen so many bighorn sheep this week that we're getting pretty selective of what we shoot. Ten years ago we never saw bighorn sheep in Zion,
but now we see them on every trip into the slickrock. The program to re-introduce desert bighorn sheep into Zion has been a huge success.
While others were shooting the bighorn sheep, I was more interested in the small fossilized sand dune showing the fickle nature
of the prevailing winds during its formation. I need to re-shoot this area in golden light.
We only drove about a mile before we spotted another group of bighorn high sheep on a cliff. They even chose a spot with good parking for us. I think this was the same herd we photographed yesterday because they had a mature ram and a young ram. The mature ram was with the main group of ewes that dropped down off the cliff and started feeding just above the wash. I spotted another group of three ewes at the very top of the cliff. I wanted a shot of a bighorn against the blue sky. One of the ewes climbed into a small cave formed by an overhanging ledge. To my surprise, instead of the ewe walking back out, the younger ram exited instead. He stood at the edge of the cave, posing with his lady friend. In the meantime, I discovered 3 more ewes feeding beneath a scraggly pinyon pine. With perfect timing, two of them posed while the third continued feeding on a small bush. The bighorn weren't against a blue sky, but the green of the pinyon against the blue sky was nearly as good.
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We continued driving up the park road until we saw a bighorn traffic jam. We wound through the parked cars on the highway and found a parking place near Lower Keyhole Canyon. This herd of bighorn was huge. There were two mature rams and at least 30 ewes. They started out in Pine Creek where we shot the gorgeous cottonwood tree earlier in the week. The two rams stayed in the bottom of the wash, but the ewes seemed to get restless and starting splitting up into small groups. Some escaped the crush of people, crossed the road, and climbed up the slickrock slope. Others ambled up the wash while the remaining ewes fed along the edge of the road. Even though they were nearing rutting season, the two rams showed no aggression toward each other. They stood side-by-side in the wash for quite awhile. Eventually, one stayed in the bottom of the wash while the other climbed right toward us. He stopped just below the road and started feeding on a bush; paying no attention to all the photographers. We got some amazing close-ups of the bighorn. The only negative was that the sun had already dropped behind the mesa ridges, so all the shots were in the shade.
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The biggest bighorn herd of the trip was a good way to end our time in Zion.
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