Zion National Park is impressive from the very beginning to the end. We drove through the westernmost entrance and immediately were greeted by petrified dune mountains with Dr. Seuss like lines swirling down the sides of them. Some even had a checkerboard pattern. They seemed to be painted a variety of colors the same as all of the rock out here spanning so much geological time. It is so cool how these rocks tell their story with color and shape. There were a few lone natural rock structures jutting above the surface. These were not as abundant here as they were in Arches but the mountains themselves here were more breathtaking. We soon crossed 
through a manmade tunnel through the mountain that was pretty cool. I though this tunnel was so awesome, that is until we came to the next tunnel. The first picture is of the first tunnel. You can see that it is beautiful to drive up upon. To the left you can see the light at the other end of the tunnel and above the ceiling of the tunnel the rock layer is deep but you can see the ske. The second picture is of the second tunnel. The mountain over this tunnel was so high I could not have taken a picture to get the tunnel and the sky with my camera from the road. It is seriuosly cut through a mountain. This crazy tunnel is over a mile long carved through a mountain! It was made in the 1930’s. Wow! The most awesome thing about this tunnel was that every now and again we were greeted by light. There were three window-like areas of the tunnel allowing natural light to filter in. From these we were able to see where we were. Looking out of the huge windows was like we were hanging over a mountain. The views were pretty neat and I would have liked to capture them in a picture. I would have had we not been d
riving and passing these windows just as quickly as we knew they were there. I can't imagine carving the tunnel itself but the huge rock cut outs leading to the outside were pretty unbelievable. The last window through the mountain was so bright that we at first thought it was the end of the tunnel only to be surprised by another dark turn left back into the mountain. On the other side of the passage through the mountain the road becomes a series of switchbacks that led us down into the Zion Canyon. The mountainside was different now. The rocks were mostly yellow-orange and the mountains were less like hills and more like giant rock cliffs. They seemed to be rising more than we seemed to be descending. At one point we looked up at a mountainside and saw on of the tunnel windows. It was so high up and I am glad we happened to notice it. It gave a neat perspective as to the height and magnitude of the tunnel that we had just passed through. We learned during our stay that at one point this was the largest desert and the dunes here were the tallest. A small sea turned the sand to stone therefore the dunes to mountains. Some were 3,000 feet deep with sandstone! This made us stop to think because we were in awe of the great sand dunes only a few weeks ago and their dunes were only 300 feet deep. It seems strange to say that the Great Sand Dunes are "only" anything, but in comparison to these giants they are shadowed. It was interesting to try and imagine the process that the land had to endure to change from a desert to a sea to what we know today as Zion. The Virgin River carved most of the canyon. This is the 
river that makes up the infamous Narrows hike. After checking in to the campground we were excited because we were meeting friends here. Although we have been lucky enough to see friends and family along the journey it was a treat to meet up with a friend from Boone who is in the midst of doing a similar trip. Brad and I both immediately smiled when Patrick and his friend Erin pulled up to our campsite. It was nice to see a familiar face. We cracked open a beer or two. I only drank one because I was still a little turned off to alcohol from my margarita night. Brad and Patrick 
traded tunes by passing Brad’s guitar. Brad played the songs from Jessica’s wedding. I love when he plays these. He rarely does and it is nice to hear them every time he does play them. It reminds me of their wedding which most definitely on of the best things I have ever seen and/or been to. Patrick played the first song he ever wrote for a girl. It was really pretty and I enjoyed it so much. I am sure the girl loved it too. There were no words and I really like lyrics but the melody was beautiful. We enjoyed good company and exchanged road trip stories. It is still the desert here and it was pretty hot. It cooled of enough to be comfortable at night and there were signs of showers but we were lucky enough to sleep without the rain fly on. It gets uncomfortably hot inside the tent with the fly on because there is no breeze and all our heat stays in. This is nice to know because it means that our tents truly our three season tents, but not so nice in the desert in July. I set my alarm because we had a full day ahead of us.
through a manmade tunnel through the mountain that was pretty cool. I though this tunnel was so awesome, that is until we came to the next tunnel. The first picture is of the first tunnel. You can see that it is beautiful to drive up upon. To the left you can see the light at the other end of the tunnel and above the ceiling of the tunnel the rock layer is deep but you can see the ske. The second picture is of the second tunnel. The mountain over this tunnel was so high I could not have taken a picture to get the tunnel and the sky with my camera from the road. It is seriuosly cut through a mountain. This crazy tunnel is over a mile long carved through a mountain! It was made in the 1930’s. Wow! The most awesome thing about this tunnel was that every now and again we were greeted by light. There were three window-like areas of the tunnel allowing natural light to filter in. From these we were able to see where we were. Looking out of the huge windows was like we were hanging over a mountain. The views were pretty neat and I would have liked to capture them in a picture. I would have had we not been d
riving and passing these windows just as quickly as we knew they were there. I can't imagine carving the tunnel itself but the huge rock cut outs leading to the outside were pretty unbelievable. The last window through the mountain was so bright that we at first thought it was the end of the tunnel only to be surprised by another dark turn left back into the mountain. On the other side of the passage through the mountain the road becomes a series of switchbacks that led us down into the Zion Canyon. The mountainside was different now. The rocks were mostly yellow-orange and the mountains were less like hills and more like giant rock cliffs. They seemed to be rising more than we seemed to be descending. At one point we looked up at a mountainside and saw on of the tunnel windows. It was so high up and I am glad we happened to notice it. It gave a neat perspective as to the height and magnitude of the tunnel that we had just passed through. We learned during our stay that at one point this was the largest desert and the dunes here were the tallest. A small sea turned the sand to stone therefore the dunes to mountains. Some were 3,000 feet deep with sandstone! This made us stop to think because we were in awe of the great sand dunes only a few weeks ago and their dunes were only 300 feet deep. It seems strange to say that the Great Sand Dunes are "only" anything, but in comparison to these giants they are shadowed. It was interesting to try and imagine the process that the land had to endure to change from a desert to a sea to what we know today as Zion. The Virgin River carved most of the canyon. This is the 
river that makes up the infamous Narrows hike. After checking in to the campground we were excited because we were meeting friends here. Although we have been lucky enough to see friends and family along the journey it was a treat to meet up with a friend from Boone who is in the midst of doing a similar trip. Brad and I both immediately smiled when Patrick and his friend Erin pulled up to our campsite. It was nice to see a familiar face. We cracked open a beer or two. I only drank one because I was still a little turned off to alcohol from my margarita night. Brad and Patrick 
traded tunes by passing Brad’s guitar. Brad played the songs from Jessica’s wedding. I love when he plays these. He rarely does and it is nice to hear them every time he does play them. It reminds me of their wedding which most definitely on of the best things I have ever seen and/or been to. Patrick played the first song he ever wrote for a girl. It was really pretty and I enjoyed it so much. I am sure the girl loved it too. There were no words and I really like lyrics but the melody was beautiful. We enjoyed good company and exchanged road trip stories. It is still the desert here and it was pretty hot. It cooled of enough to be comfortable at night and there were signs of showers but we were lucky enough to sleep without the rain fly on. It gets uncomfortably hot inside the tent with the fly on because there is no breeze and all our heat stays in. This is nice to know because it means that our tents truly our three season tents, but not so nice in the desert in July. I set my alarm because we had a full day ahead of us. 
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