Checkerboard Mesa, and South Camp

Well, sleeping in this morning certainly felt good. And even though its an hour ahead of Arizona time, I am not used to the morning light shift as I slept past 7 am. That's pretty good for me. I had a leisurely morning before heading out onto Route 9 taking the east exit from the main part of the Zion Canyon. A very windy road leads up to the mile-long tunnel which is mostly in the pitch-dark, and head lights are a must. By the time you reach the other end of the tunnel the terrain has significantly changed. Its still beautiful Zion, but now the patterned rocks are not so much sharp vertical edges, as they are horizontal swirling patterns of texture. 


I recall remembering this shift when I was here over 20 years ago. It's like a brand new area when you come out of this dark tunnel to something similar, yet entirely different. Even this early in the morning, the pullouts were rather full. I did get lucky at the end of the line with a parking spot to view Checkerboard Mesa. And also got to walk around the base. Fortunately the sun was just coming over the cliffs, in a really perfect angle to capture all the dark contrasts in between. As an artist, I'm always looking for that interesting, and complex exchange between dark and light.

I headed back towards the canyon as it was just about the time to check into South Campground. By the time I got back to the tunnel there was a huge line waiting to get in. For any vehicle larger than 11' high, 50' long or 7' 11" wide, they are required to pay a $15 tunnel entry fee. So that would include most RV's larger than myself or buses. I have no trouble fitting into places like this, so I was absolutely thrilled and had a little chuckle over those other RV's that are just excessively too big for no good reason. Of course, unless you have a huge family, or are full-timers who are just trying to get around in a house on wheels, then I get why you need a bigger one. I am continuously thankful for my compact means.

I made it back to camp and after lunch I decided to walk the Par'us Trail. I did part of this trail yesterday, but never made it to the end. This time I was determined to make the 3.5 mile round trip. I wasn't quite sure if I could do it even though my knee is now 5 months old. It was definitely warmer today and Jo Jo and I headed out with all of our gear, and about halfway down he petered out on me. So I carried him in the kangaroo pouch. Low and behold I made it to the end, and all the way back in time to spend the rest of the afternoon in diffused sun, with clouds that have crept in, cooling the air comfortably.

After dinner I decided to take yet another little walk to the park's General Store. I guess my extra exercise led me to the munchies, where I picked up a bag of potato chips and Pepperidge Farm cookies. It's bad, I know, but it was good too.























































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