Day 19: To Zion National Park

Thurs, Oct 17

A quiet night was had in Hurricane Utah Walmart.  After breakfast and another trip thru Wally, we left for Zion National Park.  It had been about 25 years since I had been there and I don’t remember just how long I was there.  I know I had done one hike but didn’t remember which one.  The amount of people there surprised me.  This is one of the highest parks for attendance in the west and with Utah opening its National Parks (while the others are still closed), it is getting more attention than usual.  They have shuttle busses to take you to town or further up into Zion Canyon and I can see why.  If all these people used cars there would be no way to accommodate them as far as parking is concerned.  As it is, it seemed like a parade of cars and people.

Let the parade begin...lining up to get in Zion NP

 

We took our spot, waited for son to arrive and then took the shuttle to take a look at what we were dealing with for hikes.  There were many people in the visitors center.  The bus with trailer bus was full to capacity. Yikes, I have five nights of this.  Campfire at night.  A first for us as we heat with wood so a fire is not a novelty but we had one tonight.  Graham brought firewood that he had picked up in his travels these past two weeks while they camped.

 

Whistling ground squirrels

The deer here are not afraid of people so much and kind of hang around or pass through the campground.  They will not let you get too close but they are maybe 30 feet away at times.