Last National Park before the "shutdown"...sigh

Kolob Canyon is part of Zion National Park, but a smaller, different and less crowded section.

Remember you can click on these pics to make them larger.

At Zion we were driving through the red rock canyons, here we drove through pine and juniper forests to viewpoints of the red rocks. These are part of the Hurricane Fault. The canyon peaks were violently and suddenly uplifted thousands or more years ago.

We walked out to this viewpoint and took this shot. In the very far distance is the flat plateau bordering the Grand Canyon.

Then we wanted to walk the Taylor Creek Trail. I told Norman I'd go a little ways, but I just couldn't take one more day of climbing at these altitudes.

 I loved the way this old tree framed Norman and the rock behind it. The juniper smelled so good along the trail.

 Our grandkids would be proud...yep, see flat rocks...gotta stack those rocks.

This was the majestic ending to the trail...two arches, one over the other. They are both 'blind' arches, ie: they have backs. See! We do learn along the way...another Earthcache.

It was a wonderful 5+ mile hike on mostly flat ground. We saw two cabins constructed in the 1930's (before I was born...lol). We crossed Taylor Creek 48 times going one way...got sand in our shoes...saw critter tracks, but no critters.

And today we take advantage of the 'shutdown' to rest our sore leg muscles...shake the red sand out of our shoes...and figure out where we'll go tomorrow...it certainly won't be the North Rim.