Some more Zion landscapes

Last post for "Zion week" - some other landscape photos from the trip...

One of the photos I took of Andrea hanging out at the easy canyon overlook was highlighted Outdoor Equipment's blog.

Looking across the valley from Springdale

Emerald Pools area

Virgin River from the Zion Lodge area

Court of the Patriarchs

Virgin River along the riverside walk

Park entrance

Alpenglow from Springdale

West Temple, Sundial, Altar of Sacrifice

Fall colors in Zion National Park

We weren't thinking about it when we planned the trip (since peak foliage in northern Utah occurred a month earlier), but the best time to check out the fall colors in Zion is late October / early November. In fact, we were a little early, and in the next 1-2 weeks, the leaves should be even more vibrant.

Usually you just think of the red rocks in southern Utah, but the red leaves were equally spectacular...

East Rim and Clear Creek

Looking down into Zion Canyon from East Rim Overlook

Before driving back to SLC, we decided to spend some time up on the East Rim of the park. We drove up the switchbacks (seen in the photo above) and through the famous Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel, then went for a short but fun hike out to the canyon overlook. We took in the views and then scrambled up the slickrock for a while to get some even better views...

Then we pulled off SR-9 near the "small" tunnel and went for a hike in Clear Creek (which is dry, obviously). The fall colors were out in full force. Its a really cool area...

The East Rim of Zion is full of trails and places to explore. We're already planning some of the things we'd like to do down there next year.

We stopped for lunch near the Checkerboard Mesa viewpoint, then were on our way back to SLC.

Hidden Canyon - Zion

The second day of our Zion adventure was hiking Hidden Canyon. It starts out on the same trail as Observation Point but then veers off to the right after about a mile of switchbacks. The views looking out at Angel's Landing from this trail are spectacular in the morning light.

View of Angel's Landing

After the junction is when the fun really begins. There were a few exposed sections to get around the cliffs and into Hidden Canyon.

The canyon was so fun - walking between the high walls, scrambling through rocky sections, and checking out all the scenery. 

Free-standing arch!

We particularly liked that there were only a couple people in the canyon with us, so it was very peaceful. We were able to just take our time and explore the canyon. We finally got to a wall that seemed like a good turnaround spot.

The fall colors were almost in full bloom!

At the junction of the Hidden Canyon Trail and Observation Point Trail.