Day 44: Onward to Zion
Sunday May 14, 2017
We wake up this morning and it is 24 degrees. We are in no hurry because we have about an hour and half drive to get to Zion.
We are both nervous about the fact that we have to go through a tunnel in which if your too big they stop traffic going the other way and you get to down the middle of the tunnel. The cost is $15 for the service. After the tunnel there are a bunch of switchbacks. We take off around our normal time 9-10am. Now the road to Zion is two lanes. Today I was going extra slow maybe 5-10 mph under the speed limit. So at one time I had around 10 cars behind me. Today the break for UTT seemed extra sensitive. A couple of times going 20mph UTT breaks lock and it skids. Vicki yells at me like we were going to wreck. I could tell she was nervous. She watched the whole way through. We get to the entry in the park and tell the ranger that we were too big. I think he would have let us go without it, but we both felt comfortable paying the extra $15. We pullover and let Max potty. The real reason is we just want to take a breather. We get up to the ranger before the tunnel, we drive right up and she sends us through. In doing so she stops traffic the other way. One car follows us through, which I think was some rangers. I was really surprised they did not let anymore cars go through. Going through the tunnel definitely was easy when going through the middle. As we went through, we could see why there were lots of accidents with small lanes and tight curves. The tunnel is 1.1 miles long. As we go through the tunnel there are these big openings to the right and left in which you can see out of the tunnel. I think they were there was to let light in. There are no lights in the tunnel. And it looks like there used to be pull overs for some of these openings. As we go out of the tunnel we are amazed at how long the line was to go the other way. There were probably over a 100 cars in line.
On the way down from the entrance to the exit there are cars at every pull over you can see and then some. When we exit Zion into there are still cars everywhere along the road. I hope it is this crowded because it is Mother's Day. Oh yes, the temperature is 84 degrees.
We are staying at Zion Canyon Campground & RV Park. I really like this place. It is located just a half mile from Zion. I could drive there or take a bus, which is just one stop away. It is what I envisioned an RV park and associated town (Springdale, Utah) to be.
After setting up camp, I go to the visitor center and a ranger suggests going one of the pedestrian bridges over the Virgin river. It is about 3 bridges from the auto bridge of highway 9 crossing the Virgin river. I go to the suggested bridge but don't see what I was expecting. I go back to the car and go to the auto bridge. It is packed. I go and see if I can sneak in but cannot. So I go back to the pedestrian bridges and get some pictures. I am still not sure what to expect. I eventually go back to the auto bridge and people are leaving (the sun has set). I talk to one guy who is leaving and he let's me have his spot. Of course, I could have any spot since people are leaving. I ask him when he got there -- 6pm. It is now after 8pm and I originally arrived at 7:30pm. Eventually, someone says hi to me. It is Randell again and the guy I was talking to was part of his new class. Now I am really thinking this is more than a coincidence but am not sure what to make of it.
Next: First sunrise at Zion.
Places visited:
Paul and Vicki Kristoff
photo@kristoffs.com
PaulKristoffPhotography.com
paulkristoff.blogspot.com/
We wake up this morning and it is 24 degrees. We are in no hurry because we have about an hour and half drive to get to Zion.
We are both nervous about the fact that we have to go through a tunnel in which if your too big they stop traffic going the other way and you get to down the middle of the tunnel. The cost is $15 for the service. After the tunnel there are a bunch of switchbacks. We take off around our normal time 9-10am. Now the road to Zion is two lanes. Today I was going extra slow maybe 5-10 mph under the speed limit. So at one time I had around 10 cars behind me. Today the break for UTT seemed extra sensitive. A couple of times going 20mph UTT breaks lock and it skids. Vicki yells at me like we were going to wreck. I could tell she was nervous. She watched the whole way through. We get to the entry in the park and tell the ranger that we were too big. I think he would have let us go without it, but we both felt comfortable paying the extra $15. We pullover and let Max potty. The real reason is we just want to take a breather. We get up to the ranger before the tunnel, we drive right up and she sends us through. In doing so she stops traffic the other way. One car follows us through, which I think was some rangers. I was really surprised they did not let anymore cars go through. Going through the tunnel definitely was easy when going through the middle. As we went through, we could see why there were lots of accidents with small lanes and tight curves. The tunnel is 1.1 miles long. As we go through the tunnel there are these big openings to the right and left in which you can see out of the tunnel. I think they were there was to let light in. There are no lights in the tunnel. And it looks like there used to be pull overs for some of these openings. As we go out of the tunnel we are amazed at how long the line was to go the other way. There were probably over a 100 cars in line.
On the way down from the entrance to the exit there are cars at every pull over you can see and then some. When we exit Zion into there are still cars everywhere along the road. I hope it is this crowded because it is Mother's Day. Oh yes, the temperature is 84 degrees.
We are staying at Zion Canyon Campground & RV Park. I really like this place. It is located just a half mile from Zion. I could drive there or take a bus, which is just one stop away. It is what I envisioned an RV park and associated town (Springdale, Utah) to be.
After setting up camp, I go to the visitor center and a ranger suggests going one of the pedestrian bridges over the Virgin river. It is about 3 bridges from the auto bridge of highway 9 crossing the Virgin river. I go to the suggested bridge but don't see what I was expecting. I go back to the car and go to the auto bridge. It is packed. I go and see if I can sneak in but cannot. So I go back to the pedestrian bridges and get some pictures. I am still not sure what to expect. I eventually go back to the auto bridge and people are leaving (the sun has set). I talk to one guy who is leaving and he let's me have his spot. Of course, I could have any spot since people are leaving. I ask him when he got there -- 6pm. It is now after 8pm and I originally arrived at 7:30pm. Eventually, someone says hi to me. It is Randell again and the guy I was talking to was part of his new class. Now I am really thinking this is more than a coincidence but am not sure what to make of it.
Next: First sunrise at Zion.
Places visited:
- Big Bend National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Upper Antelope Canyon
- Horseshoe Bend
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Zion National Park
Total miles per trip kit: 5024 - we actually have driven more.
Paul and Vicki Kristoff
photo@kristoffs.com
PaulKristoffPhotography.com
paulkristoff.blogspot.com/
Comments