Zion National Park and beyond

We landed in Zion National Park on the weekend (bad move on our part). There were so many people that it was like Disney World.  We walked the riverside trail to the "Narrows" but the "Narrows" was so congested that we didn't even attempt to hike up into the canyon. We rode around on the shuttle buses for awhile.. making a couple of stops and left early. I have hiked the "Narrows" before but had never seen anything like this number of people.


From Zion, we headed southeast to Flagstaff, Arizona.

                                              Desert Bighorn Sheep near east entrance to Zion

                                            We were lucky to see a group of Desert Bighorns

 This is where you start your upstream hike to enjoy the quiet and solitude of  the "Narrows"

                                                                          Zion Canyon

                                                                 Zion Canyon

                                                       Virgin River in Zion Canyon

                                                     Virgin river in Zion Canyon

                                                              Dave and Dian and Sally

Cute little sidewalk café in Hurricane, Utah - You don't to miss this place for breakfast

The original home/trading post in Cliff Dwellers, Arizona

In 1920s, Blanche Russell (of Zigfield Follies fame) left her career behind and drove her ailing husband who had come down with tuberculosis out west. Doctors had recommended moving him to a drier climate. Their car broke down by a group of boulders on the roadside that provided much needed shade on this long lonely stretch of highway.  While waiting days for a car part, they found a spring in the nearby canyon and decided to make this their home. Using a large boulder as part of  the roof and wall, they built a house around the boulder and then eventually turned this house into a trading post where they sold water, gasoline, and meals.

Inside the living room - You got to be amazed when you see this place and know the life Blanche gave up for her husband.

This is an old black and white from the early days of the trading post