20240919 EF Go Ahead National Parks Bus Tour Day 8/20 - Farewell Grand Canyon, Hello Zion

American West Bus Tour Day 8/20 - Condors and Zion National Park

Dang, 34 degrees Fahrenheit sure is cold. That was the temperature when we walked to breakfast. The temperature rose quickly and was in the 40s by 7:30 as we rolled out of the hotel parking lot. Just before exiting the parking lot, we saw one last elk. 

We passed through Grand Canyon National Park on our way to Zion National Park.

Our first stop was familiar - Cameron Trading Post. This time, it was just for a comfort stop so we were in and out quickly.

Our next stop was in the Marble Canyon area and the Navajo Bridge. The original bridge was built in the 1920s and is now a pedestrian bridge. It was replaced with a modern bridge in 1995. The new bridge is visually similar, keeping the original look.

The instructions in the bathroom seemed ridiculously detailed

The old bridge

Old on the left, new on the right

The new bridge with the Colorado River flowing under it

Well, there goes today's planned activity

The area around the bridges was lovely

This area is also known as the home of a pair of California Condors. Unfortunately for me, they flew by while I made my restroom break when we arrived. Another passenger caught some close photos on their cell phone.

I was able to capture both from a distance.

We headed down the road, passing by the area known as Vermilion Cliffs.

We continued looping around the Grand Canyon, arriving at Jacob Lake Inn for lunch.

After a nice lunch, we moved on, catching views of the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

Just more incredible scenery along the way

Fredonia, Arizona had a small liquor store. That isn't very remarkable. But...where was it located?

It was located about 500 feet from the Utah border. Ha!

Kanab, Utah was just over the border - its entry hill was marked with the letter "K"

This area had a big film business in the past brought by the Parry brothers

We continued cruising. The landscape started changing as we approached Zion National Park.

We arrived at the entry gate

We had to go through a mile-long tunnel through the rock - this won't happen in a year or two when they reroute oversized vehicles to avoid the tunnel

We took in the dynamic scenery on the way to the tunnel.

We arrived at the tunnel and proceeded through.

Entering the tunnel

There were occasional windows chiseled through the rock walls

We emerged after a mile and proceeded along the switchbacks to the canyon floor.

One of the tunnel windows

Arlona thought this looked like a face

Bus Captain, Robin dropped us at the Zion Lodge. 

A massive cottonwood tree outside Zion Lodge

We boarded the park bus and rode to Temple of Sinawava, the end of the line. We walked for a while down the Riverside Walk. The views looking up at the walls were stunning.

We spotted this mule deer munching on vegetation

Arlona found her water

We spotted a baby mule deer

We spotted this tree growing out of an isolated puddle - weird

We noticed water bubbling up through the sand - it was an artesian well

Our intrepid tour director, Geoff, went venturing into the Virgin River

The mule deer was still munching as we walked back to the shuttle bus

After arriving back at Zion Lodge, we took in more views before heading to our bus.

Between the lodge and our bus, we ran into a young male mule deer, apparently hired by the U.S. Park Service to keep the grass trimmed.

Nom. nom, nom

Looking for more areas that need trimming

We made the short ride to Springdale, Utah where the Hampton Inn would serve as our crashpad for the night. Arlona made another grocery run for some Coke Zero to get us through the next few days.

We will be on the road at 7:45 tomorrow morning, climbing the switchbacks out of Zion and making the roughly two-hour drive to Bryce Canyon. We will make the long drive to Salt Lake City tomorrow afternoon.