Although the Kodachrome Basin campsite had full occupancy with firewood available, it was dead silent after 8pm--apparently this was not a partying crowd! Before breakfast, Art and I took a hike on the Angel's Palace Trail which allowed great aerial views of the entrance to and domain of Kodachrome Basin.
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| Only entrance into Kodachrome Basin |
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| Entire area of Kodachrome Basin proper |
The Angel's Palace Trail ascends a 150-foot high butte of soft brown rock eroded by wind & water into interesting contours like modeling clay. Looking about 20 miles west we could see the now-familiar hues of Bryce Canyon, while an interesting backbone arrangement of rock could be seen to the south.
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| Looking towards Bryce from Kodachrome Basin |
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| Backbone of rock looking south from Kodachrome |
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| White Navajo Sandstone with bands of iron oxide |
There were hoodoos and a commonly-occurring erosion that Art thought looked like buffalo hide. Towards the end of our hike, we discovered that whoever diagrammed the "loops" into the Angel's Palace Trail map apparently used some artistic license as the only way out was to retrace our steps...or wander in circles forever.
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| Art's "Buffalo Hide" |
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| Don't look, Mom...150 ft. straight down in all directions! |
After breaking camp, we returned to Scenic Byway 12 and then headed south on Route 89 to Mount Carmel Junction. It was moderately windy, with the forecast predicting increasing winds.Art did a great job keeping our 30 foot "sail" between the proper lines on the road...crosswinds were particularly challenging!
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| "Too pooped to pump" |
At Mount Carmel Junction, we headed west on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (Route 9) towards the entrance to Zion NP. At the NP gate we confirmed the procedure for oversize vehicles (like ours) to navigate the narrow 1.1 mile tunnel necessary to reach the center of Zion Canyon. Basically, you pay $15. to have the rangers stop 2-way traffic so that large vehicles can drive down the centerline of the road.
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| Our soon-to-be lunch spot looking at Checkerboard Mesa |
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| Detail of Checkerboard Mesa |
When traveling by RV, stopping for lunch can be quite interesting because you can literally "choose your scenery", then stop and fix lunch. We chose to stop at Checkerboard Mesa, whose horizontal lines are created by sedimentation and the vertical lines are caused by erosion...yielding an amazingly regular pattern.
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| Unique shale/sandstone with windswept look |
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| Aussie Mustang Road Rally |
After lunch, we continued along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway encountering unique geology at every turn. And, of all things bizarre, an Australian Mustang Road Rally as well--those crazy Aussies! Finally we arrived at the 1.1 mile tunnel, which was completed in 1930 and was quite an engineering feat for its time.
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| Tunnel entrance |
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| Tunnel history |
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| Panoramic windows in tunnel |
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| View out another tunnel window |
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| End of the tunnel, at last! |
Art did a masterful job driving down the centerline trying not to enlarge the tunnel with our RV! Every quarter mile or so there was a "window" that had been excavated by the tunnel builders to dump rock debris and bring in fresh air--managed to get a couple nice photos looking out those "windows".
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| Tunnel windows from below |
After a series of hairpin turns (including a turnout that allowed us to see those "windows" from the outside), we entered the grandeur of Zion Canyon. Unlike Bryce Canyon, where you look DOWN into the Canyon, you look UP in Zion as you traverse the canyon floor. The mountains that make up the walls of Zion Canyon are truly majestic!
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| Our RV checking in at Zion NP entrance |
We settled into our RV park (cable and Wi-Fi again!) about 5pm and were treated to an interesting drama at the adjacent campsite. An Asian couple and a late teens/20s daughter were trying to erect a tent in some fairly high wind amidst a fair amount of discussion. When the tent was finally up, the women were inside for nearly an hour while Dad chose to sit outside in a lawn chair in the clouds of blowing dust...and apparently just out of earshot of the discussion taking place in the tent. A little after 6pm, they took down the tent, packed up and headed...somewhere.
Posted by TBW Travel Today!
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