Close Encounters of the Sheep Kind

Ahhh, back in Utah where time makes sense.  Our next stop is Zion!

The road to Zion.

What we have learned about Utah is the scenery changes constantly. Monument Valley would have been enough to convince us that Utah is a beautiful state. Then we ventured into Zion National Park.

As we entered the park the roads color changed and landscape opened up to beautiful Navajo sandstone.  

You can see the Checkerboard Mesa in the distance.

We entered the East side on the Mt Caramel Highway. 

After veering off of the highway for a while we entered the Mt Caramel Tunnel.  The tunnel is 1.1 mile long and passes through the cool dark mountain with only six larger windows cut into the sandstone cliff.  Every time that we passed the windows we glimpsed a sneak peak of the breathtaking views ahead of us. 

Approaching the Mt. Caramel Tunnel.

Light at the end of the tunnel.

The Three Patriarchs

Peek-a-boo!

We rode to the furthest point that you can ride with a personal vehicle and back again. Round trip provided completely different views for photo ops. While there is a free shuttle that will take you to the remote spots of Zion, we opted out of the shuttle because of the amount of tourist and the heat. 

Photo opp!  Can you see Matthew?

Anything he can do I can do...in heels!

Then we saw these guys causing a traffic jam.

Have you seen my mom?

They kept a safe distance but didn't seem bothered at all.

Nom, Nom Nom... did you say something?

Bighorn Sheep are supposed to be a rare sitting in Zion even though we encountered 13 in this heard.. They are obviously not very afraid of us, however we kept a safe distance just in case. We watched them eat for a few minutes and then meander for a bit before moving on to our next destination.

Bryce, here we come!