Ten Days in Utah - Episode 4: Zion National Park

Having a very diverse landscape, Utah is also good for hiking, even in winter. We hired a (very ugly) car and we started to drive south towards St. George, hoping to escape the snow and the bad weather for a few days. It was just after sunset when we saw something resembling a giant dark wall forming a few miles in front of us. We were being hit by a snow blizzard. Within minutes the road markings disappeared and the snow on the motorway accumulated at a frightening pace. The visibility was limited to a couple of meters or so, with snow coming from all directions. That gave me the hallucinating feeling that I was being hypnotised by a powerful storm magician: “You are going to sleep in the snow…”. But our friends driving the car in front of us were quite determined to beat this blizzard so we followed them very closely. Several times we almost ended up in the ditch on the side of the road like some other unlucky drivers. After about 30 minutes that seemed like an eternity we found a motorway exit, only because we nearly hit the exit sign. We stopped in a petrol station and after a while two things became clear to everyone: we were quite lucky to get this far and it was impossible to go any further. Fortunately there was a motel nearby that had some spare rooms, except that getting there proved to be another challenge. Eventually we made it and the moment I saw myself in a room that had a roof and a bed, all that adrenaline in my body miraculously turned into a whole set of flavoured feel good hormones. I was happy and grateful.

That night the snow ploughs worked hard to clear the roads so in the morning the motorway seemed quite safe to drive. Here and there one could see an abandoned car or a jack-knifed lorry, testimony that the hell we’ve been through wasn’t just a bad dream.
We didn’t drive too long before miraculously all the dark clouds disappeared unveiling the most beautiful dark blue sky. A weird and wonderful landscape unfolded in front of us and for a second we thought we’ve just landed on the Red Planet... But no, this is Southern Utah.

There are quite a few national parks around and Zion is one of them. The crisp, cold, desert air made all my senses a bit sharper as if the place really wanted someone to appreciate its beauty. Amazing sandstone cliffs painted in different shades of red were hiding behind every corner. The red colour I assume is simply iron oxide but you don’t have to be a geologist to see how fantastic this place is. Apparently the name Zion is a Hebrew word meaning sanctuary (the Mormons again…) and there really is something special there that demands reverence and creates wonder…
There are some good hikes in Zion, but because of the snow we were told it’s a bit dangerous to try anything adventurous. We did do however two fairly easy ones, one of which gave a fantastic overview of the canyon. We also saw some mountain goats or sheep that were as curious about us as we were about them. On the way back I’ve noticed another interesting thing… even the tarmac on the road was red to keep in tune with the harmony of the place, while some houses in St George were designed in the same fashion.
That night we had a long drive back to SLC and this was the end of our short Utah adventure... a place that hides many undiscovered treasures and which is definitively worth re-visiting.

More pictures in this album.
Kenny and Jessica also took some great pictures, and Emil and Krystal have a good selection as well.