We had signed up for the daily "Ride with a Ranger" tour, which started at 9a and which meant based on the location of our urban campground and the surrounding construction zone, a much earlier wake up time. Two hours of chauffering and narrating was a fine way to experience the park. Every guide gets to choose their stops along the way and our Ranger picked ones that perfectly highlighted her discussion about the forces that formed Zion and continue to do so.
The Virgin river that cuts through the park is deceptive, looking more modest than the reality of it's 71 feet per mile drop or how it has spent thousands of years carving away at the rock walls until it etched the canyons you see today. The guide also described the unpredictable flash floods that happen a dozen times a year and lop off large chunks of rocks.
We heard multiple stories about road reconstructions after flood waters and pinballing rocks shattered and swept away the roadway.
One year the road was completely destroyed and guests at the Zion Lodge were trapped for days without electricity (which the new drama series Revolution shows us can quickly lead to Appocolypse) until they could be exacuated. They were able to escape finally but couldn't retrieve their cars for weeks.
Later we finally found, after a week, mediocrity in Utah. This was one reason for us making near 80 all day up to Provo. We should have made 80, as this was the posted speed, but the van was reluctant.
Provo lies just outside of Salt Lake and is home to Brigham Young University. While the combination of societies two most enjoyable institutions-school and church-sounded like a recipe for a fun time, we instead went shopping. We also browsed two local community events, which was a less bountiful excursion. (see tomorrow for more on this, our IndiaFest experience)
Zion
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