Wildflowers near the Zion Visitor's Center

These were just hanging out near the car. There were small wildflowers throughout the park. 

Mount Moroni with Jacob behind

This is part of the Court of the Patriarchs. They really are impressive formations and they go up forever. 

The Great White Throne

I have to tell you, I don't see a throne in this. I see a suggestion of a temple in some of the formations in the Grand Canyon, but this looks like a big flat-topped chunck of sandstone.

Still, it's a damned big piece of sandstone! 

The End of the Riverside Walk

This is about a mile upstream from the end of the road, and as far as you can go without getting your feet wet. 

Weeping Rock

The sandstone above lets the rain and snowmelt flow until it hits shale and then the water runs out in seeps and small waterfalls. The moisture allows a variety of plants to grow on the face of the rock, forming hanging gardens.

Checkerboard Mesa

This is on the east road into Zion. It doesn't loom only because it leans back. 

Zion National Park - the Watchman

It really looms. It's big. 

Cliffs and Plateaus

That far plateau is over 11,000 feet above sea level - the highest plateau in North America. The picture doesn't do it justice because the coolest thing about it, at least from my view across the valley, is the way the white section on top gleams when the sun hits it. 

Hoodoo and Long View

It's a long sweep of valleys and ridges to the south and east.

Natural Bridge

Or over-sized window, since the folks at Bryce make a point to differentiate natural bridges as being created by stream flow (but then they go ahead and labeled it the Natural Bridge viewpoint anyway!)... 

Hoodoos

This was taken from the Rainbow viewpoint at the end of the road in Bryce Canyon. In addition to the hoodoos in front, you can see the sweep of the amphitheater rim. 

Red Canyon

There are a couple of these as you head up Red Canyon toward Bryce Canyon National Park. Red Canyon has hoodoos like Bryce, but instead of looking down from the rim, you look up at them. 

Glen Canyon Dam

This looks south toward the Glen Canyon Dam and the elegant bridge that is anchored to the sheer walls of the canyon. Page, AZ, is in the background. Whatever the merits of building the dam, it's a heck of a piece of engineering.

For more information, see http://www.canyon-country.com/lakepowell/gcdam.htm.

Climbing the Cliffs

The highway ultimately climbs up the face of the wall to cut east toward Page. This view is toward the south, back toward the Little Colorado canyon. 

Echo Cliffs

Heading north from Flagstaff toward Page, the highway runs for miles along this wall of rock.