We went northeast on I-15 from Mesquite, cutting through the northwesternmost corner of Arizona. A beautiful drive. The Virgin River winds in and out and along this route. Here we hadn't even gotten to the great parks yet, and the scenery was stunning.
Springdale, Utah, just outside of Zion reminded me of some ski resort towns in New England. Beautiful shops, restaurants, hotels, more artsy than touristy in feel. And with the Zion backdrop encircling the town, this was one picture-perfect setting.
(Warning:
Excessive use of adjectives and superlatives ahead.) The park itself is
awe-inspiring. The scale of the canyons, mesas, thrones; the gorgeous
rock shades of orange, tan, white, in so many shapes and textures; the
green brush popping through the sandstone; the iridescent aspens, and
the Virgin River babbling all the way through — it was almost too much
to bear, a sensory overload. 
We did the Riverside trail hike, an easy round trip of two miles. It takes you upstream to the Zion Canyon Narrows, where the paved route ends, and to continue means walking in the river — up to four feet deep — through the canyon as the walls close in on you. Well, not this time — the air and water temperatures were pretty cool. So we just enjoyed the atmosphere and watched some deer grazing on the opposite bank.
Then it was back to the car and onto the Zion-Mt.Carmel Highway, which climbed about 1000 feet (to ~5100 ft) via a series of scary switchbacks, connecting lower Zion Canyon with the high plateaus to the east. The views back into the canyon were fantastic, and as you looked ahead and above, small openings peak out from the mountain — intriguing. These turn out to be windows in a tunnel that cuts through the cliffs. The highway and tunnel were completed in 1930 and considered engineering marvels. Because vehicles were smaller then, the tunnels were low and narrow so only cars can pass each other going in opposite directions — buses, campers, etc., have to wait their turn to go through one way, while traffic is held up on the other side.
After
going through the tunnel we stopped for another hike. This one went up
and back across the cliffs (over long droops) to an overlook of Zion and
Pine Creek Canyons. Wow. Absolutely spectacular. Not only the views
below,
but the rock formations and wind-carved textures in the rocks we were
climbing. (Seen on the trail: young kids running around, pretty much
unsupervised, just one slip or trip away from a bad fall.)
What
a moment to savor. The sun was bright, the sky a deep blue with some wispy
clouds, and we were in the middle of a natural wonder. This was one of
my favorite places of the trip, and that's saying something.
We stayed in and around Zion and Springdale, all of that day and night, and saw some incredible light on the cliffs as the sun went down. Our hotel room also had a great view.
Heading
out the next day, we
retraced our route through the park and tunnel and continued
east. More beautiful rock forms, colors, and textures
against another brilliant blue sky.
Finally we exited out the eastern side, having
only seen a small part of incredible Zion. But we had to move on, to the
next great place: Bryce Canyon.