INSPIRING ZION!!!. Review on Utah

ZION NATIONAL PARK

This ends the trilogy of pictorial reviews of my visits of great interest to USA. Of the many places that I visited, the three places that I have reviewed with great passion are:

1. San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge and the Alcatraz prison

   
   




2. Yosemite National Park. (My all time favorite)

   
   




3. Zion National Park.

   
   

To make this an interesting photo pictorial review, open this Yahoo!Photo link:

https://photos.yahoo.com/nanduchitnis

I have added some 20 pics to the Zion album.

THE PARK

Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary.

Zion forms a group of spectacular mountains and Canyons. The major difference between the Grand Canyons and Zion is:

Grand Canyons you are on the top and look down. At Zion, you are at the bottom and look up!

Zion is a few hours drive from Las Vegas. After dropping $ 500/- in the Casinos this was an ideal place to de-stress.

Make no mistakes, although the entire topography is Rocky Mountains and steep vertical rock faces, the designs that nature has carved over these rocks makes for a spectacular visual treat.

RECEPTION AND SHUTTLE

On reaching at Zion, we were charged some $ 25 for five people at the reception. That included a shuttle bus ride through Park. At the end of the shuttle ride, we walked some two miles to reach the Temple of Sinawava. Sinawava is a name given to a big soaring tall rock face by the Native Americans who lived here for centuries. Many tribes still live in these Canyons.

One of the Rock faces is named SHIVA!!

ZION: SHOWCASE OF GEOLOGY

Millions of years of ferocious erosion have cut these mountain rocks in such dramatic lines as if a sculptor has worked on them with huge cutting tools! Hence we get to see some near human faces. Watch the picture of the Giant Nose and the rock of SHIVA.

The process of erosion continues due to rapid flow of the Virgin River during the months that ice melts on the mountains. There are many other rivers with crystal clear waters running through the canyons. Some years the rivers change course, thus reshaping some of the rocks.

Zion National Park is fully protected and attracts an average of 7000 visitors a day.

Zion is very popular destination for rock climbers, trekkers and campers. We did a day trip, all of some 8 hours.

All along the drive to Zion, one gets to see spectacular mountain ranges in all shapes sizes and colors.

Zion was a relatively flat basin near sea level 240 million years ago. As sands, gravels, and muds eroded from surrounding mountains, streams carried these materials into the basin and deposited them in layers. The sheer weight of these accumulated layers caused the basin to sink, so that the top surface always remained near sea level. As the land rose and fell and as the climate changed, the depositional environment fluctuated from shallow seas to coastal plains to a desert of massive windblown sand.

This process of sedimentation continued until over 10,000 feet of material accumulated Mineral-laden waters slowly filtered through the compacted sediments. Iron oxide, calcium carbonate, and silica acted as cementing agents, and with pressure from overlying layers over long periods of time, transformed the deposits into stone. Ancient seabeds became limestone; mud and clay became mudstones and shale; and desert sand became sandstone. Each layer originated from a distinct source and so differs in thickness, mineral content, color, and eroded appearance.

These factors contributed in a long way to give Zion it's present looks.

Best time to visit is a few months after summer sets in so that you can see the waterfalls as the snow begins to melt on far away mountain tops

Comments welcome!

Nandu Chitnis