Waking up to the absolutely beautiful red cliffs of southern Utah is just breathtaking! When we arrived last night it was dark so we couldn't see the stunning view from our campground! Wow!!! I could look at the surrounding mountains for hours!
Al and I decided to take a run out on the road this morning. It was s little bit like Forest Gump running through the beautiful scenery. It makes it a little easier to keep going when you have beautiful views to look at during the run. We ran out and towards Quail Creek Lake which is just behind the campground. It is part of Quail Creek State Park. The altitude is roughly 3,300 feet so it was a little easier to catch our breath!
On our way back to the campground, Al was running in front of me when I saw him jump about 10 feet in the air. He came close to stepping on a rattlesnake on the side of the road. He had heard the rattler and looked down to see a good size rattlesnake on the road. He quickly moved, or jumped, over to the other side of the road as the snake got into its striking stance. Thank goodness he didn't have his earphones on and heard the rattler! It wouldn't have been good to have been bit by a rattlesnake! That would have definitely put a damper on our trip!
Our agenda today included a three hour horseback ride in Zion National Park. Scheduled at 1:30, our ride would take us up 600 feet on the Emerald Pools Trail. What a beautiful and amazing ride we took! Blake rode Jesse, I was on Ghost, and Al on Last Chance.
It was only the three of us and a wrangler. First thing we did on the ride was cross through the Virgin River, which is the major river of Zion. We rode to the base of the Court of the Patriarchs,
On our way back down, we passed the Mountain of the Sun. On this mountain you can find all kinds of pictures. We saw a star on the top, an anchor in the middle, and a sword. There are many formations on this mountain that look like pictures, we only saw a few!
After our ride we took a quick trip up the mountains and through the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel. Built in 1920's, this tunnel stretches 1 mile in length and cuts through the mountains of Zion. On the way up to the tunnel, we stopped at the natural bridge to snap a few photos as well.
We were all very hungry upon leaving Zion today. On the way home, we stopped in Hurricane for a home-cooked meal at La Lupita's Mexican Restaurant. We also had a not-so-quick stop at Ace Hardware to get items to repair the passenger side fender (yes another mishap!) and returned home to a very exciting Tilley.
What a wonderful day spent in gorgeous southern Utah and Zion National Park.
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