Water shapes this land. Everything we see in Zion is sculpted by water.
We wake early for a yummy sunrise breakfast at the only local eatery open. Heading into the park with the sun, the canyon unfolds as we drive deeper in letting the vertical cliffs surround us. We are tempted to spend our time down here on the canyon floor between the walls but the high country calls to us. After a quick hike we head up and out of the canyon through an amazingly long tunnel that has windows that look out at the canyon walls. (There are many signs that say NO STOPPING! so we drive really really really slow so we can look out at the grand views.)
When we arrive at the far end of the tunnel, we see our trail head for the Canyon Overlook. Looking for slickrock and slot canyons we grab some water and snacks and start hiking. The sun gives us a great shadow family photo.
The boys really are starting to play well with each other. And on a rare occasion, they let us capture this with our camera. Here they really were enjoying the sand, cut from the stones and laid down as their playground.
My boys all loved this morning hike. Stuart really needed to see what it looked like over the edge...not a surprise. Wren followed suit while Dakota and I comfortably looked from a few feet back.
From our hike to the canyon overlook, we could look down into this slot canyon. Stuart and I both have an extreme love for slot canyons. So when we got back to the trailhead and we saw a ranger, we had to ask about access to this slot. The ranger was a bit skeptical about giving a pair of folks with 2 young children info about the slot but eventually relented after we promised not to go down into the technical section. He shared that the first 50 yards or so were just sandy bottom until the first drop. So down we went.
After our slot canyon explore, we got in the car for a long trek to the Glen Canyon Dam for lunch. Here is Wren in the visitor's center with the bridge shadow and dam in the background.
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