Saturday, September 27, 2014

Bighorn Sheep in Zion National Park

After hiking Angels Landing, Braden and I packed up to head to Bryce Canyon National Park.  On our way out of the park, we ran into a few desert bighorn sheep.  I managed to get a couple of decent pictures of couple of them.

Bighorn sheep snacking on some leafy branches


Bighorn Sheep on a Mission: cause a traffic jam


Bighorn sheep below a cliff

You'll have to trust me that there's a bighorn sheep in this picture

Monday, September 22, 2014

Zion: Angels Landing

After a day exploring the Narrows, my friend Braden and I camped outside of Zion National Park along a creek.  We woke up at dawn the next morning to get a fairly early start hiking Angels Landing, a rock formation in the middle of the canyon that offers spectacular 360-degree views of the rest of the park.

Morning light in the canyon

Getting started: Angels Landing looms in the distance



Virgin River winding through Zion Canyon at sunrise


Virgin River

Cactus in bloom
 

Zion Canyon


Sandstone cliffs along the trail





Looking back down Refrigerator Canyon




Traffic Jam: we didn't get started as early as we had hoped!


The trail gets pretty steep, so there is a chain built into the rock.





Getting close to the top




Looking down on the Virgin River


Virgin River from above







Braden navigating one of the final pitches (bottom left)











Lunch with all the other hikers at the top




Panoramic view from the top







Working our way down





Back to the canyon floor




We cooled off on the Virgin River before finishing our trek