The Watchman at Sundown

We arrived at Zion National Park. It has been such a hectic trip and it has been hard to keep up with on the blog. We are tent camping in the park’s Watchman campground, which gets its name from the rock formation that serves as guardian to Zion canyon. The word Zion is a biblical term that means the promised land and was bestowed upon this place by Morman pilgrims, when they arrived here. Many of the canyon’s features are named with biblical references, because Zion canyon’s walls rise higher and grander than any man made temple ever could. We arrived late, setup camp and were still doing dinner after ten. The next morning we joined a birdwatching hike, which was quite productive. Later, We took the shuttle to the end of the line and did the Riverwalk, which leads to the Narrows, a slot canyon and is a signature part of the park. Most of Springdale’s outfitters, the adjoining town, seem to be devoted to outfitting people for this hike, which is mostly in cold water.