Lower Emerald Pools Trail ~ Part 2

In a previous post, I shared some photos I took as our family began hiking along the Lower Emerald Pools Trail in beautiful Zion National Park. Today, I'd like to share more photos from that hike.

We were hiking along the Lower Emerald Pools Trail on an April afternoon earlier this year. Walking along this easy-to-hike trail provides a feast for the eyes. There is beauty everywhere you look. It's definitely a photographer's paradise.

Here we go with my photos, although I'm sure they don't do the actual beauty of the trail justice. You just have to see it and Zion National Park in person to really appreciate the stunning beauty there.

Part of the trail that follows the Virgin River.

A peak at Zion's stunning sandstone cliffs through the shade of the trees.

The Virgin River along the trail.

Check out the cactus. 

See the cactus at the bottom of this photo?

Three of our family members (in the foreground).

More cactus along the hillside.

The Virgin River. If you look closely, you can see the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive in the distance.

More of the trail.

The first part of the Lower Emerald Pools Trail follows the Virgin River. Then the trail heads away from it and follows a stream. I'm not sure if the pictures above and below show the Virgin River or the stream. Either way, the scenery is so beautiful!

Three of our family members in the foreground in this photo. Time to take more pictures!

This last photo was taken by one of my sons. What a great photo! Isn't Zion National Park absolutely beautiful?

I'll be sharing more photos from our hike along the Lower Emerald Pools Trail in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Lower Emerald Pools Trail ~ Part 1

Today, I'd like to share more pictures from our visit to Zion National Park. In my my last post, I shared pictures from our visit to the Virgin River near the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop.

After walking around and taking pictures along the Virgin River, we got back on the shuttle bus. Our next stop along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive was the Zion Lodge shuttle stop.

We decided to check out the Emerald Pools Trail. Wow! What a gorgeous trail!

To get to the trail, we crossed over this bridge which spans the Virgin River.

The bridge was the perfect spot to stop and take some pictures of the beauty around us.

I joined my family on the bridge and took pictures of the Virgin River and surrounding area too.

After picture time was done, we headed to the trail.

See that interesting wall on the trail at the end of the bridge? I decided to take a picture of it.

There are actually three Emerald Pools Trails - Upper Pool, Middle Pool, and Lower Pool.

The Upper Emerald Pools Trail is listed as a moderate hike. We decided to take the Lower Emerald Pools Trail, which is listed as an easy hike. If you'd like to see a map and descriptions of these and other trails, click HERE.

Here's part of our family along the Lower Emerald Pools Trail. As you can see, this portion of the trail is right next to the Virgin River.

The scenery along the Lower Emerald Pools Trail was just spectacular. I'll be sharing more photos from our hike in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

The Virgin River at The Court of The Patriarchs Shuttle Stop

As I mentioned in my previous post about our visit to Zion National Park, our group decided to walk down to the Virgin River instead of getting back onto the shuttle bus. We were at the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop at the time.

It was a short walk down to the river.

When we arrived at the Virgin River, we found that we weren't alone. Other people were enjoying the beauty of the river too.

The Virgin River ~ looking to the left.

The Court of the Patriarchs up close. If I'm correct, the Isaac peak is behind the tree.

You can really see how close the base of the peaks are from this picture.

Family fun at the river.

More photos of the Court of the Patriarchs peaks. The Isaac peak is on the right, and the Abraham peak is in the middle of the photo.

Close-up view of the Isaac peak on the left in this photo.

Our next shuttle stop was Zion Lodge. From there we hiked along the Emerald Pools Trail. I'll be sharing photos from that beautiful area in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Zion National Park ~ Part 3: Court of the Patriarchs

I'm sharing more photos from our trip to Zion National Park today. It's so beautiful there. I definitely want to go back some day.

Our first stop along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive was the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop, which is the fourth of nine shuttle stops along Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. We skipped the Zion Museum and Canyon Junction shuttle stops at that time during our visit.

We got off the shuttle bus and were treated to a spectacular view of these magnificent sandstone peaks. These cliffs were named after three Biblical prophets - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The small roof in this picture is from the shuttle stop across the street.

Hopefully these photos below will give you an idea of how close these stunning cliffs are from the shuttle stop.

There's a short uphill path from the shuttle stop to the viewpoint.

Cactus along the path. And more photo opportunities too.

Almost at the viewpoint. It really is a short walk.

Here we are at the viewpoint area.

Taking in the breathtaking view.

There was an informative plaque that showed visitors which peak is named after which prophet.

In case it's difficult to read this plaque, here's what it says:

"Named for three towering figures of the Old Testament, these sandstone cliffs hold court over Birch Creek Canyon and this section of the Virgin River. In 1916 Frederick Vining Fisher, a Methodist minister, gave the religious names to the peaks. Today it is not hard to imagine how the grandeur of this view could inspire such reverence."

A view of the peaks from the viewpoint area.

After our visit to the Court of the Patriarchs viewpoint area, we walked back down to the shuttle stop. Instead of getting back on another shuttle bus, we decided to walk across the street to go on a path that lead to the Virgin River. I'll share photos of that little adventure in a future post.

Thanks for stopping by!

© 2015 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved