Who said that the long driving would be over? Distances stretch in Utah. I was up just after 5 am local time (Mountain Time), which would be 4 am in Pacific time so I was up really early after my drive in from the Bay Area yesterday.

Nevertheless I took the opportunity to leave real soon after and to make it for sunrise at the badlands and driving early into Zion NP – this is possible in early morning anyway, as the parking lot will be closed as it fills up, and riding into as well as throughout Zion is then possible only by Shuttle.

I was glad to park and unload my gear inside the park and then hope onto one of the small shuttles riding into Zion main canyon. I was early enough to get the first red color at the mountain flank behind the Virgin River and the drizzle at the Emerald Pools.

I did a small hike from the Pools to the Grotto, hopped back onto the shuttle to reach the furthest point in the Canyon, the temple of Sinawava and the narrows of the Virgin River. Funnily enough, it was just then that the 10 am morning hike with a Park Ranger started, and I was more than happy to join the small group to experience again first hand what would be waiting for me in Hawai’i and chat a little bit with the girl who had been working in so many National Parks as an interpretive ranger already.

The day was progressing quickly, and I left Zion to drive through the “famous” (rather annoyingly delaying) Mount Carmel tunnel and reach Kanab town and the Coral Pink Dunes State Park, which is probably left out quite a few times over the more famous and large National Parks in the US Southwest, but is just as interesting and fascinating. Take a look!