Zion National Park

The weather was more benign than we expected; the winter storm has brought the temperature right down but we haven't had much snow, and that's mostly gone now.

I went back into the canyon this afternoon to look for birds of prey. The Californian condor, almost extinct a few years back, has been reintroduced in Arizona and can apparently sometimes be seen here at Big Bend, at the upper end of the canyon. Needless to say I didn't see one but saw a couple of turkey vultures.

The national park service run a free shuttle bus service the length of the canyon to relieve congestion and to help the environment. There are lots of stops, each one with a new vista or an interesting trail. The buses come every few minutes and you get a helpful audio guide as you go up.

At this spot, Big Bend, you're surrounded by huge cliffs which force the river round and back again. Poking above one of the walls is a white peak known as The Great White Throne. The sandstone rocks are different colours according to how much iron oxide is in them - most have turned red but some remain white.