Living the Dream...: Saturday, October 24, 2015 (Zion River Resort, Virgin, UT)

We were up and on our way to Zion National Park before 9:00 this morning...for another day of hiking.

This time we took the shuttle to the Court of Patriarchs where there is a short, steep trail up to a viewpoint. Excellent views of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Peaks, Mount Moroni, and The Sentinel...

Next, we caught the shuttle back to Canyon Junction and walked down to the Virgin River to check out the small waterfall.

This big fellow was down there having breakfast...I didn't even notice him and walked right past, but I soon saw what Steve was taking pictures of...

A few more pictures of the river and then we walked back up to the road...

...and the trailhead for the Pa'rus Trail. The trail follows the river back to the Visitors Center, so we thought we'd walk the 3.5 mile paved trail...

It was another cool start to the day...but not a cloud in the sky...

We crossed a few footbridges as the trail weaved back and forth across the Virgin River...

Not sure what kind of plant this is but the fruit looked a lot like cherry tomatoes...probably a berry plant of some sort...

The trail goes by the South Campground...

And there's Buster in the parking lot on the other side of the river...

After a bit of a rest, it was time to hike the Watchman Trail...a 2.7 mile hike with an ascent of 369 feet, rated as moderate and described "Moderate drop-offs. Ends at viewpoint of the Towers of the Virgin, Lower Zion Canyon, and Springdale."

And we start the climb up...

A chair made of stone...very cool...

A lizard posing for a picture...

Looking back at the trail below...

Our destination is at the far end of that canyon...

What a view!

Parking lots are full...look at all the vehicles parked outside the park. That's our truck way down there...

The beginning of the trail below...

Our first hike began at the Canyon Junction shuttle stop at the far end of the valley where you see the trail disappear around the corner...

A close up of the above photo. Yesterdays hike was to the left of Angels Landing...

Hikers below...

We made it to the viewpoint...time for lunch. See the trail below?

South Campground below...

After lunch and taking in such great views, it was time to head back down...

Steve and his "dead tree" pictures!

See how yellow that rock is below...

Cactus...and a dead tree...

Time to zig zag our way down to that trail below in the distance...

There's the rock chair again...

Back at the parking lot...and truck! Yay! That hill on the left was our way up to the hill on the right. Sure doesn't look that high from here!

Steve and I are both almost out of beer and wine so the next thing on our agenda was to find someplace to purchase our adult beverages. The thing in Utah is that you can buy beer in grocery stores but you have to go to a State Liquor Store to buy wine and liquor. Also liquor stores are not open Sundays. We checked out a small liquor store in the Switchback Restaurant in Springdale but decided to make the drive into Hurricane. We needed to pick up a few groceries at Walmart anyway...so we can get Steve his beer there. We'll have to find a liquor store in the area as well.
A few pictures as we drive through Springdale...

Gorgeous scenery as we drive towards Hurricane...

We had no problem finding Walmart...but after our shopping was done there, finding the Hurricane Liquor Store was quite another story. The address on the internet took us to a vacant lot...great! After stopping at a gas station and asking for directions, we finally found it.

We came across this unfortunate scene on our way home...the tow truck was just about to take away a very badly damaged car. I hope the people inside the car were okay after the accident...