Day 12: The end of vacation...Zion, part II

Ahhh....it's over, vacation is over and it's time to head back home tomorrow...we had a fabulous trip and saw so many beautiful and amazing sights as we traveled across the state of Utah! Other than a quick trip through the state (and Terri and Jessalyn spent a couple of days with friends in Salt Lake City several years ago)...we've never really been here...so this was a real treat! As we have said...it's been a busy time, on the go every day, no rest for the weary, which we were a times, but boy, it felt great! And, talk about exercise, this was not one of those vacations where you sit and read books or lounge by the pool or on the beach...we did LOTS of hiking and walking...and after the initial shock to our bodies...it felt great! Now, when we go home, our bodies will probably be wondering what's going on...guess we will have to work at trying to get out some each day...

Today was spent soaking up some more of the wonderful Utah sunshine while we hiked along a few trails in Zion...nothing real extreme, just a moderate trail and a couple of easy ones. One of them took us to see some Emerald Pools, which were beautiful pools of water among the rocks and trees...and all had amazing reflections...it was well worth the climb and at the top one, there was lots of shade and it felt about 20 degrees cooler (which was nice!). We also saw (after being told they were there) some climbers on the face of a cliff near one of the shuttle stops...WOW...these guys were going up a STRAIGHT rock face and we were in disbelief at seeing them do this...and evidently, they started yesterday...don't ask how or where they slept...no idea how that would happen...and as interesting as this was to see...it's definitely not something we could EVER imagine doing!

Here are the last set of photos...enjoy and we hope everyone is doing well and enjoying fall...we are looking forward to settling back in at home and enjoying some nice fall weather there as well!

Upper Emerald Pool...great reflections!

 Water flowing over a rock cliff...beautiful and refreshing!

 Mule deer...they didn't seem to be bothered by us as we walked by and photographed them!

Reflections from one of the Emerald Pools

Path of our morning hike...

Rocks, trees, moss and water...so beautiful and peaceful!

This little gecko didn't seem to be bothered by us and almost was like he was posing!

More reflections...it was amazing to see the detail and colors!

Upper Emerald Pool

Looking down on the Virgin River...which carves it's way through Zion

Bridge crossing over Virgin River

Some very ominous clouds that rolled in later this afternoon...but by sunset, it had cleared up!