Quail Creek State Park, UT, Day 2 & Zion National Park

The Virgin River, Zion National Park

Tuesday, March 25, 2014, Quail Creek State Park, UT, Day 2 & Zion National Park - 0 miles , 6114.6 For the Trip


I got up late this morning - probably because of the time zone changes. In any case, around 10:30 I headed to Zion National Park. Let me tell you, it anyone complains about being required to use the shuttle busses, they haven't driven through the park in late March. The shuttles don't start until April 1st, and while the road through Zion Canyon wasn't bumper to bumper, all the parking areas were full, with many cars parked along the road, turning sections into a 1 lane road.

One the way up the Zion Canyon road I stopped to photograph the Virgin River in a couple of areas, then stopped at one of my favorite parts of the drive, behind the horse barns on the opposite side of the road from the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop. I shot some of the images using my variable ND filter, and, as usual, was unhappy with hte results. I should sell the thing, but it is so nice to be able to dial it open to compose, then dial it dark for the photograph. The problem is it uses polarizing filters to produce the neutral density, and on wide angle lenses it shows the effect of polarizing. I reshot most of the images using my trusty B+W 10 stop ND filter. Photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

After that I decided to call it a day and head back to the campground. It is about a :45 minute drive to Zion from Quail Creek, including the 5 minute wait to get through the gate at the park. By the way, both campgrounds were filled. I suspect you could get a spot in the South Campground if you arrived early in the day, but it was filled by 11:00.

Dinner will be a pork chop, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, with an ice cream sandwich for dessert.

Until tomorrow -