Today was our day at Zion. We got a fairly early start because we heard about the potential crowds. We arrived at the parking area a little before ten and there were already very few parking spots. We were prepared to be underwhelmed by the scenery after everything else we've seen but we were wrong. This was completely different! We didn't try to take a lot of pictures of the cliffs and mountainsides but trust me, they were impressive. Another difference was the amount of vegetation. Despite Zion being surrounded by desert, the main valley has a river. This leads to a tremendous amount of soft leaf vegetation at the bottom of the canyon.
We did three hikes, one rated moderate and two easy. After yesterday's mountain climb, all today's hikes were fairly easy.
Zion has an efficient system that keeps cars out of the park. For the most part you have to ride the park's free shuttle. It takes you to the most popular spots and trailheads.
After visiting a fair number of National Parks and monuments we are wondering if anyone is left in Europe. There are an incredible number of French, German and Slavic folk everywhere we turn and it's not even August, the traditional month for vacations in Europe.