INTRODUCTION
As always, you can view the photographic narrative for this story below. What is a photographic narrative?
Continuing on from Page, AZ, we stopped for lunch at the famous Thunderbird restaurant in Mount Carmel Junction. This little restaurant holds a special place in my heart, as described in From Tucson to Salt Lake City, and Weekending in Bryce Canyon. And with our stomachs full, we continued into Zion National Park. Throughout our drive we’d encountered more of the same rain and thunderstorms we’d encountered the previous day hiking the Tanner Trail, and the dark clouds showed no sign of letting up as we drove the winding road down from the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. After parking at the visitors center, instead of riding the famous Zion shuttle, we opted to set out on foot to immerse ourselves in the park’s beauty at a slower pace. After yesterday, the flat, easy walk was welcome and allowed us to adopt a relaxed pace. We meandered along the Virgin River that flows through the center of the park for as long as the terrain would allow, and then continued deeper into the park along the road with plans to simply catch one of the last shuttles back to the parking lot when we were done exploring. As the scheduled time of the last shuttle neared, we headed back to one of the shuttle stops. We were several hundred yards away when we looked over our shoulders and saw the shuttle rapidly approaching. This sent us sprinting down the road, our joints still aching from the day prior, arriving at the shuttle stop just as the bus opened its doors. We climbed on board, rode to the parking lot, and then drove out of the park toward Las Vegas where we’d spend the next few days rejuvenating in man-made luxury.
A STORY IN PHOTOGRAPHS
