PICTURE 1 - Early Morning This photo sequence starts on the west side of the park, ending on the east side. Mornings are crisp due to the deep canyons and winds coming down through the miles of twisting rock.


PICTURE 2 - Sunrise I didn't know if it's possible to do 3-D on a sunrise! Well, I guess it's sort of possible, but not easy to tell what you're looking at. Here the sun illuminates the bridge over the Virgin river.


PICTURE 3 - Virgin River This river does much of the canyon cutting, especially with melting snows from further north. It's popular with photographers in the morning, looking for interesting visiting birds. Note the coloration of the water; snow melt and silt.


PICTURE 4 - Great White Throne All the major rock formations have names, going back to the early settlers and tour guides. Here, the sun is still working hard to break into the canyon darkness. Even though trees outside the canyon entrance are starting their leaves, these trees are still a little suspicious of spring!


PICTURE 5 - Why's Everything 'Red'? Zion displays a geology starting in the late Permian, and moving through the triassic and jurassic. The redness is 'rust' from iron in the nearby mountains that were being eroded at the time. In practical terms, you have to climb about halfway up the cliffs before you find evidence of more than plants.


PICTURE 6 - Zion Canyon Here, we're in Zion canyon, with cool morning temperatures. In the summer the trees provide a welcome shade. Unfortunately there's so many shade-seekers, the park insists on busing visitors into Zion Canyon during the summer. So, plan your visit in the early spring or late fall.


PICTURE 7 - East Park Area If you are fascinated with road construction (huh?), the road leading to the east was America's first million-dollar-mile section. There's a book in the visitor center and it's unbelievable what was required to build the road and two tunnels. Here, we're east of the tunnels and climbing up the geological layers in the jurasic. Hmmm, dinosaurs? Not here. Calm down.


PICTURE 8 - Navajo Sandstone Most of the 'white' you see at Zion on top is Navajo sandstone. If you're in northern Arizona, you see it just west of Kayenta. It was huge sand dunes thousands of feet deep and hundreds of square miles wide. Imagine the Sahara! The interesting picture, not good for 3-D, is the 'checkerboard' surface on the sides of the sandstone. For scale, note the cars below.