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Show Zion offers early end to winter Escalante National Monument, a Springdale, at the park's main separate park in Utah, is part of gate. Visitors dropped at the entrance by a city shuttle need the formation.) As the thousands of feet of only cross a foot bridge over the sedimentary rock were lifted over Virgin River into the park, show the millennia, swift streams cut or buy their park pass, then redownward, forming the region's board a park shuttle at the adjafamous canyons. The main cent visitors center. Two campgrounds are located canyon in Zion, center of park activity and the focus of our visit, just inside the park entrance, and was cut by the North Fork of the a grocery store is located on the city side of the foot bridge. That Virgin River. It is narrow, less than a quar- means it's possible to spend a ter-mile wide. But it is deep, week or more at Zion - hiking all flanked by towering sandstone the major trails inside the park and using all the amenities in townnever have to It's possible to spend a week or and move your car By WILLIAM KRONHOLM for The Associated Press A-21 The Park Record Wed/Thurs/Fri, March 19-21, 2008 ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah (AP) - Late each winter, when the snow gets sloppy and the streams get muddy, the same thought begins creeping ever more insistently into my mind: I need green. I need warm. I need spring. That feeling often demands beaches. But when it hit last winter, a different vision commanded - desert, slickrock cliffs and sheer monoliths. That meant southern Utah. And in southern Utah, there is no place better for a spring getaway than Zion more at Zion - hiking all the major trails from y6ur campNational Park. . , ,, , , ,, , • • site o r m o t e l . Zion is located in Utah's southwest corner, the part of inside the park and using all the ameniOur stay was the state that Utahns call Dixie, imited t 0 on 'y a where the early leaders of the ties in town - and never have to move * Mormon church kept their winfew so But we Zion'sdays, trails. ter homes. It is here that spring i your car from your campsite or motel." could not hit an of one we could not arrives first. one of its classics palisades 2,000 to 3,000 feet high resist was The grass was still brown when that draw rock climbers who Angels Landing. we left our home in Montana in Angels Landing is only a fiveearly April, headed south on savor big walls, Climbers can Interstate 15. But as we descend- often be spotted camped in mid- mile hike, but guides recommend ed the last stretch toward Zion. ascent, their sleeping platforms allowing at least five hours because of the terrain the trail dropping from mountains into suspended from pitons. The six-mile canyon drive covers - a 1,500-foot climb valleys, canyon walls soaring beside us until we reached the ends at a formation known as through a slot canyon and out to Virgin River, we could feel spring Temple of Sinawava, where the a 5.785-foot peak perched at the canyon begins narrowing to a slot end of a narrow rock fin. The engulfing us. name came from an early Zion Cottonwoods lined the river only 30 to 40 feet wide. explorer who looked up at the The canyon used to be overbank, flaunting fresh green leaves precipice from the canyon floor whelmed by traffic during ihe that swayed in the breeze over acres of brilliant green grass. spring and summer, bringing and declared "only an angel Wildf lowers were in riotous noise, pollution and endless frus- could land on it!" This is not a hike for those bloom under the warm desert tration for visitors who could find sun. Kids on spring break nowhere to park. The National afraid of heights. After a twosplashed in the still-frigid river. Park Service responded by begin- mile gradual approach, then Desert this may be, but after a ning a mandatory shuttle bus sys- climbing through a cool side canyon, the trail ascends Walter's long winter it was a welcoming tem in the year 2000. Wiggles, a series of 21 switchDuring the summer months oasis. backs that steeply ascend a cliff April through October the heart Established in 1919, Zion was wall, topping out at a broad of the Zion Canyon is closed to Utah's first national park. The sandy area known as Scout private vehicles. Visitors board state hosts some of the nation's Lookout. free propane-powered shuttle most spectacular parks - Arches. buses near the entrance station to From there, hikers work their Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon - but Zion bows to complete their journey into the way across a rocky ridge that steadily narrows. It finally none of them in its magnificence. park. becomes a rock fin only a few While shuttle buses may ranThe park is part of the Grand feet wide, with thousand-foot kle some who like the freedom of Staircase, a huge geological fordrops on each side. Fixed chains coming and going at will, the mation on the Colorado Plateau. set into the rock allow a safety Zion system has proved a success. Layers of sedimentary rock have grip on exposed sites for those The buses run every six minutes been lifted, tilted and eroded. Its traversing the edge of the fin. but during the day. stopping al all colorful cliffs stretch from Bryce it can be a terrifying ordeal for popular trailheads in the canyon, Canyon to the Grand Canyon. so people spend far less time those who fear heights. It also is The scale of the staircase is waiting for buses than they did in not a hike recommended for enormous: The sedimentary rock the often-hopeless search for a young children. layers were 10.000 feet thick parking space in the days before Despite that, it is a crowded before erosion began carving. the buses. The buses also trail, with frequent waits at narThe bottom layer of rock at restored quiet to the inner row spots for hikers coming the Bryce Canyon is the top layer at canyon. opposite direction. The reward Zion, and the bottom layer at for those who travel the entire A separate shuttle bus route Zion is the top layer at the Grand Canyon. (The Grand Staircase- runs through the town of The Summit County Democrats' Executive Committee is pleased to host i Former Senator Gary Hart for a memorable evening in Park City Your $75 contribution to the Summit County Democrats will include a signed copy of Senator Hart's latest book Under The Eagle's Wing. Sen. Hart's recent book The Courage Of Our Convictions - A Manifesto For Democrats will be available for purchase. WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday March 1 9th WHERE: Legacy Lodge at Park City Mountain Resort Appetizers will be served To RSVP email cindy.levine@comcast.net If you are unable to attend but would like to make a contribution, you may send a check to: SUMMIT COUNTY DEMOCRATS c/o Laura Bonham PO 976 Coalville UT 84017 Please see Zion, A-24 •?»•••• TH PERFECT COUNTRY CLUB GOLF COURSE SETTING ON THE 9 FAIRWAY - ^ - ^ - i ^ '» -.-y W: l-<Ki 2867 Stinny Slopes Drive - Offered at $1,190,000 - Main floor master bedroom with full spa bathroom - King size guest bedroom with full bath •*---• - Hardwood floors/vaulted wood ceiling - Customized closets -Air-conditioned - 3 bedrooms/3 bathrooms - Living room features wood-burning fireplace with gas starter - 3100 approx. square feet* . - Loft/built-in entertainment center/office - Family room with theater seating and full service sunken bar - Dining room with seating for 12 - Full service kitchen with pantry and granite counters - 2-car oversized garage/storage - Oversized covered deck/gas BBQ - Magnificent mountain/ski resort views - Located on a very quiet neighborhood street in Park Meadows - Call for a private showing r YOU DREAM...WE MAKE IT HAPPEN! CARLYLE MORRIS & PAGE MORRIS JULIANO > 801556-8603 ~ Carlyle •.cmorris@lwdparkcity.com • 801 671-9761 - P a g e • page@lwdparkcity.com 800 641-1884 ~ Toll Free • 435 649-1884 ~ Office • www.carlyle-page.com 1283 Deer Valley Drive • PO Box 2370 • Park City, UT 84060 LewisWolcottr^Dornbush R E A L ' Iniormolk'n herein, .illliou^li JIVIIH-J reliable K nol );iur.nikvil. Unyer 10 verily ..ill. |