2015-05-06 Zion National Park

After I left Henderson I got through Las Vegas as efficiently as I could manage (no easy feat). I drove about 135 miles north on I-15 to Saint George Utah for the night. The next morning I headed to Zion National Park, a little more than an hour’s drive away. I stopped at will along the way, so I’m sure it took longer than ‘normal’, but what the hey, this trip was not about speed.

I had hoped to take pictures of American Dippers, rumored to be numerous on the Virgin River near Zion Lodge, but I later learned that the only access to the area was via tour bus. I decided that I wasn’t interested in climbing onto one of these crowded boxes and wrestling all my camera gear through the crowds, and I drove on through the park and out to the east entrance.

I stopped at many places to look for birds and scenery. On neither count was I disappointed. Some of the birds that I was able to meet up close were Ash-Throated Flycatchers, Black-Headed Grosbeaks, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Black-Throated Gray Warblers, Bushtits, House Wrens, Juniper Titmice, Say’s Phoebes and Spotted Towhees. On the drive out to Mount Carmel Junction, where I spent the night, I even found bison.

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