Peer over the edge (but don't fall off!)

After yesterday's spectacular sunset at the Canyons, we progressed onto the East side of the South Rim. We discarded that wisecrack of an idea of watching the sunrise at 5:30 in the morning and just progressed slowly across the south rim.
There were quite a few points with differently uncreative names such as Grandview Point and Desert View Point which were quite amazing actually. The view changed dramatically by giving the canyon with visible lifelessness a winding Colorado Rapid. Not to say that the other parts of the canyon are lifeless, but that's simply all a person can see from such great heights.
Desert view was an interesting place. Along with a good view it also showcase an old Indian tower. Don't ask me why but a sign proudly stated that the tower was rated PG! That apart it had some cool architecture and paintings.
We then took a mini-route down toward the cliff and took a few snaps. That drop was nasty, but then, where in the Grand Canyon is there NO drop??

Following all this we stopped by at the hotel again, checked out and traveled for 4 hours to Barstow. Barstow was kind of a moderately sized town, but it pales it comparison with the size of the trucks that travel through the route. From what I understand Barstow is a truck haven with the traffic going helter-skelter. Hmm...reminds me of Chennai :)
Checked into the Country Inn and that's it for the day.

Signing Off for now...Sudharshan!

Zion Canyons...the inverse of the Grand Canyons...!

Everyone knows about the splendor of the Grand Canyon and it's picturesque beauty. But this lesser known canyon hide under the huge shadow of the Grand Canyon. Well, that is just simply a figure of speech employed and not a reality considering the fact that the bottom of the Zion Canyons is the Top of the Grand Canyons.

 And that's exactly where we went to today! The first thing that might catch your eye might be the reddish tinged roads. Or maybe the neatly lined transport buses. Perhaps the towering canyons. But if you look really, really carefully...you may observe swarms of little critters littering the ground. Nah! You don't need to be observant nor look carefully, they are just all over the place. After a bit of asking around we discovered they were the commonly called ten-caterpillars. Hmm...are they harmful? Nope...pretty harmless apparently. But still heck icky and annoying.

Coming back to the story after that random outburst...the roads are red due to the presence of minerals in the rock they use for the laying, which of course is the rock found in the Zion region. As we progressed to the bus-stop, I found the bus routes and Park map neatly presented with every comfort for the visitors. There are around 8 bus-stop locations throughout the park and each stop is visited by the bus. You only need to wait a maximum of 8 minutes in a stop for a bus to pop up.

First up, the Canyon Junction! it gives us a neat trail to walk on the shores of the Virgin river. Speaking of the Virgin River, I felt it extremely hard to fathom that that small stream single-handedly created towering canyons of that massive proportion. Erosion and carving of the rocks of the canyons by this river created what we see currently of the Zion Canyons. This may be the case for other canyons too. The Grand Canyon is a grand example. It is simply cannot be imagined by the human mind how such Canyons form due to erosion. Why? Simple. The time-frame we are talking about is over millions of years. And a human life is hardly a hundred. Do the math.

And yet again i manage to drift away from the topic. ah! Yes, The Court of The Patriarchs was our next stop. We got an amazing view of the Three peaks christened Abraham Peak, Jacob Peak and Isaac Peak.  The Grotto and The Zion Lodge were our next stops. These were the start point for various hikes and trails. Each trail was so enticing and I really felt like going on one. But Alas! Time was still a ticking factor. Besides I had no idea how those trail would turn out.

For example there was one called Angel's Landing. A well-known and visited one, it gives you a bird's-eye view of the Canyons. But there's a catch. 2 and a half miles of trekking and a half mile involving steep climb and a ridge which has huge drops on both sides of the trail. All that can be said here is- Don't look down!!

As we progressed through the park we covered the rest of the points and captured breathtaking photographs on the way too. All until we reached the Temple Of Sinawava where the canyons surrounding us suddenly converge. And the Virgin river is left just a small path in between the Canyons to trickle through.

And that was that. Zion Canyon is best enjoyed when trekking on the trails. Which we didn't do :(. Nevertheless an awesome sight. Catching a quick nap on the way back from the canyon on bus, we set off to our next destination. VEGAS!! Now that is sure to be three awesome days!!

But no! It's sooner then that! We check into our hotel in Vegas on the same night! Treasure Island. Smack dead in the middle of the renowned strip. Everything in that hotel was astonishingly lavish. The lobby, casinos, rooms, pool and of course, ( who would forget!)  the bathrooms!
But even in that room, in the hotel, in Las Vegas- there is hardly a feeling that people are being ripped off in the casinos and losing stashes of cash. It's all fun and games. Maybe, that's the charm of Vegas.

Signing off for now....Sudharshan!!