Monument Valley Photo Tour Saturday April 28th, 2012

Monument Valley Photo Tour Saturday April 28th, 2012
Zion National Park - Riverwalk and Emarld Pool

Jet lag was not holding the photographers back this morning ... even though there was not a set sunrise photo shoot quite a few of our trekkers could be found exploring and photographing the sunrise from close by our hotel.  Our hotel in only two minutes from the gates of the National Park and we are surrounded by the canyon. As you can see with the first image of todays post this is what we see right from our hotel balconies.

After a hardy breakfast at a local eating establishment called Blondies. The owner is someone James met when he was in the area a few months back setting up the tour and she opened for breakfast just for our group.  She also prepared box lunches for the group today so we could stay in the park over the lunch hour and not loose time coming out of the canyon.  Thanks again Shelly Cox owner of Blondies for all your help.

Our first stop this morning was a 3 km round trip at the very end of Zion Canyon called River Walk Trial.  The early morning light was beautiful and as you walked deeper into the canyon the walls got more narrow, and all that was left was a side pathway and the Virgin River.

This afternoon we hiked up the trial to the Emerald Pools, three beautiful collections of water pools that are located at various altitudes of the trail.  It was beautiful with many photo opportunities.

We retuned to the hotel late in the afternoon with about an hour to freshen up before heading out this evening for our Welcome dinner.

Tomorrow we will be up at 6:00 a.m. to go into the canyon for sunrise photos, then after breakfast we will pack up and begin our journey to Monument Valley.  We will be making a stop at Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona enroute to Monumet Valley.

Good night from the Trekkers and enjoy the images from todays outings.

Sunrise 6:40 a.m. from our hotel.  

Reflections in the Virgin River, from our morning hike on RiverWalk Trail.

Christine and Sue on the Riverwalk Trail.

Susan is holding a parrot, not the type of bird you would think of finding in the park.  A young lady was hiking with her pet and let Susan hold it.

This guy was posing by the river, notice the copper colour to the river from the reflection of the red rock cliffs.

Pia taking a shot from the park shuttle bus window.

Another trail watcher, notice the reflections in his eyes.

Look up ... it's a bird. it's a plane no it's mountain climbers. Several mountain climbers were on the rock face when we were preparing for a group photo.

Our first group photo, shot today at White Throne in Zion National Park.  Ross B take a close look at Bill Hall.

Jim always likes to colour co-ordinate with the trees, when we visit these parts.

Waterfalls at lower level of Emerald Pools.  There are three pools in total, and the hiking trail takes you right under the falls.

The reflecting light and colour off the rocks from the waterfall at lower Emerals Pool.

Half moon starting to rise over the valley at about 4:00 today.

This afternoon Paul thought he lost Pia, so he hired a sketch artist to create an image to pass out ... Paul went for detail and selected a large canvas.

That's it for tonight folks, and we would like to introduce you to Pixel our new tour guide, who is poining the way out of the canyon for our drive to Monument Valley.  He got the job because he works for peanuts.