Hiking Zion NP Day 1 & The Lodge 03Oct18

We rolled into Zion Canyon in the AM and found a big back-up before the tunnel - we spied the issue after awaiting our turn for one lane travel into the canyon; a charger had a broken wheel and was blocking one full lane in a very high traffic area of a 2 lane road. We ultimately got to the visitor center to get a briefing - we parked in a huge lot among 2K other cars (luckily) as this is the only parking allowed in the canyon. The entire NP is served strictly by shuttle buses now. The shuttles were very effective and really relieved pressure in this gorgeous spot, except for the visitor center of course, which was right at the park entrance.

After getting the lay of the land from rangers at the VC we used our rare parking spot to launch a hike on Watchman Trail. Zion Canyon is gorgeous and here was a route taking us above the floor with views of the 3 Watchmen and much more. I even made a weird panorama with me in it 3 times to match the 3 Watchmen.

After the hike we checked in to our cabin next to the keen Zion lodge... what a spot. There's a huge tree in front of the lodge; there are wild turkeys in the AM and deer in the PM on the huge "lawn;" there are prickly pear margs and great food in the restaurant.