Wheeee!

Zion National Park has joined other popular parks in utilizing a free shuttle bus service to decrease the amount of pollution and vehicular crowding on the scenic drive into the canyon.  I am all in favor of this and am especially happy to report that these buses run on propane.

But there is another side benefit and Ron and I took advantage of it the other day.  We loaded our bikes and ourselves on the bus and rode it up to the end of the canyon drive.

 

Since it's been so hot here, I pushed for us to begin our adventure early.  Well, I might have overdone that a bit.  We started out with jackets and could have used gloves.

The canyon was still in the shade for most of our ride, so my pictures don't show how absolutely gorgeous it all was.

We had the road to ourselves except for the buses which are not allowed to pass a moving bicycle.  So every 15 minutes, we pulled off while a bus passed us.  What a glorious feeling of freedom and a wonderful way to experience the canyon.

And except for one small section, the whole road is downhill!

By the time we reached the Court of the Patriarchs, the sun was shining brightly on the peaks.  From the left are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the white peak on the far right, just peeking out from behind Mount Moroni.)

For the last 1.7 miles back to the visitor center, the canyon widens and the Pa'rus bike/foot trail follows along the Virgin River.

How fun!