The girls are over half way done in their first semester and on fall break! I can't believe it is October already! We headed to Utah to explore the "mighty 5" national parks. We took an early flight to Salt Lake City and after we rented the car drove out to the Great Salt Lake.
It was very stinky!
As we got closer to shore, the wind made the smell more tolerable.
This lake is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world ranging from 14-25% salt. The ocean is 3.5% salt! The saltiest sea is the Dead Sea which is 33% salt by comparison. 3 rivers flow into the Great Salt Lake but it has no outlet and water is evaporated leaving minerals and salt. The lake is around 13 feet deep and at an elevation of 4,200 feet.
We got lunch off the interstate at A&W and drove 4 1/2 hours south to Springdale and Zion National Park.
Before checking in to our hotel, we drove into the park as the sun was hitting its "golden hour". We drove through the two tunnels on highway 9. The Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel is an engineering marvel and was once the longest tunnel made by man in the world! We drove to the Checkerboard mesa which has vertical fractures caused by erosion and also temperature changes.
We also saw a few bighorn sheep grazing nearby.
We were stunned by the beauty of Zion! You can see a natural arch being formed in the distance.
Probably one of the most photographed scenes in the park! The Watchman and Virgin River.
We drove out at dusk and checked into our hotel called, "Cliffrose Lodge and Gardens" in Springdale. This was a great place to stay and had gorgeous grounds! It was also right outside the south entrance of the park. We walked to the Zion Canyon Brewpub for dinner and stopped by the grocery store for some supplies to take back to the hotel. We were all exhausted by a long day of travel and sightseeing!
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