(9/27) In the park and beyond.
It's only a 2-mile round trip but typical to our Gire style it took us until late lunchtime to complete it! There were plants, some flowering, to photograph. . .
. . . birds and squirrels to watch. . .
. . . and more impressive scenery to view. Hanging gardens were in several locations along the trail. Hanging gardens are locations on the sheer rock walls where water seeps through and permits various plants to get a foothold.
The Scenic Drive in Zion follows the Virgin River up the canyon until it is too narrow for vehicles. Private cars are not allowed on the Drive; shuttle buses take visitors to various stops along the canyon road. Our destination today was Riverside Walk, the trail at the end of the road that goes further into the canyon.
For our late afternoon and evening, we followed up on some information given to us about birds. When I ( Judy) asked a ranger about good birding locations in the park, he asked if I wanted to see condors. I said, "Do you ever get a 'no' to that question?"
To get to the condor roost we had to drive outside the park, then up onto several mesas (a total of about 4600' climb). By the time we actually found the roost (missed it the first time around), it was getting dark.
But we did see California Condors -- 4 of them roosting in a bare tree. We didn't get to see them fly in but there was no mistake about what the birds were. Hopefully we'll see them in flight over the Grand Canyon.
