Thursday, March 27, 2014, Foggy Morning and Bighorn Sheep on the East Side of Zion National Park, UT

This morning, while at Watchman Campground in Zion National Park, UT, I worked on the blog and Joani took Sam for a walk. When I finished what I was doing they were not home, so I headed outside. The rain had stopped but left the mists hanging on the mountain peaks. Joani had her camera and took a few pictures from the campground but there was so much more to see.

As soon as they got back from their walk we headed up the valley - breakfast would have to wait! Strangely, there was little or no fog in the valley north of the Grotto area making us wish we had gotten up just a little earlier. What we did see, however, was so beautiful and unexpected we were in awe.

A few of the peaks had a dusting of snow.

The Court of the Patriarchs was our favorite, shrouded in the low hanging fog.  

After lunch, it had cleared up, but we wondered if the higher elevations on the east side of the park might have some snow from last night's storm. The east side had been largely unexplored (except passing through it on the way to Bryce Canyon), so we headed that way, up the switchbacks and through the tunnel. There was no snow, but the trip was well worthwhile. We took advantage of many of the turnouts and spent a good deal of time enjoying the unique geology.

There is a layer of yellow in the higher elevations that dominates the east side of Zion.

Seen from the side of the road, this slot canyon was calling to us. Another day perhaps.

I have been looking for Bighorn Sheep for so long I had almost given up on seeing them. Rounding a corner, I nearly ran into a few crossing the road. Joani caught about half of the herd from the car as we passed. 

Upon researching Desert Bighorn Sheep in Zion, I learned sightings are somewhat rare. The population was all but wiped out by the '50s, but they reintroduced them to Zion in the '70s.

Now, the powers that be fears the sheep population is growing too fast for its own good. I count 7 babies in this picture!

Fortunately, these animals were not too frightened by our passing, so when we found a pull-off and stopped they were still around. I climbed up on some rocks for a better vantage point (but kept my distance). Look at this group posing for me!  What luck!  

Near the beginning of the Zion-Mt Carmel highway (just beyond the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive turn off) there is a beautiful, but easy to miss bridge. We pulled over and hiked to the water for a closer look. Obviously, back in the late '20s, they built this bridge to last and put some effort into making it a work of art at the same time.

One last stop on the way home for the iconic view of the Watchman. We stopped at this same bridge many times and always found the view to be sensational, but some cloud drama always makes a landscape better!