View from Canyon Overlook at Zion National Park
One of the popular things to do at national parks is to try to catch the sunrise. Zion National Park has incredible scenery and having the sunlight illuminate the canyon walls is surely one of the highlights of any visit. You just need the sun. I woke up early morning to try to get photos of the sunrise at Zion National Park. There is a short hike from the car park to the viewing point. The trail itself isn’t very difficult. The only challenge was to actually seeing the trail considering that most people would be walking in the dark to get to the viewing point. I got there just as the sky was getting a bit more light, which made it easier for me since I don’t have equipment to hike in pitch dark.
Looking at the Canyon Floor from Canyon Overlook at Zion National Park
Since it was dark, I needed to bring along my tripod to get good photos. I seldom use it these days and I think sunrise is one of the best opportunities to use it this trip. I can see that I wasn’t the only one trying to hurry to the viewing point. We knew that it was already late and we just need to make it to the overlook. It wasn’t before long that we would hear other visitors where we couldn’t see. It was a sign that we were there.
The overlook itself is spacious enough for people. However, don’t think that this is some nicely paved platform. The overlook itself is like some opening between the mountains which just so happened to look over the canyon below. Having said that, there is a barrier in front to keep visitors from falling but it doesn’t really cover the entire breadth of the overlook. Each photographer was setting up camp in their own spot. I got myself a nice rock to stand and sit on while I wait for the sun to rise. Looking at the sky, I can tell that the sun is supposed to rise behind us and eventually illuminating the canyon walls. Unfortunately, the plentiful clouds are putting a damper on my dreams of a beautiful sunrise here. Much as the skies were clear yesterday, it wasn’t that great that morning.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/ZionNationalPark.kmz] zoom=19