Checkboard Mesa Up Close
The thing with places like Zion National Park, a lot of places would have very colorful names. It is great because it helps to remember what these places are. Calling it a viewpoint isn’t very memorable and I would easily forget it. Zion National Park has a few of these memorable places. I was trying to see what is there beyond the road out of Zion National Park. I plan to leave the following day but I want to photograph anything else out here so I don’t need to stop all the time when I do leave. I am so glad I got the car because I don’t know what I would do if I would have to rely on public transportation to get around here.
View of Checkerboard Mesa at Zion National Park
Along the way out of the park, there was a rather prominent mountain. I know there are a lot of prominent mountains here but this one is white, compared to the red sandstone which most of park is made of. What’s more the surface of the mountain is adorned with a distinctive rough cross hatch pattern which earned it the name Checkerboard Mesa. It was looking at the mesa even though I was still far away. Looking at it up close gives you and idea of how massive it is. The slopes are generally smooth but I suspect that the checkerboard pattern makes it easy to climb. I don’t know if it is actually possible to climb it since it was still early in the morning.
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