Ahead of arriving in Utah, we'd said that we'd planned to take more time here, to not feel so rushed and truly savor our surroundings. Plus, after over 2 months of being on the go, we physically and mentally knew we wanted to slow down.
So we were happy to take our time again this morning, hanging out at our campsite for half the day. Surprisingly, there was only one RV that had pulled up in the expanse of land close to midnight, and during the day only one other vehicle parked within. The campers had a UTV or dirt bikes, which was perfect for cruising up the coral pink sand dunes not far from where we had stayed.
Belly of the Dragon
Eventually, we peeled ourselves away from this glorious campsite, arriving at The Belly of the Dragon. It's an old drainage tunnel from upper canyon water flow, which has carved these sandstone walls -- and very much looks like the belly of some kind of monster! Although we'd read that it was a trailhead, it's a very short walk from one end of the "belly" to the other; we were probably inside for about 15 to 20 minutes, give or take the pauses that we had to snap photos. It can get dark inside, so we took our headlamps to see inside, which was helpful at the midway point. We imagine that cellphone flashlights can also be just as helpful, but at least this way we were able to take photos on our phones while getting light from a separate device.
Entering Zion National Park
From entering the belly of the dragon, we entered Zion National Park, one of the most popular national parks in Utah. We could see why once we drove in -- we were almost immediately greeted by Checkerboard Mesa, a monumental grey-white rock formation with square slits all around it (hence the name). Apparently the Mesa is a popular spot for bighorn sheep (which we are yet to see in the wild on this trip), but alas, there weren't any bighorns in sight when we visited.
Since we have an oversized vehicle, to continue into Zion we needed to pay an additional $15 to drive through the tunnel. There are a lot of RVs that drive through, but it does mean that the tunnel only allows one-way traffic to allow for the RV to drive through the center. We had arrived in the late afternoon and the last RV can drive through at 4.30pm, so we decided to exit the park and tackle the tunnel the following day.
Not far from the entrance, we saw a paddock with a herd of bison in the distance! We stopped briefly to have a look, although we had to watch Sheila like a hawk because there were some bones on the ground that she was eager to munch on!
We found a clearing to set up for the night. Michael had been in touch with the Swiss family we'd met back in Page who were coming to Zion from Bryce National Park. They soon arrived to hang out and picnic with us. Their plans are to travel around the world for a year -- they've been traveling for the last 9 months or so, and have been through Asia and Australia before arriving in the US for a month, with plans to visit Colombia and maybe Costa Rica before heading back home! We've enjoyed hearing other long-term travelers' plans, and getting tips and insights from places they've visited that are on our itinerary. It's a big change from staying put in a city!
Route Map
