We pulled into the Best Western in Springdale just before 6pm. We checked in, dropped our bags in the room and caught the tram at the stop in front of the hotel. We bought our tickets at the gate and walked across the bridge into the park. Mike stopped to catch these snappies
This formation overlooking the entrance to Zion Canyon is called The Watchman, go figure.
We quickly caught a park tram and were on our way up-canyon. We almost broke out laughing listening to a pair of wranglers who were working for the vendor operating trail rides. One was a bit unhappier than the other and when the younger one started in about "wanting to get out of this hell hole", the older on quickly cut in with a husky, "easy now." It reminded me of my quiet way of shushing my crew on the back porch. It was perfect!
We took the tram all the way to the Temple of Sinawava stop where we stepped off for a quick stroll along the Riverside Walk. It was a great introduction to the park for Mike and really whet my appetite for some great hikes in the coming days.
It was well after sunset when we made it back to the Visitor's Center. We thought we would take in a ranger talk on park critters. It took a few minutes to find the amphitheater in the dark, just above the south campground. We sat down a few minutes late and soon found the talk a bit underwhelming. But hey, it's a national park and we have it almost all to ourselves! We were looking forward to finding some food as soon as the Q&A session wrapped up.
We caught the tram back to the hotel and were soon hopscotching around Springdale trying to find a kitchen that was still open at 10 o'clock on a Monday night. We got lucky at The Bit and Spur. The bar food was good but the regional pilsner was about as impressive as the ranger talk. I was thinking I probably should have had the Polygamy Porter...
We got back to the room and put our first dent in the Corona case. Mike did some honing of his fantasy team and it wasn't long before we called it a night. Our first full day of out trip had just ended and we had a date with Angels Landing in the morning.