September 14, 2015 Zion National Park, severe storm

Today we had a short drive to our campground outside Zion National Park, so we made our first foray into the park after lunch.  It was 12 twisty miles on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway through Pine Creek Canyon into the main park, including a 1.1 mile tunnel.  With no lighting inside, they cut "galleries" (windows) into the side of the tunnel in several places.

On our drive to the park, one of the first features we saw were the "checkerboard mesas", which were quite odd-looking.  See below....

Finally we got into Zion National Park proper.  This amazing canyon was carved by the north fork of the Virgin River.  We parked at the visitor center and went inside to gather up the necessary maps and information.  One of the things we noticed is that "The Narrows" was closed due to high water after some rainy days.

While we were hiking up the short Archaeology Trail across from the visitor center, we noticed this storm approaching, so we hot-footed it for the truck.

And it's a mighty good thing we did, because that storm came blasting through like gangbusters!  We watched big winds thrashing all the trees in the parking lot, breaking limbs and stripping leaves.  The rain came pelting down in sheets, and then it turned to hail.  We moved the truck under a tree in case the hailstones got really big, but they never did.  We finally headed back to the campground after the worst of the storm had passed.  And the entire 12 miles was like these pictures show:  lots and lots of mud-laden rain runoff onto the road, including rocks and tree debris.  It was a VERY interesting and slow drive.....

After the fact, we learned that this weather system caused flash flooding on the Virgin River and that there were multiple deaths, including hikers in Zion.  So sad to hear this.  So amazed at the sheer power of water!  It can carve canyons, and it can kill.....