The Federal Shutdown has rather affected the itinerary! The National Parks are closed until further notice, as are all trails and hiking routes, with apparently a $150 fine for being found in a National Park, although not sure who will see you when all non-essential staff are on furlough! We will have to wait and see whether everything will be back to normal in a few days or not, but one way of looking at it is that we don't know what we are missing! In the meantime though, there is plenty to see without the National Parks, even though they were meant to be the focus of our trip. State Parks are open, and many are linked with great scenic routes, so we will just have to make the most of things.

We left Las Vegas and had a stunning drive throughout the middle of a wide desert valley with huge mountains either side, driving from Nevada, through a bit of Arizona into Utah. We found out about the potential park closure at the the 'Welcome to Utah' visitor centre. We continued to Springdale where we've been staying in a quaint B&B called Under the Eaves. There is a fabulous view of the mountains from the garden at sunset.


 
We were given great advice in the morning of where to go instead of Zion. We hiked the Eagle Crags Trail in the morning, which took about 4hrs, and gave stunning views of the Shunesburg Mountain and South Creek ...

 

 



Afterwards, we drove the Kolob Terrace scenic drive,, which is a state highway that actually goes through parts of Zion National Park, so we did get a glimpse of the promised land after all! 

   
 
We actually saw a closed hiking trail, but despite not being the main part of Zion, the views were amazing ... With Kolob Reservoir at the end.

 
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Our next stop on the trail is Bryce, and while we may not get to see the park, we have plans ...!