2013 Gratitude Project – First Time to Zion

This month will be a celebration of travel. I am so grateful for the many opportunities I’ve had over my nearly thirty years to explore the world. Click here to read about my 2013 November Gratitude Project – Travel

The first time I visited Zion National Park was a quick day trip with my roommate during college in the middle of winter. I had never been so we decided to just drive down one day when neither of us had anything going on. I’ve written about my adventures in Zion before (here and here). Enjoy a few pics of my first time in this magnificent national park, which I thought were lost but found on a CD!

The thing I still can’t help imagining any time I even drive by the turn off to the park is what it must have been like for the first settlers to find Kolob Canyons or Zion Canyon. The people who settled that region came from the eastern United States and Great Britain only a few years before its discovery as Mormon pioneers. The canyons aren’t exactly on any major travel path and were found by happenstance.

I think the same thing about other magnificent natural beauties that are so unique in different parts of the world. What was it like for the first explorers to come across the Grand Canyon or Half Dome Rock, see a saguaro cactus, or watch a geyser explode. These things were so foreign to them, that it must have been quite an experience. Now, when people visit these places for the first time they have most likely seen pictures before they get there. They know somewhat what to expect, even if the images don’t do full justice for the grandeur of these places.

I have been in awe when I see these places in person even after I’I’ve seen photos, but it still must have been something completely astonishing for those early adventurers when they came across them so many years ago.