We left Zion National Park this morning, heading east on Hwy 9 via the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. Completed in 1930, it isn't wide or tall enough for oversized vehicles like many modern RVs or buses, which had difficulty negotiating the turns. Now the Park Service requires such vehicles to pay an "escort fee" of $15. When one arrives at the tunnel, traffic is changed from two-way to one-way to accommodate it. Of course during the summer, there's a constant stream of buses and RVs, so the tunnel is almost always one-way, with 6 or 7 minute waits.
Hwy 9 is steep and winding, often with sheer drop-offs, as it runs through the east side of Zion National Park, with stunning views, but I wasn't able to appreciate them fully, since I was driving. We did stop at Checkerboard Mesa to view the crossbedding and vertical lines that create the impression of a checkerboard in the rock. I was hoping to see some bighorn sheep, since we'd been told they were mainly on the east side of the park, but no luck.
The only large town we passed through on our way to Jacob Lake was Kanab, where we found a surprisingly well stocked little grocery store called Honey's Marketplace, which offers "Groceries and so much more!" We stocked up there and ate lunch with Dennis and Cheryl in the parking lot before heading to our next campsite at Kaibab Camper Village.
It's an older park, but quiet and restful, with sites nestled among the pine trees.
