Spring Surprises!

Springtime always holds a certain wonderment to it!  The buds, blossoms, new growth and of course, snow, rain and sun all in one day!  We went to bed last night with weather of very strong winds and snow predicted for southwestern Utah.  So I wasn't too surprised to wake up early this morning and my weather app said SNOW for Zion NP.  There was no snow where we were staying, but that was 30 minutes from Zion.  We got on the road by 8 a.m. as we were told that long lines and limited parking would await us if we got to Zion after 9.  

Of course, that's the scenario on a nice warm day!  Today, we had no line at entry station and we got a front row parking place to catch the shuttle.  Plus it was not snowing and no snow on the ground.  Very low hanging clouds and a heavy mist made peaks and canyons looks surreal.  

We took the shuttle bus to the end of scenic drive where the canyon narrows and only foot traffic is allowed.  

Here you see the remnants of the river that long ago created this canyon. Sorry that the photos are so dark, but it was rather dark down on the canyon floor.

There was snow on top of the canyon and it looked like a winter wonderland up there.

At the end of the shuttle drive and just as we were leaving the western section to drive through the 1.1 mile tunnel to get to the eastern section of the park, we saw some sunshine! 

After we got through the eastern entry, the snow began!  We drove another 60+ miles to Bryce Canyon City and alternately went through snow, rain, and sun.  It seemed to depend on the altitude.  

Close to Bryce, we saw the most blue sky of all day. 

And some HooDoos!  Literally, I took this photo about one minute after the previous one and the sky in that direction was cloudy!  

After we checked into hotel, we went down to the park while it was snowing.  We decided to take a check peak at one of the overlooks.  This photo was taken in a snowy burst, but at least it gives us something to look forward to seeing tomorrow!