Last weekend Virginia and I went to southern Utah. On Saturday we rode our bicycles through Zion National Park. The last few years I've avoided the park during peak season because the crowds are so bothersome. The shuttle system is a great solution to relieve pressure on the park and I support it 100%. Still, I can't help but feel like I'm part of a herd when I climb on one of the trams. Several years ago, we visited Yosemite National Park and we happened to have our bikes with us. Even though it was the middle of summer, on a weekend, and the roads were packed with cars and crazy drivers we stayed largely immune from the stress while peddling through the valley. This summer we decided to give Zion a try via peddle power. It was a wonderful experience. We made our way up the canyon at our own pace, enjoying the massive walls on either side and the wide open sky above. Zion has a policy that bikers must pull over to the side and stop when a shuttle approaches from behind. With a ten minute interval we weren't bothered one bit by a quick breather and a look around. At the peak of summer crowds we only occasionally passed another biker. Everyone else was crammed onto a shuttle. We stopped to photograph where we wanted, found a secluded spot to swim in the Virgin River, and mostly felt we were having a personal experience in the park. I hadn't felt that alone in Zion since I first began visiting in the 1970's.

Between two shuttle stops, Zion National Park, Utah

We decided to give the fall season a try as well on bikes. We parked our car in Springdale, and rode through the pedestrian gate at the end of town. The park was just as crowded now with visitors eager to see the fall colors as any busy weekend in summer. But from atop our bicycles we once again felt that we had the park all to ourselves. This time we happened upon more bikers than that first ride in the summer, Still, it was for me the one and only way to enjoy the canyon. Fall is a beautiful time of year in the park. The air was warm and it was clear and sunny. The sun was low in the sky and brightly illuminated the cottonwoods, maples, oaks, and willows. With clear blue skies, I opted to crop out the sky where possible and concentrate on the brilliant fall foliage, even letting the canyon walls fall off into blackness.

The water was chillier now than it was in the summer and we chose not to swim, If you have the opportunity to visit Zion at any time of the year, I heartily urge you to consider bringing or renting a bicycle and ditching the crowds. You'll still meet up with people, but they are much more likely to be gathered at the key bus stops. Riding a bike gives you the luxury of stopping at an infinite number of other locations along the road. One drawback for me as a photographer, was managing the photo gear on a bike ride. I packed a scaled down collection of equipment and regretted leaving some of the pieces behind. Mostly I struggled with my tripod. I used a bungie cord to attach the tripod to the handlebars. It was annoying threading it through the brake and gear cables every time we stopped. In the future I'll hopefully bring a much smaller tripod that will fit in my backpack.