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Hikers were able to select route options
each day from among three trail difficulty
levels – easy, moderate and difficult – and
our guides obligingly adapted their itiner-
ary to meet the preferences of our group.

Throughout the course of the week, Sun
City hikers were led through red rock can-
yons, up and down switchbacks, along
ridgelines and across petrified sand
dunes. Our guides provided their insider
perspective as we traversed each route,
pointing out unique features, such as
hoodoos and natural arches, and further
enhancing our outdoor experience by shar-
ing their knowledge of the area’s geology,
flora, fauna, history and culture.

“Viewing, touching and breathing
in the formation history of weeping
rocks, landslides, towers, hoodoos,
arches and bridges will forever leave
a lasting picture of nature’s beauty
in our hearts and minds.”

Dianne and Tim Nickerson

The program’s initial educational pre- PHOTO BY KEN PATTERSON
sentation consisted of an overview of the
region’s unique geology, providing our Narrow slot canyons offered a cool contrast to the steep switchbacks and towering
group with an essential orientation to the cliffs of Zion National Park.
landscape and enabling us to better ap-
preciate the stunning formations observed introduced our group to some of his fa- massaged sore legs and nursed blistered
throughout the week. vorite raptors, including a golden eagle, a feet while reflecting on their learning ex-
falcon and a hawk. The learning process perience. All participants enthusiastically
Hikers learned about the powerful forces continued whenever the group traveled agreed that their hiking adventures had
of nature which formed the area’s impos- between destinations, as guides used the indeed been significantly enriched by the
ing landscape and which affected the bus microphone to entertain the group additional information. Muscles had been
types of native plants and animals which with anecdotes and quips, as well as to stretched and minds had been expanded!
would thrive there. Both parks are part dispense intriguing background informa- Hikers were also grateful that no final
of the Grand Staircase, an enormous se- tion and local lore. exam was required, as there was a wealth
ries of cliffs, slopes and terraces stretch- of information to assimilate on the way
ing from the Grand Canyon in northern At the conclusion of the Utah program, back to Sun City.
Arizona to the Paunsaugunt Plateau in exhausted but edified hikers dutifully
Bryce Canyon National Park. Comprised
of numerous layers of colorful sedimentary ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
rock, the Grand Staircase preserves more
of our planet’s history than any other spot
on the planet – over 600 million years of
Earth history, all on display right here
in America.

During one evening presentation about
birds of prey, a federally licensed expert

72 | SUNRAYS MARCH 2017