May 10: Early May in Zion National Park - Riverwalk Trail and a bit of snow

We stayed in Watchman Campground for 4 nights (all we could get - if heading here, be sure to have reservations!). Here's our spot under Watchman Peak; we had an excellent view of Watchman from spot A006 but would recommend B Loop when it's hot, because many of those sites have lots of shade. We had a terrific time hiking in this park - which has outstanding trails, free spring water to refill your water bottles, and the shuttle is great, runs April-October, with very short wait time.

The Riverside walk is a nice easy trail leading up to the Narrows.

This is where the Riverside trail ends and the Narrows trail begins (close at the time we were there, and you can see why). Two weeks before we arrived, two people drowned who had attempted to come down the Narrows from outside the park, without a permit, on a homemade raft.

There was plenty of greenery in the "Zion swamp" and throughout the canyon; the waterfalls were flowing from recent rains.

We had a light dusting of snow one night which only stayed on the top of the canyon, but made for some fantastic scenery.