Above is this weeks free desktop. Back this week to a truly amazing park featured here many times, this is Zion National Park in southwest Utah. Zion NP was established in 1909 and features breathtaking sandstone cliffs among the highest in the world. The park basically divides into three sections, not only by the variations in what you will see in each, but also by the fact each section requires you to access from a different route. The upper section is Kolob Canyon, a beautiful area which is very lightly developed and offers some very intriguing day hikes with trailheads to backcountry possibilities. The central section is the Upper and Lower Kolob Plateau which is the least developed of the three and one could easily overlook as it requires a bit of searching just to find it (this section offers some great views and contains many trailheads to backcountry exploration). Lastly, Zion Canyon is the main, highly developed section where the majority of visitors go when experiencing this park (and for good reason too, it's really beautiful here). Because of the volume of visitors, main portion of Zion Canyon is accessed only through a shuttle service, which I find more enjoyable every visit I make here (I do enjoy the freedom from task of driving in this section of the park, it's nice be able to just experience the scenery). Now, this weeks picture is from the Zion Canyon section, at the end of the Canyon Overlook trail, a rather easy 1 mile round trip hike which ends at a amazing canyon view. This June 2005 picture features a few formations I'd like to point out. First, the overlook is at the end of Pine Creek Canyon, so the foreground is looking back out of the canyon. Past this canyon, on the right side, the first formation you should notice is called The Streaked Wall. Straight up from it you will see a light cone which is The Beehives. Going left and futher away, a formation just jumps out at you, the light rock with red streak, is the Altar of Sacrifice which is located in Towers of the Virgin, the series of light peaks. On to the left is the West Temple, another well known feature. Zion is a real treasure in America's park system, providing the opportunity for exploration of this amazing landscape. With the layout and volume of things to experience here, without a multi-day visit, you'll just get a glimpse of what it has to offer.