This is Emerald Pool #2 in Zion Park. One of the 3 Emerald Pools you can hike to. Very popular, as with most of the places we visited, we had plenty of company on the trail. But when you look out at the nature before you (located just beyond a chain-barrier for your safety as well as that of the delicate biome) you can forget for a moment that you are part of a crowd of international travellers.


There were big, plump tadpoles here! And nobody seemed to notice them but me! But when I exclaimed, "Ooh- tadpoles!" while leaning over the chain barrier to get as close to them as possible, people noticed. And Jerry tried to pretend he didn't know me.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but this guy has all 4 legs. I also saw another tadpole>froglet on the far side of the little pond (which was scarcely as big as a swimming pool) who had chosen just that moment to venture out on land with still half of his tail. Unfortunately, he was too far away and too tiny for me to take a picture of him.