Zion and the inescapable bottleneck of mass tourism

I tried to pick a title that was less direct but it would not have captured the essence of our experience. Fact is, there are times when disappointments occur, which is okay, but we need to explain those too. We knew there would be shuttle rides from the park's entrance to each of the 12 or so stops, within the park. What we weren't planning on, was elbow to elbow hiking with several hundred of our closest strangers and all of this occurred after being crammed into the shuttle buses like sardines. Hard to imagine getting stressed out just trying to enjoy the outdoors but that's exactly what happened. The scenery is stunning and we can certainly see why this place is so popular. But, in cases like this, with all of the people, we might be loving the park to death. I am not sure what answers there are to this issue, but imagine this park in another 20 years without some visitor caps in place. What would hiking be like then? The driver-less shuttles would play their overly cheerful prerecorded messages as people quietly disembark.
"Please remember to hold on to your yellow GPS tethering cord at all times. They are what connects you to the hikers in front of you and will also be your guide for your return ride on our shuttle bus. Please enjoy your time at Zion and remember to enjoy the hologram images of the park's history, provided by our corporate sponsors. Don't forget to check out our award-winning souvenir shops as you are guided through our wonderful park. Again, on behalf of the federal bureaus of infotainment, enjoy Zion!" 
I know that paints a grim view of the future but in many way that's what is occurring now, minus the GPS tethers.
   We have heard that several other parks are experiencing similar issues with congestion. After what we saw at Zion we have decided not to go to Yosemite because, simply, the thrill is gone when you experience dog-pile tourism. 

Walking the narrows.

Near the beginning of the park and before the shuttle rides.

Beautiful rock formation in the park and it is easy to see why people are fascinated with this park.

We are early birds to national parks and as such we do miss some of the crowd.

The calm of early morning.

The cliffs and ledges are amazing here.

A riparian area in the desert is a most beautiful place, indeed.

We hiked through water for several miles and we found these cascades early on.

On of the few areas that we weren't with a lot of other people.

This stream does experience flash flooding, at times, which continues the erosion to this day.

Beautiful backdrops.

The shuttle buses were clean, efficient and packed with visitors on each ride.

Our return to the shuttle bus and the endless streams of humanity.