My return flight to the east coast takes me over Niagra Falls. Not the best angle but I always hesitate to ask the pilot to turn the plane around for the benefit of my photography. One day I will coerce my brother to fly me around in a small plane with the door open so I can really take some nice aerial shots.
After a heavy photographic diet of intense reds and oranges I thought it would be nice to conclude with an image containing a more muted palette. Tonight I treat myself to a nice Mexican dinner in St. George, a piping hot shower, and a comfortable bed. This week long adventure has been both exhilarating and exhausting. Although I did not reach all of my planned destinations, I found many unexpected and wonderful opportunities along the way. There is little doubt in my mind that I will one day return to this place of natural beauty for continued exploration and image making.
The forecast today is for snow and rain. I opt to head for Zion National Park which due to the lower altitude will be limited to rain. I remember shooting this exact same scene when I was here several years ago with Jeanine. The positive side of bad weather is that you often get really dramatic lighting and I am sure when I compare this to my prior images of this location I will find this one the more pleasing.
I spent the night in Bryce again and woke up at 5am to discover my car covered in snow. I drove cautiously to Bryce Point where I positioned myself for the sunrise. The sun was largely blocked by the clouds unfortunately, but I did get some nice diffuse lighting and great contrast of the snow surrounding the trees and hoodoos.
I would have liked to stay here until sunset, but having had nothing more than a banana and orange for lunch, I decided it was time to head back to civilization for a proper dinner.
After parting ways with Steffen and Alexandra, I head south to a place called the Devil’s Garden. I think a better name would have been the Devil’s Playground. Within the space of a few acres there are countless rock formations which simply invite you to climb on and around them. Many of them look like carve sculptures of human forms.
Shooting at a low angle really accentuates the rock patterns, and every time we got ready to leave, one of us would spot another irresistible wave. Only the onset of threatening weather motivated us to continue on back towards the trailhead.
On the hike back from the slot canyon, Steffen and I stop to photograph the textures of this fascinating “wave” of stone.
Although the most interesting part of this slot canyon is rather short it is not without some interesting challenges due to an extremely narrow section. We arrive in time for noon sun which lights up the interior of the slot perfectly.
This morning I check the weather and the threat of rain is low so my plans to visit the Zebra slot canyon in the Grand Straircase Escalante National Monument are on. While checking in at the Escalante Ranger Station I bump into Steffen and Alexandra again (now for the fouth time) and sure enough they have the same destination in mind. I am happy to join up with Steffen for the five mile hike providing an additional measure of safety for both of us. Alexandra is not feeling well and stays with the cars at the trailhead.
The most interesting photographs happen when the sun is rising or setting. This afternoon the sun spent much of its time behind clouds and I was hoping that by sunset it would emerge to illuminate the cliffs at Paria View. My long wait was rewarded when a five minute window opened up where the sun cleared the clouds but was still high enough to light up the scene.
Hiking to the canyon floor provides a much different perspective of the amazing hoodoos.
My final destination for the day is Bryce Canyon which is simply awe inspiring. Even after clicking on this photo for a larger view it will not be big enough to appreciate the detail in this scene. I hope to create a 30 x 20 inch print which should do it justice. Unlike many of my prior destinations you can simply drive right up to any number of tremendous observation points to admire the thousands of hoodoos which can be found in Bryce.
I found the perspective from directly under the arch to be the most interesting and started to feel less disappointed about my aborted excursion to the Wahweap Hoodoos with each image.