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.

I paused for almost an hour at the Grosvenor Arch which offers up many interesting photographic angles, this being one of the more traditional views with a good profile of the double arch.

This morning I attempt to reach the Wahweap Hoodoos. With just a few miles to go after an hour on a progressively less passable dirt road I am unable to climb out of a wash with the SUV and am forced to turn around empty handed. I used the shovel I had purchased to frequently groom the road ahead of me and to extricate myself when I got stuck. Without the shovel I would have no doubt been stranded for days. Returning to the comparatively well groomed Cottonwood Road pictured here I travel north along the Cockscomb so named for the triceratops like fins which emerge from the ground along most of the 2 hour traverse to HW 12.

After grabbing some food and fuel I decide to head over to Monument Valley. When I arrive 2.5 hours later winds are gusting to 50 mph and the air is so thick with dust that photography, let alone standing upright, is nearly impossible. Another 2.5 hours in the car back to Page where I treat myself to a cheap roadside motel and my first shower in 3 days. Although the later half of the day was a bust, the morning produced a treasure trove of images and a great hiking experience.

I spent hours in and around the buttes, often hiking through deep sand and enjoying one spectacular view after another. Fatigue and hunger eventually set in, and I knew it was time to head back when the rocks started to look like ice cream desserts.

Today, with winds gusting to 35mph, it was very easy to understand how these bizarre features were created. When sand is captured by the wind you get a powerful sandblasting machine. Not a very hospitable climate for delicate optical equipment or photographers for that matter.

Last night I traveled to within a few miles of the South Coyote Buttes Paw Hole trail head. I completed the journey before sunrise and was very fortunate to avoid getting stuck in the deep sand. My reward for missing both dinner and breakfast was golden light on what could pass for a Martian landscape. The features here are simply extraordinary both in color and texture.

The panoramic view from Alstrom Point is spectacular but a wide angle photo shown in the small format of this blog would not do it justice. Here is a narrow angle slice which gives you a sense of the view. On the long ride back to civilization I cannot help but marvel in what I have seen in just my first full day on the ground.

For my sunset photo I travel to Alstrom Point which over looks Lake Powell. The journey takes an hour and a half over dirt roads which get progressively worse. For my own safety I cover the last mile on foot only to discover this Land Rover parked at the end of the road in the middle of no where. We are so far off the beaten path you cannot even tune in a radio station. Now for the really synchronistic part. I had met and spoke to the German couple, Steffen and Alexandra, who are traveling across the USA in this vehicle, earlier in the day at Horseshoe Bend. The couple decided to interrupt their careers to embark on a three year tour of the world in this ultimate off road machine tricked out with a roof top tent and solar powered electrical grid. Both are avid photographers. They spent the last year in Australia and New Zealand, will spend a year in the USA, and then move on to South America for a year. With each transition they ship their rolling residence on to the next destination. Although I am tempted to stay and talk to them for some time after the sun has set, I still have a long walk ahead of me in the waning light to locate my comparatively pathetic SUV. In my enthusiasm to reach Alstrom Point I had failed to set a waypoint on my GPS when I left the car, a mistake I will never make again. The undulating mesa top made it impossible to see my SUV until I was right on top of it. Without the waypoint I was forced to retrace my steps rather than seek a bee line route back.

 
Beams vary in width from pencil thin to huge columns of light. The trick to making them stand out in photographs is to throw sand in the air during your exposure. Needless to say the sand eventually has to come down and generally finds its way into your photo gear. A small price to pay, I suppose, for creating well defined beams.

 
The ultimate prize for arriving at the right time is a chance to photograph the beams of light which appear for minutes at a time when the angle of the sun is just right relative to the contours of the canyon. I came away with a treasure trove of images capturing a half dozen beams in action.

 
Antelope Canyon is simply magical. From the moment you enter it is easy to understand why the Navajo regard this place as sacred. This slot canyon has become a very popular destination for tourists since photographers began publishing images depicting its beauty. Access to the relatively short canyon, located on Navajo land, requires a guide but there are no apparent limits to the number of people who may enter and it is not uncommon to have hundreds of people milling through during prime lighting. Not surprisingly, taking long exposure photographs in the narrow confines is quite a challenge. Fortunately I am part of a small group of 5 led by an exceptional guide who understands photography and goes out of his way to clear the path so that we may get photos that don’t include tourists.

One of my primary motivations for selecting the Page area for this vacation was its proximity to the Antelope slot canyons. The Upper Antelope Canyon is best photographed, spring through fall, on a cloudless day near noon when the sun shines directly down into the slots, reflecting off the walls and creating the most beautiful light in the world. With my Coyote Buttes pass squared away for tomorrow I have a little over an hour before I need to head over to Page. I use the time to make a short hike to the Toadstool Hoodoos, my favorite pictured here. The mid morning light was less than flattering but the sun eventually does have to rise.