Sunday, April 11 2021 -
We started the day in a small canyon off the larger Hunter's Canyon. Following a small stream looking for
compositions.
Here I found a tree and the red rock.
The little stream I was following - there was a tiny path that disappeared in the rocks and crossed the
stream making it a bit of a challenge to follow.
Reflections of the canyon walls in the lazy little stream.
I had hiked much further than the others so
when I realized that I could net hear anyone I quickly headed back - they were waiting for me. But not too long.
We then had some downtime so I headed out to explore the La Sal mountains by taking the La Sal Loop road.
It started near Parriott Mesa - a huge rock mesa thrust up into the landscape.
A closer view of the cliffs of Parriott Mesa.
Very close to Parriott Mesa is Castleton Tower a tall rock tower on the valley floor.
A closeup of Castleton Tower rocks - really is amazing how nature can carve these rocks.
Castle Valley from the slopes of the La Sal mountains. You can see Castleton Tower and just behind is Parriott
Mesa.
Snow!!! Up in the La Sal Mountains I liked how the shadows played across the snow.
A field of Aspen trees in the snow make for an interesting black and white composition.
This is near
the top of the drive and soon I will be headed down the opposite side of the range into Moab.
In the afternoon we drove to Onion creek - very near where I took the La Sal Loop road and Fisher Tower. Here we
wandered up a small canyon feeding Onion Creek - which was not very large itself.
A rock formation high above me.
Another rock formation which the sun was kind enough to peek around.
Several attempts to get the sun
rays just right.
The water reflecting the colors of the canyon walls.
A backlit tree - always looking for good tree and rock compositions. The backlit tree is not as green as
the one on
the right side of the sun.
The light is a bit better for this tree - still high sun is hard to capture the colors.
Success - we were asked to push ourselves and look for art in nature. One technique is to capture reflections in
quiet water then spin the picture vertically, creating a kaleidoscope feeling.
Look close and you can
see the reflection vs. the actual creek shore.
To end the day we headed to Dead Horse Point State Park for sunset.
The Colorado River flows past -
and continues to erode the cliffs.
A sage on the edge of the cliff at Dead Horse Point.
The setting sun created contrast as the shadows lengthened.
A towering rock fin in the setting sun.
Sage dots the canyon floor.
A row of rock fins beginning to see shadows in the setting sun.
A tall rock formation deep in the canyon.
The last composition of the day - heading back to the car I spotted this Juniper tree at the edge of the canyon.
The opposite side of the canyon is barely visible with the setting sun.