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.

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Here I found a tree and the red rock.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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A closer view of the cliffs of Parriott Mesa.
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Very close to Parriott Mesa is Castleton Tower a tall rock tower on the valley floor.
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A closeup of Castleton Tower rocks - really is amazing how nature can carve these rocks.
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Castle Valley from the slopes of the La Sal mountains. You can see Castleton Tower and just behind is Parriott Mesa.
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Snow!!! Up in the La Sal Mountains I liked how the shadows played across the snow.
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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.
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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.
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Another rock formation which the sun was kind enough to peek around.

Several attempts to get the sun rays just right.
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The water reflecting the colors of the canyon walls.
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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.
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The light is a bit better for this tree - still high sun is hard to capture the colors.
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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.
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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.
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A sage on the edge of the cliff at Dead Horse Point.
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The setting sun created contrast as the shadows lengthened.
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A towering rock fin in the setting sun.
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Sage dots the canyon floor.
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A row of rock fins beginning to see shadows in the setting sun.
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A tall rock formation deep in the canyon.
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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.


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