Delicate Arch with a sunny halo

Delicate Arch is probably Utah's most famous landmark. It stands on the rim of a huge bowl-shaped depression. So we traveled down into the bowl in order to look back up at it. We noticed how brightly the sun was glowing behind the arch, plus the bright wispy clouds. This side of the arch was in shadow, but we were able to bring out the details in the editing process. Bob accidentally dropped a lens cap that rolled all the way down to the base of the bowl. It turned out it wasn't as difficult to follow the slope down as it looked at first glance. He was able to get the lens cap back.

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Valley of Fire, Nevada, has its own "wave"

This feature in the Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, is along a short hike from the road. The rangers referred to it as their version of "the wave". Instead of being in a slot canyon, though, this feature is right out in the open, down a slope. The hike was only about a mile and there were lots of people there, we had to wait our turn to get pictures of the "wave" without any other people in the picture. We also got pictures of a chuckwalla lizard near here. The road is off to the right out of view. Other people continued beyond the "wave" and looked at other features. It appears to be sedimentary rock that has been eroded by the wind as it swirls around.

The Valley of Fire State Park is significant for all the Star Trek fans out there. This was the location where "Star Trek Generations" was filmed. This is the movie where Captain Kirk and Captain Picard meet and have to work together to defeat an evil scientist. At the end, Kirk dies and Picard ends up burying him.

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Bryce Canyon in early Spring

Bryce Canyon, in southern Utah, is famous for having red rock features called hoodoos, pillars of rock sculpted by erosion. This image was the result of two images being merged and cropped at an 11x17 ratio. Rick was here in late March, so there was still quite a bit of snow around. During the summer, visitors have to take a shuttle bus to get to the various viewpoints, because of how crowded it can be on the road. There is only one road out and back in Bryce Canyon National Park. Trails lead from the rim down into the basins. The Kaibab Plateau makes the tree-covered, and snow-covered, horizon.

Bryce Canyon might not technically be a canyon, since that would require a stream flowing through it. It might be more accurate to refer to these features as ampitheaters, since they are more of a bowl shape. The many layers of sedimentary rock also show the much grander feature referred to as The Grand Staicase. Rocks in different layers with differing colors distinguish one step from another as erosion by water and wind reveals them over long periods of time.

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Manly Beacon viewed from the south showing its cliff face and the trail leading to Golden Canyon with 2 hikers.

This is Manly Beacon as it appears from the south along the Badlands Trail. This is the first time we hiked the Badlands Trail together, in 2007, and we were impressed by Manly Beacon. Usually this feature is seen from the side when standing at Zabriskie Point, which is to the east. From this perspective, you can clearly see the imposing cliff face and what's also impressive is that the trail to Golden Canyon passes below the cliff, as you can see 2 hikers on the exposed slope to the left in this image. The Red Cathedral feature lies beyond Manly Beacon, you can see part of it at the extreme left. In a way, this cliff face reminds us of Half Dome in Yosemite, except it's made of sedimentary rock instead of granite and isn't nearly as high. From this angle, the outline of Manly Beacon is somewhat similar to Half Dome's outline, when viewed straight on at its cliff face.

This image was made with Rick's 6 megapixel camera, which he has since replaced with a 12 megapixel camera. He took 4 images and merged them to get this final product.This was taken on a very bright day in December. The settings were ISO 50, f8.0, and 1/500sec shutter speed for all 4 images, to make combining them easier.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!