The Wonder of Utah

Road trips across the U.S. photographing National Parks always ranks top of my all-time favorite adventure list. I recently completed a road trip of Utah’s National Parks, and if I had to sum it up into one word… AWESOME! Utah has an incredible diverse and unique landscape; unforgiving and unforgettable.

The wonder of Utah can truly be found in the national parks, and Utah has five national parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef. The distance from one end of Arizona to the other is far (approximately the same sq miles as Laos or New Zealand), so get your music ready for the long haul and look into renting transportation when planning for Utah’s National Park route. Look to Salt Lake City or Las Vegas for transport options. If I had to name my top 3 parks, it would be (in no particular order):

 

1. Arches National Park

Arches is a place of extraordinary stone visions shaped out of space and color. This is harsh country in some ways. It has none of the lush charm of mountain peaks, with fragrant meadows & sparkling streams. The canyonlands are semidesert: summer days are hot, and the sun glares relentlessly. The colors are hot too: reds, browns, mostly untempered by green. Water is rare, and what little is available usually tastes bitter.

 

 

2. Zion National Park

The story of Zion National Park begins where Grand Canyon’s ends, and ends where Bryce Canyons begins. The mystical journey through the Left Fork of North Creek involves route finding, plunging cautiously into chilly pools then sloshing, sometimes frantically, through frigid water over and through difficult obstacles. The narrow Subway section of this hike forces hikers through a unique tunnel sculpted by the Left Fork of North Creek. The “Subway” is a famous landmark, and among all of Utah’s national parks I think Zion has the best options for the hiker.

 

 

3. Bryce Canyon National Park

Northwest of Zion lies Bryce Canyon NP – which is not actually a canyon but a horse-shoe shaped basin carved from white & pink limestone, shale & sandstone. Sunrise and sunsets reflect beautiful natural light onto the soft sandstone spires creating the illusion that the spires (aka hoodinis) are translucent.

 

 

What’s so interesting about Utah?

• Utah has the greatest concentration of natural arches in the world.
• Rainbow Bridge, Nature’s abstract sculpture carved of solid sandstone, is the world’s largest natural-rock span. It stands 278 feet wide and 309 feet high.
• The name Utah comes from the Native American Ute tribe and means people of the mountains.
• Utah was acquired by the United States in 1848 in the treaty ending the Mexico War.
• The federal government owns 65% of the state’s land. (national parks)

 

Photography in Utah’s National Parks

One is advised to observe the exposure, for the tendency is to over-expose in the belief that the landscape is less bright than it really is. For best results, bracket a 1-stop difference starting at -2.0EV. As a 1952 National Geographic Article on Utah’s National Parks advised: “The light will be flat from 10AM – 3PM but shots taken early in the morning or late in the afternoon may come out so well as to make an amateur dream of turning professional.” All images here were taken with either a Canon EOS-3, or a Canon EOS 5D with a Canon 17-40mm L & Canon 70-200mm F/4 IS L.

 

 

“… the limitations of photography are in yourself, for what we see is only what we are.” – Ernst Haas