Bryce Canyon-2010

While I got to Bryce Canyon a bit later than I had hoped, due to the magnificance of the blazing aspens on the way, I was able to concoct a plan for the day. The Navajo Loop offered an experience that is very hard to match.

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I had heard about "Wall Street" but, I wasn't quite prepared for the incredbly amazing views, and extreme terrain surrounding you. I usually seek the places where other people don't go but, the people in this shot makes the composition soooooo much better!

Hikers are treated to the view of a couple of surprisingly large Douglas-firs at the outlet from Wall Street. The shaded nooks and crannies don't get all that much sunlight during the day, and apparently, hold on to the bits of precipitation it does get from afternoon thunderstorms.

A perfect rest stop on the Navajo loop is "Twin Bridges", at about the halfway point. I wandered up the dead end trail to sit down and relax, for about 20 minutes. As the clouds continued to thicken, I knew I needed to hustle on up the trail, as thunderstorms can be quite violent in this region.

Of course, the elevation you lost going down Wall Street has to be gained back. Although the park's trail guide says to hike the trail clockwise, I felt that going the other direction was easier, with a more gentle climb back up this wonderful section of trail.

This slender and delicate hoodoo greets you as you approach the top, again. I'm sure that most people view this as a religious icon, for obvious reasons. It seems that most hoodoos have a more rounded shape, here in Bryce Canyon.

Bryce Yourself!

My long-awaited journey into "Fairyland Canyon" at Bryce Canyon National Park had come! The weather seemed a bit fickle with some strange, but interesting clouds. It was also seasonably cold for the high desert of Utah.

The trails were in excellent shape but, I wasn't, after months of sitting in front of a computer. I knew I was in for a lot of body punishment but, didn't know just how much I would be inflicting on my lazy old bones. The hoodoos were quite plentiful and wonderful, and the light improved as the day went on.

Dropping down into the canyons meant I would have to eventually repay the "gravity debt" by climbing back up. As a windy and dry cold front approached, interesting lenticular clouds began forming but, those were not to be my subjects, as the hoodoos deserved all my camera's attention.

It is an extremely harsh environment for plants and trees, with growing seasons sometimes being merely a few weeks out of each year. Some of the pines, firs and junipers live for many hundreds of years, finding their niches in such a unique ecosystem.

I happened upon a partially-burned snag with a very interesting spiral pattern to the wood. I used the macro function to zoom in and capture this very arsty shot. Right now, this is my favorite shot of the trip.

The hike was filled with impossible rock formations and all kinds of nice reds and whites to go along with the greens of trees and the blue skies.