The next door neighbor to Arches, Canyonlands, is a National Park with a completely different geology. While the park does have a couple of solitary arches, Canyonlands is more known for its jaw-dropping terrain, where birds-eye vistas are meant to be laced with superlatives to describe the vast landscape with towering cliffs rising from the depths of the Colorado river exposing the geological history in its strata.
Hence Canyonlands was an obvious next choice to visit after Arches. Moab, which in those days was a sleepy town geared towards the occasional recreation traveler, proved to be an ideal base to explore both these parks (though I would have preferred to camp under the stars of Canyonlands). And compared with Arches, I was more enthralled by the monumental scale of the landscape in Canyonlands, replete with enough hiking trails and wilderness regions to last a lifetime.
Here is one such view of the vast open and yet geologically rich landscape of Canyonlands during a midsummer day.
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA
Pano over the Canyon
The dry desertscape of Utah seem a far cry from the vibrant rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, but present a landscape with a refreshing palette of colors. Vast swathes of the Colorado and Green River basin near Moab expose sandstone buried from the Jurassic period and rich in iron oxides, exhibiting this characteristic red color. And in the amber hues and slanted rays of sunrise and sunset, one can really experience the incredible and diverse features of this landscape, from towering mesas silhouetted in sunlight to tiered gorges that evolve from tiny gullies to a vast rocky canyon.
I tried to capture the essence of this landscape at a sunset vista from an overlook in Canyonland's Island in the Sky district. From this viewpoint, once can spy the fingers carved into the undulating sandstone by the seasonal tributaries of the Green River, and its confluence with the mighty Colorado further south. The west-facing walls catch the last light of the day, with deep shadows highlighting the stark differences in terrain. This part of Canyonlands is replete with plenty of these viewpoints, offering a glimpse into the diverse landscape and into the storeyed geological history of the North American continent.
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA
The Wild West
Soaring spires rising from a desolate rocky landscape interspersed by dusty road threading the undulating red rocks. This was the scenery that I found myself immersed in a sojourn in the desert southwest. Coming from the greenery of the Pacific Northwest, the stark red terrain felt as alien as the landscape on the moon. And as the glaring desert light started to fade, the hues tempered to the deeper shades of red and finally black, leaving behind inky dark silhouettes against a pastel shaded sky.
And this cycle reversed again in the morning: the light from the rising sun slipped through the fingers of earth and filtered through the clouds, creating fleeting visions of shadow and light on the monumental landscape around.
All this in one 24 hour cycle. The photographer in me wonders what an entire year would bring.
Desert Southwest
UT / AZ
In Memory of National Parks
One of the country's best kept treasures are it's amazing systems of 60 National Parks. I have spent countless sunrises and sunsets exploring nooks and crannies of many of the parks, and every one of them has managed to surprise me, not just in their natural beauty, but in the people who have worked to preserve this for posterity. It takes incredible foresight and effort to manage the many competing goals of such a system, and that has constantly left me in awe of this challenge.
And now, the unneeded shutdown, instigated by the theatrics of a clown, has thrown a wrench in a delicately balanced environment. While federal employees all over the country do suffer, it pains me to see the what the park system is going through to continue it's mission. Full props to the brave people who have worked tirelessly to this effort. And if you are a fan of the National Parks, I urge you to do your part: volunteer your time or money to the various Park foundations that assist the National Park System.
When my hands are finally healed, I hope to lend my hand to heal the National parks as well. I feel it is a moral obligation to return the favor for all the joyous moments I have experienced in the amazing National Park System. You can help too: purchase my 2019 calendar, and all proceeds will be split between the National Park Foundation and WildAid
Seattle
WA USA
An Unrivalled Vista
It was a beautiful sunrise - a speck of light peering through the distant mesas and buttes, lighting up the red underside rocks of the sandstone Mesa arch, hanging over a lip of one such steep mesa, with nothing but air between the arch and the floor a 1000ft below. And to capture this premier attraction, more than a dozen photographers had crowded around, jostling for the strategic position that get the perfect angle of light and shadow.
This image, however, is not your typical image from the Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. I waited a while until the crowd cleared, and peered through the arch at the landscape that opened up in the light - an endless range of buttes and mesas rising up from the myriad formations on the floor 1500ft below. The play of shadow and light gave rise to strange silhouettes and bizarre vistas, a sight that was a delight to photograph. This is one such take on a unique vista in Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA
The light of Dawn
Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.
Theodore Roosevelt
One of the proudest legacy of the 26th President is the crown jewel of the American conservation era - the National Park system. And while I have been fortunate enough to visit 34 of these memorable places, very few have stuck to my mind and my heart, and one of them is the Canyonlands National Park. And nothing captures the essence of this rugged desert terrain like the view from Mesa Arch at sunrise, an arch suspended over a vertiginous cliff overlooking a vast canyonland.
One of the rituals as a photographer is to make the dawn trip to Mesa Arch, squeeze your tripod in between the two dozen others, and eek out a few shots just as the sun crests the horizon, and one more just as it disappears behind the arch. While it is photogenic place, it was the view that the location presented that I found the most endearing: cliff walls glowing yellow in the morning sun, stupas, stacks, and hoodoos silhouetting in the slanted light, twisted canyon disappearing into the vast expanse of the horizon. The sense of belonging and being humbled by nature is perhaps the primary reason why such regions must be preserved for posterity.
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA
Island in the Sky
I stood on the edge of tall sandstone mesa, peering down onto the undulating valley below. In front of me, the White Rim canyon cut a jagged scar on the dry plateau, while, in the distance, towering mesas rose a few thousand feet above the landscape. The evening light caught it all, adding red rimlight and dark shadows to the sharp features of this geological marvel. I was watching history in the various strata, dating back 320 million years ago, each with its own unique distinguishable feature.
To witness the immensity of the American Southwest landscape from this tower in the sky is perhaps one of the most awe-inspiring experiences. There are very few other places in this country that can inspire the same sense of grandeur one gets here: the vista from the Grand Canyon, the graceful U-shaped canyons at Glacier National Park, the never-ending tundra landscape of Denali. And that is what makes this place so memorable.
This is a panorama that captures about one-half of the spectacular vista from Green River Overlook in Canyonlands National Park, a lookout best visited at sunset. Coupled with a telephoto lens, I was able to capture intimate details of this rugged National Park
Canyonlands National Park
UT USA