Scenes from 2018 Photo Tour

Our photo tour took us to a number of interesting places in addition to our primary destination, Capitol Reef National Park. We made some stops along the way to take advantage of some very picturesque locations. One such stop was the Hite Overlook, off Utah State Route 95. Today’s first picture features the Colorado River, close to where  it flows into Lake Powell. The bridge in the distance is where UT-95 crosses the river near the Town of Hite. It was late afternoon and partly cloudy, creating great light for a photograph from this location.

There was no shortage of good views from the overlook, including the following scene looking in the opposite direction from the previous one. Again, the light was very good and we took the opportunity to capture several more shots before moving on.

A couple of days later, leaving Capitol Reef NP, we followed Utah State Route 12 south from Torrey, UT toward Route 89 near Bryce Canyon. Route 12 is designated a scenic route, with good reason. Our first stop was about 30 minutes after leaving Torrey, at an overlook from where you can see Capitol Reef. The terrain was quite different here, mountainous and forested with evergreens and aspen trees.

Our next stop came just after the Hamlet of Boulder. While passing through this small settlement, we observed a restaurant named Hell’s Backbone Grill. An odd name but we gave it little thought.  Soon after we encountered its namesake, a section of road aptly named Hell’s Backbone. This road winds its way along a narrow ridge that bisects a deep canyon. It’s a long way down on either side. Barry followed the well chosen speed limit of 35 mph (56 kph) and we traversed the ridge very nicely, stopping for  few photographs.

I particularly liked this view from the ridge. It’s not unusual to see verdant growth following a river channel through the desert. These trees are well watered; the others have to wait for the infrequent rains.

As we approached another small town, Escalante we ascended a winding road through some very interesting terrain. Light coloured rock, with stains of colour is very common in this part of Utah.

As we approached Route 89, Paul directed us to the Kodachrome Basin State Park, a stop that proved to be very photographically productive. This following shot is typical of many compelling views we encountered (and photographed) at this location. We enjoyed a good hike as well, a welcome break in our travels.

From the Kodachrome Basin State Park, we continued on to Page, Arizona following a brief stop at Bryce Canyon. After a short night’s rest in Page (following our late night Milky Way shoot), we set out for home stopping at an old favourite, Horseshoe Bend just beyond Page. As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, this bend in the Colorado River is truly spectacular, 1,000 ft (305 m) deep.

We always marvel (and cringe) at the antics of many of the other visitors. This young couple, perched on a ledge overhanging the cliff did the expected and snapped a selfie.

It was a great trip with its memorable moments. In addition to enjoying the photography, it’s great to see the countryside and the small towns and get a glimpse of the interesting history of this part of the world.