Went on a trip to Southern Utah from 20 September - 2 October. First up, some aerial shots from the airline flight (both coming and going)...I was lucky to get some interesting terrain and a reasonably clean window seat each time.

First stop was Zion National Park. Photographs just do not do this place justice - the sheer cliffs are a couple of *thousand* feet high, with a very narrow valley between them. We stopped for sunrise at The Court of the Patriarchs, then went to the Temple of Sinawava at the end of the road, where we hiked up and into the narrows. Note to self - pack the water sandals next time! After the hike, we went to explore Grafton, a ghost town south of Zion, which was abandoned in the 19th century. The descendants of the original settlers have maintained a few of the structures and the cemetery.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Zion lodge, then started a hike from across the road to the Emerald Pools (lower, middle, and upper). This was a very interesting and relatively easy hike into Heaps Canyon, with some parts of the trail at the edge of some of the dropoffs. Nothing too scary or strenuous though. With this hike, we said goodbye to Zion, and made our way east through the Zion tunnel to Cedar Breaks National Monument. This was an unexpected treasure, as we encountered both the (literally!) breathtaking views from 10,000' elevation, as well as finding aspen trees approaching peak color. More about these later...

After Cedar Breaks, we checked into our hotel near Bryce Canyon, and planned to get up for sunrise at Sunrise Point. We got there just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. We then paused for a quick breakfast, and then commenced a hike from Sunrise Point, via the Queen's Garden Trail, to the Navajo Trail (west branch), then to Sunset Point. This is a great hike, although you may wish to take it in the other direction, as the last bit near Sunset Point (known as Wall Street) is rather vertical.

The next set of photos are from various overlooks in Bryce Canyon National Park, and also a few shots of aspens - we backtracked to Cedar Canyon Road and Panguitch Lake Road to catch the cedars again. Even did some goofy zooming while the shutter was opened.

After Bryce Canyon, we went on to Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument (although we stayed mainly on the eastern side of the area). This is one of the least sparsely populated areas in the country, but with plenty of interesting sites off of Hole-In-The-Rock Rd. Make sure you get a 4WD vehicle, as the roads and trails require high clearance and/or sand capability.

First, we did a short hike down to the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch, to the slot canyons there. If you plan to do this, you'll need to bring plenty of water and *limit* the amount of gear you bring with you (e.g., maybe a pocket camera and a pair of water shoes at most). We both brought too much gear with us (lenses, tripods) and this actually hindered us.

We ended up camping off of Willow Tank Slide Rd, mainly because we were unable to get up the road to the ledge halfway up Fifty Mile Mountain even with a 4WD! Shots of sunset, the moonlit landscape, and sunrise were taken. The next morning we visited Egypt, and ran into an expedition rappelling and hiking down the canyon. We then drove on to Devil's Garden, where we had lunch among the jaw dropping rock formations. Finally, due to a high wind warning, we decided to bag the second night of camping, and went back to the town of Escalante in search of a hotel room.

Our final day in the wild took us to Kodachrome Basin State Park, and Grosvenor Arch, south of Cannonville. Kodachrome Basin was named by National Geographic photographers in the 40's - and permission was granted by Kodak to use the name. It's an interesting park, with a nice 3 mile hike (Panorama Trail), but I'd drop it from an itinerary before I'd drop the Devil's Garden, even though the latter is much smaller in area. Grosvenor Arch is ten miles south of the park along a dirt road, and is truly an impressive sight. The blue skies we had there were very unreal. Afterwards, we returned to Escalante, and began to pack for home.

The trip home dawned a brisk 27°F. We encountered a cattle drive along the main highway just outside Escalante, and also encountered frosted-over irrigation equipment along the way.