Juniper and Striped Sandstone. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 21, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A vertically striped sandstone cliff behind a juniper tree

My recollection is that we had driven into this deep canyon at Capitol Reef late in the day, and that we stopped to photograph as we began to head back out of the canyon not long before sunset. Because of the late hour, although it was still daytime, the light was blocked here by the very tall walls of this narrow canyon.

We stopped here largely because of the remarkable vertical stains on the smooth sandstone walls. In many places this layer of sandstone is almost monolithic, but here the staining produced sharp vertical lines and broke up the otherwise solid features of the rock. Near the base of the cliff a few boulders stood, and on the higher areas right next to the cliff a few trees managed to grow.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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