Tag Archives: grand staircase

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Urban/Street

Creek, Bend in the Canyon

June 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small stream bends and twists its way along the bottom of a deep sandstone canyon

We spent the morning hiking down into this deep sandstone canyon, following its course as it twisted toward its confluence with a larger river below. Leaving behind the high tablelands, we dropped into upper, shallow section of the canon, and continued walking as it twisted and turned and worked its way deeper into the landscape. Finally we came to deeply shaded spot with a rock bench beneath a large overhang, where we stopped and pondered and ate for a while. We split up and each of us did a bit more exploring, but soon it was turn-around time — that point that we determine to be when we need to begin to retrace our steps in order to get back to where we started at a reasonable hour.

Heading back up a route on the return walk always feels different. The trip in is one of discovery, while much of the trip out is one of recognition — passing spots that we remember for a few hours earlier, taking time to pause in places we walked through quickly the first time, making a few detours here and there. While the terrain is the same, the light is not. By the late afternoon the deepest sections of this canyon were largely in shadow, and as we each picked our way back up the creek individually things seems slower and quieter.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Arch and Canyon

June 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large arch above a Utah sandstone canyon

I have been down this canyon a couple of times now. The walk begins in what might seem like an inauspicious place in rather plain terrain. Soon the route drops below the level of the plateau and enters the upper portion of a shallow canyon. Continuing to walk into this canyon, the walls soon rise higher and the canyon narrows and twists. Before long the expected sandstone walls appear.

As is usually the case, we followed the course of the creek along the bottom of the canyon, alternately walking in it, walking next to it, or cutting over higher ground between bends in its course. Places like this are full of distractions, and stops are frequently to photograph water seeping over rocks, trees with fall colors, arrangements of rocks and pebbles, reflections and always the sandstone canyon walls. Eventually we reached a familiar personal landmark along the route where we stopped to photograph, eat, and talk. A short distance beyond and the around another bend, and a path led up to a high point, from which there was a view through this arch back into the canyon.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Canyon and Stream

April 3, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small rock-filled stream wanders along the bottom of a deep Utah red rock canyon

Yet another bend in yet another Utah canyon! We had hiked a good distance down into the depths of this canyon, finally stopping (most of us, anyway) at a scenic bend with lots of interesting photographic subjects. We held up there to make photographs, to sit and talk, and to eat. A few of us went a bit farther and some went a good distance more, but soon we had all checked our watches and realized it was time to start back..

This spot is just below a narrow section of the canyon where the water flows through a narrow cleft and around a big curve. Here, below that section, it seems like the flow must slow a bit, since a few more trees manage to grow here and the bed of the creek held a lot of river rocks and silt. In the distance the canyon curves more toward the west, and this allows a bit more light down into the canyon, producing a bit of a glow ahead.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Red Rock and Roots

April 2, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Long roots extend across Utah sandstone

This was a sort of casual photograph, made while wandering around near our backcountry camp in southern Utah. We arrived in the afternoon, set up camp, and had a bunch of time to kill — time to eat, make plans, hang out, hike, take a nap, and explore. I probably did a bit of all of those things, but eventually decided to take my smaller camera and wander off into the surrounding countryside.

Eventually I ended up ascending a sandstone hill, and from the top I had open views of the surrounding terrain. But the closer subjects were perhaps even more interesting — the curving shapes of the sandstone, the small hollows that were filled with red sand, the plants trying to eke out a living in this spare and rocky area. In several places I found plants that had sent roots or stems over great distances across bare rock, perhaps trying to find pockets of water or moist soil.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grand staircase

Creek, Bend in the Canyon

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Arch and Canyon

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Canyon and Stream

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Red Rock and Roots

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.