Cliff, Boulders, and Tree. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A solitary tree growing among fallen boulders is dwarfed by a sandstone cliff, Capitol Reef National Park.
Earlier on this late afternoon the had worked our way into an wide accessible sandstone canyon with tall walls, lots of boulders, and trees placed in interesting places. As the afternoon wore on these tall red rock cliffs that had been so interesting in better light began to bring an early twilight, and we decided we were done for the day. We hiked back to our vehicle, loaded up, and began our trip back out of the canyon.
We headed a short distance north and then the road jogged west and opened to the fading light as the sun set. (It sets a bit early here on the west side of Capitol Reef as the terrain slopes up noticeably to the west.) We immediately stopped, unloaded, and went to work photographing. The light was somewhat unusual, and it somehow desaturated the red of the sandstone. In this narrow section the wall on the north side is quite abrupt and steep, and its base is littered with boulders that have fallen as it has eroded over millennia. Among the giant boulders a single tree grew.
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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