Cedar Breaks National Monument in Southern Utah doesn’t get the pub and hype that nearby Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks gets. But it has unique charm and the annual Wildflower Festival every July (Wildflower Post Coming Soon).
I actually got up at 4:45am to make the 2 hour drive to Bryce Canyon National Park in time for sunrise. (Not a morning person). A fresh blanket of snow was a motivation for me.
With a foot or two of fresh snow, Bryce Canyon National Park was a required venture. The hoodoos never looked better. The weather forecast called for a high of 20 degrees(F) with a windchill of minus 22, so I quickly took care of business.
Someone wrote in the snow, a love note that I believe is in Japanese. There were a lot of Japanese tourists around.
While out photographing autumn colors in Southern Utah, I realized I was a stone’s throw from Bryce Canyon National Park. And sunset was close with a nearly full moon rising. These were all shot from the incomparable Inspiration Point.
Cedar Breaks National Monument in Southern Utah is often called the mini-Bryce. Similar to Bryce Canyon National Park but not quite as hoodooish(New Word).
Here’s a few pics from last week’s visit to Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Up on Wahweap Creek in Southern Utah are the Wahweap Hoodoos. They must’ve filmed that scene in 2001, A Space Odyssey here with the ape going bonkers over that monolith suddenly appearing. I didn’t go ape but I felt like I was in prehistoric times. A brontosaurus was probably just around the corner.
Images from the land of hoodoos, teepees, red rock, Ponderosa Pines, and glorious clouds!
There is no paved parking lot. No signs. No shuttle buses. No entrance booth. No park rangers. No rails along the canyon rim. No guides. No hot dog stands. No mules to take you into the canyon. No Visitor Center. No visitors! Edward Abbey would approve of this place. In fact, it’s hard to find Coal Mine Canyon listed on any map. You’re suppose to look for the windmill near a farmhouse and water tank south of Tuba City. And that’s the way it should be.
Coal Mine Canyon could easily be its own National Park. It is in a remote part of Northern Arizona on the border of the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations. There are remnants of coal deposits in the canyon that the Hopis mined in the past. But hues of orange, magenta, gold, cyan and yellow dominate the canyon walls. Abstract shapes, patterns, and warped lines grab your attention.
My next post will be of the canyon next door to Coal Mine, Ha Ho No Geh Canyon. These images and more are available as downloadable files or signed prints at Dawn2Dawn Photography
