Virgin River Gorge

I decided to go to an area that I hadnt been to for quite a while. To the southwest of St George, Utah there is a deep river gorge that the Virgin river flows through. Interstate 15 runs through this gorge and was one of the most expensive stretches of highway ever built due to the rugged terrain.
 The developed camp grounds at Cedar Pocket in the gorge is rarely crowded and has some beautiful scenery overlooking the Virgin River.
 There are dirt roads all through this area of the Mojave Desert and the Joshua trees and cactus are typical of the Mojave desert. The scenery is beautiful but if traveling these dirt roads you need to make sure that your carrying plenty of water and are self reliant as the roads are not heavily traveled.
 There is wilflife in this desert if you know where to look and this is one of my favorite areas for getting pictures of Desert Bighorn Sheep. They are not easy to get to and the mountains in this gorge are as sharp as coral so I would recommend gloves and long pants as well as good hiking boots. The best time to visit is the spring and the fall as the temperatures are much more forgiving.
 I hiked around for four or five hours but did not see the Bighorn Sheep but the wildflowers were in bloom and I did get some great pictures of the scenery from the top of the gorge.

North Gate Peaks

Today I went up to the Kolob platue in Zions canyon. This area is nice to hike in because there isnt as much foot traffic and there are some excellent view points from some of the trails on the top part of Zion Canyon.
 I followed a trail called the Wildcat trail. This trail leads to a great view of the North Gate Peaks. The spring runoff is running very high so the stream are moving much faster than normal.
 There were signs of the local elk herd all around and I was hoping to spot them so thay I could get some shots of them. The last of the snow had melted up here over the last few weeks so the ground is wet and muddy in some places.
The hike was nice and there were not more than a few othere people out. I made it to the overlook in about an hour and a half and I spent an hour taking pictures. As I was hiking out the mule deer began coming out to graze as the sun was going down. Some storm clouds began to move in and there was a drizzle of rain.
 As I was driving away from the parking area for the wildcat trail I saw the herd of elk that I had been looking for. They were standing in a clearing and there were about thirty of them. The sun had gone down a while before so it was too dark for me to get any pictures of them but it was nice to get to see them.

Zion Canyon

I decided to take the afternoon and drive up to Zion to take a short hike today. I decided to take a trail that I had never hiked before that follows the stream that runs along the bottom of the canyon below the tunnel. It really isnt much of a trail. I think that most of the traffic along it is the mule deer that live here. There is a large bridge constructed of sandstone that is amazing. As I was hiking and stopping to take pictures I surprised several times to have deer come out of the trees and come right up to me. Its something that still amazes me that the deer here have become so acustom to people that they will walk within reach of you. That makes for some great photo ops! There is still a lot of spring runoff coming down through the canyon due to our severe winter in the upper mountains. I followed the trail up about a mile but could not go any farther due to the stream running so high. I was able to get some great shots.
 Theres nothing like a good hike in this beautiful country to blow off some steam and clear your mind.

Grafton ghost town

I went out to one of my favorite spots today. It is a small ghost town called Grafton. There are several homes still standing and a sandstone schoolhouse that has been redone by a local preservation group. There is a small cemetary and it is very interesting to read the headstones of the people who are burried there. Some were killed by indians, some by floods.  It is a beautiful setting with its green pastures with the sandstone cliffs of Zion Canyon as a backdrop. I never get tired of photographing this place as I always find something new or different conditions to photograph the things that I have allready photographed in the past. As time goes on you will probably see many posts about this place because of my love of it.
 If you have ever seen the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid then you have seen Grafton. The bicycle seen was filmed here and still looks much like it did in the movie with the exception that the home they were in for the movie is no longer standing.

Capitol Reef

 We arrived in Capitol Reef National Park in the afternoon stopped to look at some of the sights. As you come into Capitol Reef there is a small cabin that was built in 1882 by a pioneer family named the Behunins. They were a family of 10 that lived in this tiny one room home with a dirt floor. The mother and father and two youngest kids slept in the cabin and the other kids slept in a dugout in the cliff behind the cabin.
 As you drive into the park there are some great petroglyphs all along the walls so make sure you stop and check them out. The park has some great apple orchards in it and there are large herds of mule deer that live here all year. The park has some great camp grounds in the orchards that would be beautiful to stay in during the spring or summer. The deer are always there and it ads to the scenery.
 After spending the rest of the day looking all around and getting some great pictures of the park we headed to the town of Torrey to find a place to stay for the night and to get a bite to eat. Since it was the off season most of the motels were closed and only two restaraunts were open. We found a small pizza place that had great food and after some good food we got us a room and called it a day. The next morning we found that it had snowed which made for a scenic drive home through Escalante and Bryce National Park. We had covered quite a bit of territory in the last week and had the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful places that our country has to see. I cant wait for the next adventure!

Goblin Valley

March 15-After grabbing some breakfast we left Moab with great reluctance. We were allready making plans for a return trip.
 One thing to remember if you decide to make this trip in the off season is that in the towns such as Moab, most of the restaraunts and businesses are open but when you get out to the smaller towns along the way most of the businesses are closed in the off season. I would recommend stopping for fuel and  to eat when you have the chance as you dont want to get stranded with the large distances in between the larger towns. The flip side to that is the temperatures are cooler and the crowds are smaller
. We followed highway 191 north and took the Dead Horse Point overlook turnoff. After a short drive we got to the overlook that sits over the Colorado river. Another amazing view from a place with a dark history. As the story goes. Cowboys would drive wild horses up to this point that was fenced off at the overlook point as there was no way for the horses to escape.  The point recieved its name after a group of horses was driven to the point where they were coralled and then left. They died from lack of food and water.
 After taking some pictures and looking around we headed north again on highway 191 to our next stop Goblin Valley.
The trip to Goblin Valley took about three hours from the time we left Dead Horse Point. I had never been to Goblin Valley but I had always wanted to see it. When we got there I was not disappointed. The area is covered in thousands of sandstone formations that leave you with the feeling that you are on an alien planet. The formations are so interesting, I could see why I had been told that the evenings here could play tricks on your senses with the shadows created by all the strange formations.
When we got there it was cloud covered and the wind was beginning to blow. It was blowing sand around and creating a small sand storm but that did not stop us from getting out and hiking around for some camera shots and investigating this amazing landscape. After spending several hours exploring this lunar landscape we headed out for our next stop Capitol Reef National Park.

Arches National Park

March 14-We got an early start and headed into Arches National Park. If you have never been here and you get to this part of Utah this is a must see! There is so much to see that its almost sensory overload with all the amazing rock formations and panoramic views. We made the rounds through the park taking in all the sights and taking pictures. If you have the chance to come here make sure to plan a few days here as there is so much to see. After stopping and having lunch while watching the rock climbers climb some of the rock formations we headed for the Delicate Arch. There are two places to see the Delicate Arch. The first point is a view point that allows you to see the arch from a distance after a short hike. I would recommend the lower access trail that takes you right to the Delicate Arch. It took us about three hours to hike to it but as everyone that was coming down told us. "It is well worth the hike."
 I was concerned my daughter Shelly wouldnt be able to make the hike but she was a trooper and had no problems making it. When we reached the arch I was amazed at the beauty of this sight. The arch is truly amazing with the snow covered LaSalle mountains as a backdrop.
 We learned that this area was first discovered by the Spaniards who named the LaSalle mountains after viewing them and believing that it was to warm for snow to exist on the nearby mountains so they must be covered by salt. LaSalle mountains means the salt covered mountains. We  found the early spring a perfect time for this hike as the temperatures were in the seventies and made the hike more comfortable.
 We ended the day with a great dinner at one of the local mexican restaraunts in Moab and headed back to our room for some well deserved sleep.