Saint George, UT—After leaving Cedar City, we decided that our next stop would have to be Saint George, Utah. The second largest city in Utah (next to Salt Lake City), Saint George has a population of 77,000 people and is located amongst ridges and foothills of deep red sandstone blocks and cliffs. The city also happens to be located 45 minutes from Zion, the 229-square mile national park—Utah’s first, which is filled with mind-blowing sandstone monoliths and other geologic wonders too numerous to name. To us, the grandeur we felt seemed in equal measure to the feelings we had rolling into Yosemite Valley on our honeymoon six years ago. Jaw. Dropping.
On our first day, we mostly got acquainted to the park and it’s amenities – where folks camp, where the trailheads are, where to get groceries—that sort of thing. We did a short hike to the mouth of the Narrows, took some photos along the way as the sun set, and that was about it. We quickly realized that there would be more to do than we had time for, but that wouldn’t deter us from enjoying as much as we could in the brief time we had. We had to accept that the .1% we were seeing would be more than worth it. A return trip would be necessary!
A couple days later, some good friends of ours texted us out of the blue and asked us if we’d be interested in a multi-park tour with them. This meant hitting up Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Staircase-Escalante – all in a two or three day whirlwind of hiking and exploring. They were in Moab at the time, but were willing to make the 5 1/2 hour trip towards us if we were interested. We of course said ‘yes’, and I was giddy just thinking of the photo potential of each place. Sandstone peaks, hoodoos, geologic anomalies, slot canyons, fall colors—all things we’d get to experience.
They arrived first thing Friday morning and met us near the entrance to Zion. Our first destination would be Angels Landing, a easy/moderate walk up to a beautiful overlook. It was extremely bright up top, and we ‘summited’ around 1pm or so. The valley air had some haziness and the sun was blazing—making for less than ideal shots at the top. On the way down, however, we had some nice reflected light and the sun had by then passed over the valley making it’s way towards the horizon. The light improved later on and we decided that we’d make that same quick hike up to the entrance to the Narrows for some more photos.
On our next day, we rose early and headed east out of the park towards Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument just a few hours away. Perhaps pictures can best describe our experience at each location, so enjoy the images below. One final note: our Halloween was spent in the aptly named “Spooky” slot canyon in Escalante. We felt it an ironic, unplanned, but nevertheless fitting location for the holiday. Hope your Halloween was spectacular too! Also, I’m including a few images from Kolob Canyon, a beautiful, and oft overshadowed gem located within Zion National Park. The rock colors and textures were also really amazing. I had to include these…
