Bentonite Hills 1, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree
On the final day of our time in Capitol Reef National Park, we photographed around some of the many bentonite hills in the northern portion of the park and/or along the roadway into Cathedral Valley. The area where we photographed may actually be outside the park boundary on BLM or private land. We had driven past these hills numerous times during out trips into and out of Cathedral Valley.
Bentonite Hills 2, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree
There were a number of old, gnarly trees in this area, so I used those and other desert vegetation as foreground for photographs of the colorful hills.
Bentonite Hills 3, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old TreeBentonite Hills 4, Desert and Bentonite HillsScrubby Desert Vegetation, Rocks and Bentonite HillsHard Rock Desert and Bentonite Hills, Early Golden HourBentonite Hills 5, Bentonite Hills Golden HourBentonite Hills 6, Bentonite Hills Golden HourBentonite Hills 7, Bentonite Hills Golden HourBentonite Hills 8, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Heading northwards along a dirt road in the northern portion of Capitol Reef National Park (actually, this is probably outside the park boundary, maybe on private land or BLM public land), is this abandoned drilling rig. I think it was a water well rig. It reminds me of the old cable tool rigs used in the very early days of oil well drilling, with its wooden mast and wooden flywheel.
Desert Grafiti, iPhone Photo
The old truck body has been used as an artist canvas and for target shooting by someone or someones.
There was a watering facility near this old rig for a local cattle herd. Some of the cattle watched me as I watched them to be sure none of them took exception to my presence.
One never knows what one might find in the great open spaces of the western U.S.
Desert Overlook, Capitol Reef National Park, iPhone PhotoDesert Overlook, Capitol Reef National Park, iPhone PhotoPainted Hills, Capitol Reef National Park, iPhone Photo
My readers have already seen many photos of some of the fantastic, massive geological features in the Cathedral Valley portion of Capitol Reef National Park. The long loop road through this area passes many such features. We did not have time to explore around all of these and certainly not time to visit each area for golden hour sunrise or sunset photography.
But we did stop and walk around at some of the more easily accessible areas near the roadway. Often, I would use my iPhone camera to capture the scenes, rather than lugging around a heavy DSLR and lens.
Magic Seeker, iPhone PhotoDesert Vortex – Sky and Earth, iPhone PhotoRock Power, iPhone PhotoCommander/Tower of Power, iPhone PhotoDesert Sentinels/Commander and Sidekick, iPhone PhotoCathedral Valley Scene, iPhone PhotoSky Partitioner, iPhone PhotoDesert Sun, iPhone PhotoSerpent Sky, iPhone PhotoHalo, iPhone Photo
Near the double arch along the 4 wheel drive to the Strike Valley Overlook and Upper Muley Twist Canyon Trailhead is another arch.
Double Arch, One Almost Hidden
A quick glance from the roadway at this feature and one might think this is a single arch. Getting a closer look, after hiking up a sandy bank, reveals a double arch.
Double Arch
These second and third images helps reveal the second arch, but it is still not completely clear.
Double ArchDouble Arch
This view point now clearly reveals two arches.
Triple Arch
But wait! Moving around a bit, clearly shows a third small arch! Not only that, but a close inspection of the large, front arch and some imagination reveals what appear to be two animals engaged in a fight. Focus on the center portion of this arch and one can imagine the face and mouth of a dog or similar creature biting down on the adjacent rock, which resembles some other creature with legs formed by the second arch and a portion of the rock on the far right.
On the return from Upper Muley Twist Canyon trailhead towards the Burr Trail Road, we stopped at arches we had spotted along the 4 wheel drive road to the trailhead. There are no safe ways to get very close to these arches, but one can hike up sandy banks to find a number of vantage points from which to shoot from below the arches.
Double Arch
This is a double arch, which may not be readily apparent at first glance.
Double Arch
Small portions of blue sky are visible below the two back to back arches in the photo above.
Front arch in Double ArchDouble ArchFront arch in Double Arch
Nearby is a triple arch, which will be the subject of the next post.
Arriving at the area above the Burr Trail Road Switchbacks, overlooking Strike Valley, we hastened to find quick compositions before the late day light disappeared.
Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.
We were fortunate to get golden hour sunset light on portions of the foreground rocks for a brief interval, before the foreground went entirely into shadow.
A La Georgia O’keeffe
The repeating Vs in the image above remind me of themes or patterns often seen in Georgia O’Keeffe’s artwork that she did in in the New Mexico area near her home. The Vs begin in the old dead tree, continue with the intersection of the rock formations behind it and at the notch in the opposite valley wall in the background.
Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.
The gnarly, fallen old tree in the foreground seems to mimic the rock layers behind it.
Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.
I made a number of images with these rocks in the foreground. I’ve only included a couple of those in this post.
Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.
Likewise, I captured a number of images similar to these two, getting a portion of the Burr Trail Road, going down into the valley. As a reminder, clicking on the photos with embedded links will take you to the photo on Flickr and viewing on a large screen will better show the details in the images.
Strike Valley, above the Burr Road switchbacks near sunset.
After shooting at the Strike Valley Overlook, we retreated back to the intersection of the the 4 wheel drive road and Burr Trail Road to shoot a window in a rock near that intersection.
I hiked along a stream bed to get better views of the window.
Window in Rock, just off of the Burr Trail Road, Capitol Reef National Park.
The window is so far away from this shooting area that it appears to be much smaller than it actually is, so the foreground scene dominates these wide angle shots.
Window 2Highs and Lows
I scrambled up a very steep slick rock slope to get the photo above and a few of the others here.
Elemental Wounds
The canyon walls along the stream had some interesting texture and features.
Rock OnPillar of SupportSculptedEndurance
Back at the open area around a parking area just off of Burr Trail Road, I looked for foreground objects to include in front of the distant window.
High Desert ViewDesert RocksTree Bone Dry
None of these shots turned out to be outstanding (although, I do like the vertical composition that I had to work hardest to get, climbing a steep slope), so we abandoned this area and headed towards an area overlooking Strike Valley above the Burr Trail Switchbacks, hoping to get there before the sunlight disappeared.
This is a continuation of a late afternoon shoot at Strike Valley Overlook in Capitol Reef National Park.
The EdgeUndulationsShadow Remains
This old tree skeleton provided a number of compositional possibilities. I think this one is the best photo I got here. If there were only a few clouds in the sky…
Evening RestLife on Edge
I had hoped to get some of these compositions with sunset light on the foreground, but this area very quickly went into shadow before the best of the late day light.
Rock ClimbersStrike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket FoldStrike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket FoldFadingDay’s EndReceding
The trail head for Upper Muley Twist Canyon and the Strike Valley Overlook both begin at the end of a three mile, rugged, high clearance, 4 wheel drive road.
There are at least four arches in Upper Muley Twist Canyon in the southern portion of Capitol Reef. The full loop hike of this canyon is a nine mile round trip. Today, our primary destination was the Strike Valley Overlook, which we had scouted earlier in our visit. We had just enough time before sunset to hike to the first arch, which is about a mile from the trailhead.
The first arch is easily missed. It is high up on the canyon wall, does not stand out sharply from the surroundings, and it is obscured by rocks and vegetation along the stream bed. We spotted the arch, though it was not easily accessible and we had no time today to try to find a route to a good vantage point for getting the best photos. The shot above is taken from a sandy bank surrounded by trees and brush just above the stream bed. We resolved to save any more exploration in this canyon for another day and hiked back towards the trailhead and the Strike Valley Overlook trail.
Strike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket FoldStrike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket FoldStrike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket Fold
There are high rock outcrops to the west of this overlook area, so the late day shadows encroach rapidly, putting much of the area and the valley in shadow well before the best of golden hour.
Strike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket FoldStrike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket Fold
This overlook area sits atop the geological feature called the Waterpocket Fold, which runs for miles in the park.
Strike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket FoldLinear Features on the Waterpocket Fold
This natural, linear, geological feature looks like a shrub lined walkway.
A Very Small Portion of the Massive Waterpocket FoldResting Place
This old tree remnant, resting at the base of a small rock drop off, reminded me of a line from a German poem that I had to memorize in college. Amazingly, I can still remember the complete poem decades later. The last line translated from the original German: Just wait, soon you too will rest.
Strike Valley Overlook and Waterpocket Fold
An old, dead tree and its shadow were good foreground objects, so this appears in a number of my compositions here.
Late one day we decided to shoot from one of the overlook areas near the visitors’ center. I shot from a little before golden hour until only the clouds on the distant horizon were illuminated and the color faded away. These are the best of the photos I obtained.
View from a Capitol Reef OverlookThe PathEarth and SkyPlanet EarthRed PlanetLate Day View from a Capitol Reef OverlookSky Mute
