Postcard from Southern Utah

Note: Sorry I haven’t done a Postcard blog in a few days. Life’s trials and tribulations got in my way…car and computer problems, to name a couple. Anyway, all is well now so will try and get back on track…JRC

With the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in my rear view mirror, I headed north to rejoin Highway 89A, then into Southern Utah. It is a very pretty drive and after a short while, the cliffs of the Grand Staircase of the Escalante came into view and I new I was approaching the Utah/Arizona border.

Just over the border, in the small town of Kanab, Highway 89A rejoins Highway 89 and heads due north. Just outside of Kanab I came across a small lake with a cave eroded into the red rock. I stopped to take a photograph (photo #1), not realizing at the time this was one of the few pictures I would take on this trip that included water. There are just not many water features to photograph in the area of Southern Utah where I visited.

Continuing on my way, I soon approached the turnoff for the eastern approach to Zion National Park. It was a difficult decision, but I chose to skip Zion this time. The place would be loaded with vacationers (like the Grand Canyon), it was too early for fall colors, and I would have to ride the shuttle bus in Zion Canyon. Not my idea of fun. I was there almost two years ago in November, when the buses were shut down for the season and autumn was going strong. I settled for that as I still have a ton of pictures from that trip that have not been processed.

Continuing north on 89, I saw this pastoral country for the first time, even though I had driven this road two years previous. At that time, it was still dark. I was glad to see it in sunshine this time. It is mostly beautiful farm country, with red and white rock formations as a backdrop.

Sixty miles north of Kanab, I turned east on Highway 12, Utah’s most beautiful and celebrated highway. In about 10 miles, I arrived at Red Canyon, my destination for this day.

I’ve written about Red Canyon here before and have shown a few photos. I decided to spend some time here as there is much more to explore than I saw on my last trip. And, I used it as a base for some other nearby photographic destinations. Red Canyon is overseen by the National Forest Service and there is a great campground there. I found a great secluded campsite up in the hills. It was so nice that I stayed here for five nights.

It was here I discovered if you arrive late morning, you can almost always get a campsite. By early afternoon, this campground, along with all the others I visited on this trip, were filled to capacity.

Not many people stay at Red Canyon as they are very anxious to keep going the additional 10 miles to see Bryce Canyon National Park. As a photographer, I know that Bryce faces east and is best photographed in the morning. So, I decided to spend the rest of this day on the trails in Red Canyon.

Stay tuned!!