Postcard from Zion

The trip was meticulously planned. Dates and weather were checked. Hotel reservations were made. Everything looked good. Instead, it was a bust!

The time was November 2015. The place: Zion National Park. It was supposed to be a trip to photograph the glories of Autumn in that most beautiful place. But somebody forgot to tell Mother Nature. I arrived in the canyon one day ahead of my friend and professional nature photographer Dave Forster. My job was to scout the park to find the best place for Autumn colors. Having done this before, I knew the places to seek out for Autumn’s glory.

Except I found very autumn color. The trees were mostly green. What yellow I could find was mostly a brownish yellow…not very photographic. Of the red and orange colors, there were none. To come all this way and not find what you were looking for…well it was disappointing to say the least.

The next day, Dave showed up and we took a tour of the canyon. Nothing had changed…there was nothing here to photograph. On our last Autumn visit, the colors were spectacular! We both nearly wore out our cameras. We took hundreds of photos, a few of which were shown here. This time, our camera stayed in their respective bags.

Just before you leave the park, there is a junction…the left one being the road into the high country of Zion. It’s a spectacular road, with amazing views of the park as you climb higher and higher, ending in the mile-long tunnel that brings you out into the high country. We decided to give the high country a try, even though autumn ends early up there because of the elevation.

As we emerged from the tunnel, we found mostly what we expected. Autumn was pretty much over here as there was snow on the ground. The higher we went, the more snow we found. Then we came upon the scene you see here: the last tree of autumn in the high country set among the red rocks so prevalent in Zion. Of course we stopped, both hungry to do something with our cameras.

We shot several images, each of us in a different spot. Dave was down below near the tree while I was stationed where I took this photo. Eventually Dave joined me up above and we continued to take pictures, each looking for that perfect composition. I think this photo was my best, although certainly not the best photo I have ever taken in Zion. This location partially saved our earlier disappointments down below.

The next day we headed further east, joining up with highway 89, then the beautiful Highway 12. With stops in Bryce National Park, then on to Hole-in-the-Rock Road and down to Dance Hall Rock, the photos of which have been shown here before. From there we headed back toward Zion, but turning on different highway that eventually led us up to 10,000 feet and Cedar Breaks National Monument.

So while the trip was not a total bust, I have to say that Zion Canyon was supposed to be the highlight of this trip, but it just did not happen. But that is the life of a photographer…sometimes you get lucky, sometime you don’t.