The Best of Utah

Utah is a serious contender for the title of most scenic place in the United States. The south is like one big national park (there are five, plus Lake Powell) plus all the nearby stuff in northern Arizona.

These shots come from my Utah-Colorado trip and some from my Lake Powell & Monument Valley trip.

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One of my favourites, taken inside Bryce Canyon a short distance down the trial. You can see hikers on the left.

The most amazing thing about this is it was shot using my Olympus Stylus Epic point and shoot, at $90 the best bargain in a camera you will ever get.

I put it on my walking stick and rotated to get this shot. Bryce is one of the most amazing places in the world.

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This is the view from Bryce Point, a 250 degree panorama with wide angle lens. Not only do the Hoodos stretch forever, but the air in this area is so clear so the view stretches forever too.

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This mesa and barn in Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument I simply found striking. I shot a 24mm panorama and scanned it super high-res.

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The court of the Patriarchs in Zion Canyon National Park.

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Boat about 30 miles into Lake Powell and you can get to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the largest natural rock arch in the world.

This panorama is very unusual. It's a 220 degree 24mm panorama taken in a vertical circle from directly under the arch. So the ground is both on the left and the right, and the zenith of the sky is in the middle.

To appreciate it you may need to look at a more normal picture of Rainbow Bridge.

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Goosenecks State Park is right on the southern edge of Utah. Creationists have trouble with these deep meandering canyons, since the only explanation for their formation is millions of years of erosion taking place at the same time as the land is being slowly uplifted. Otherwise the water would long ago have broken through to form an oxbow lake.

We were here at sunrise, which actually is not the best time to photograph it since the light is not yet into the goosenecks.

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Red canyon is a short stretch on the way into Bryce. It's red. Really red.

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A sunset in Arches National Park, showing the "Windows" arches. (These two arches will be broken up by the Justice Dept.)

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Another sunset panorama at Arches.

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The Valley of the Gods is near Monument Valley, on the Utah side. It is sometimes called a miniature monument valley. You can see MV in the distance.