A Parting Gift
I recently went to Capitol Reef National Park for a week of hiking and photography. Capitol Reef is centered around a one hundred mile long wrinkle or fold in the earth’s crust that gives rise to amazing canyons, cliffs, domes, and colored rocks that glow long after the light is gone. In many guidebooks, Capitol Reef is listed as the fifth of Utah’s five grand National Parks, but that does this place a great disservice. In my book, it ranks near the top for the the grandeur and sheer beauty of the landscape, largely un-marred by all that comes with huge crowds of people. We witnessed an incredible landscape, a surprisingly diverse set of plant life, and weather that changed often and defied explanation. It was the last national park in Utah that I visited. It may be one of the first I return to… over and over again.
On the last day of my trip to Capitol Reef, I was given what felt like a parting gift and a call to return to this magical place where the light glows in the sky and on the rocks. It felt like the land was telling me that I just scratched the surface during these five days and that I should come back because there is much more to see for those who are patient and look closely. Many of the people that took the time to come to Sunset Point that evening left as the sun dipped below the horizon. I knew better, and stayed to see if there might be a glow in the sky… and there surely was!
Other mornings and evenings I was running around trying to capture as much as I could. But this last evening was very calm and very satisfying. I found this tree with the perfect ring of shrubs around its base and the perfect sunset behind it. And I just sat there and watched the light change… growing in intensity, glowing first with orange, then tinges of red, and finally fading out. Other than pressing the shutter button a few times, I really didn’t move much - I just enjoyed this great end to the trip.
Look for a few more images from this trip in the coming weeks!