Desert Light: Photos from Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

These are some of the best photos I have ever taken, from a hike in Capitol Reef National Park near Torrey, UT. The light that day was perfection, making even simple photos glow in a special way. The redrock desert of Utah is extremely dear to my heart and these are just a few of the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of desert photos I have taken. I am not much of a photographer, but the desert is quite an artist.

Looking along the Waterpocket Fold, the land feature that forms Capitol Reef National Park. It is a very large monoclinal fold and provides spectacular hiking. These photos were taken in mid-March. I remember the wind that day was ridiculous. The scramble up to this point was a true pain, and it was just the beginning of the journey. We wouldn’t be exposed to the cold wind and dust for the remainder of the hike, though.

This is the view in the opposite direction. Nice banding of the sandstone. The holes in the rock are known as waterpockets, and lend their name to the Waterpocket Fold. If you are stranded out here it is nice to know that you can sometimes find rainwater in them.

Magical shady spot.

The trail cuts through here. I’m pretty positive that interesting shaped shadow is a rock, but it sure looks like an animal, doesn’t it?

Striations in the rock.

Closing in on the waterpockets.

These beautiful formations are slowly hollowing out, turning into sand.

Tempting crevices.

Deep waterpocket.

Walls closing in… can’t go that way.

Dead end.

Heading up to the top.

Natural statue.

So many colors of rock, all basking in the sunlight.

Rounding a bend in the trail.

A bit of green growing from the sand.

View overlooking the Fruita River. Splendid light. We’ll linger here a little too long, then rush back down before dark, feeling blessed to have been in this amazing place of color and light. And feeling quite tired.