Paria Sundial (West Clark Bench)

Paria Sundial on a beautiful day

I know there is a lot of potential to discover new amazing rock formations in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  Much of this land is relatively undiscovered and difficult to reach.  The West Clark bench sits north of the famous Coyote Buttes of Arizona.  The Arizona-Utah border and the Buckskin slot canyon separate these 2 formations.  Brain rocks and amazing colors are present in both locations.

On my first visit to the West Clark bench, I was exploring randomly.  There is no trail.  Wandering around the sandstone cliffs and formations is the only way to go from one place to another.  I came across this unique formation which reminded me of a sundial.  The curve in the capstone as well as the curve rock gathered at the base caught my attention.  I took several photographs of this formation but I could not be satisfied.  Landscape orientation did not include the beautiful sky for the rocks on the ground.  Portrait orientation cut off the bush and brain rock on either side.  I ended up taking several photographs with my 17 mm tilt shift lens and these were later stitched together to create this photograph.  This is my favorite photograph from that day of photography.