Slickrock and Shadow

150 Mile Canyon:  twisting muav limestone in beautiful white 150 Mile Canyon can be hiked as far as possible in less than 5 minutes.  It's short but sweet.  A bit of stemming is required to get over one large boulder chockstone.  That gets you into the sweet twisted white narrows you see in this photo.  This section is short because another boulder prevents further travel (see next photo).  Another suspended chockstone hangs high overhead.  See the last photo for that one.  It's pretty cool. Boulder Chockstone in 150 Mile Canyon Suspended high Chockstone Boulder in 150 Mile Canyon Gordon's hike rating: Hike Difficulty:                   ★★★★ Easy to the first boulder, technical to bypass Trail Condition:                   ★★★★ Rocky wash but very short Trail Hazards:                ...

Mud Cracks and a Glowing Canyon Wall in Rider Canyon Rider Canyon is a short but lovely narrow canyon.  Most river trips pass by this gem but our group stopped for a quick exploration.  We hiked through a little mud and along a ledge before coming to the natural ending point.  I found the mud, water and glowing canyon walls to be the most photogenic elements.  Inverting my tripod allowed me an extra low angle to get this shot.  

Unexpected Beauty:  Wildflowers find a Home in a Sliver of Sand Planning for a specific shot in Chesler Park, I wandered all around the sandstone towers at dawn and sunrise.  After I had done a a lot of photography, I took a break for breakfast with my daughter.  We climbed on top of a boulder to enjoy the view.  Between our boulder and another boulder, a sliver of sand allowed yellow wildflowers to grow.  This was unexpected yet so beautiful, I had to stop and try to capture this.  This unexpected moment is now one of my favorite memories from that morning. Another view from my breakfast boulder

Stone Steps into the Joint Trail from Chesler Park Hiking sometimes is pure drudgery.  Other times it is a magical experience.  The joint trail is one of those magical trails in which the destination is not the only aim.  The journey to the destination can be just as much fun along a wonderful trail like this.  The narrow canyon walls, fun and silly "cairn room" are the destination among themselves along the way to the beautiful Chesler Park.  It is also very cool and pleasant deep in these slots, a nice break from the sun and heat.. Hiker on the Joint Trail in Needles District Cairns along Joint Trail