Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my Zion, North Rim and Bryce series. The canyons of Southwestern Utah and Northern Arizona are the most beautiful places I've ever been and I highly recommend putting Zion, Bryce and the North Rim on your bucket list.
After leaving Bryce Canyon, we took one of the most scenic drives in North America, Utah State Road 12. To say this drive is magnificent is an understatement. After stopping at Capitol Reef National Park (no pics of that one except family snapshots), we took one of the most isolated, empty roads I've ever been on. We did not see another human being, vehicle or man-made structure for hours.
What we did see, however, were vast monoliths, cliffs, mountains and rocks which all looked very prehistoric. We felt that dinosaurs were just around the next bend. As it turns out, the dinosaurs were roaming this same land in abundance, as southern Utah has the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in North America.
We arrived at Moab, a very cool town. We could feel the presence of these dinosaurs everywhere we went. It is amazing that these prehistoric creatures roamed the same ground we were now standing on, but millions of years ago.
The next morning, we went to Arches National Park, which contains the largest collection of natural sandstone arches in the world - over 2000 arches. The famous Double Arch, pictured here, is the tallest arch in the park, reaching a height of 112 feet. It is also the second longest arch at 144 feet across. Amazingly, we had this iconic arch all to ourselves as there were no other visitors there at the time. We climbed this arch, as at the time (this image was taken in 2003), climbing arches in the park was still allowed.
So beautiful! I agree, Utah's National Parks have some of the most amazing geologicial wonders you'll ever see. I've enjoyed revisiting them through your wonderful photos.
fav