Now it’s November!

Good morning Everyone! It is a beautiful day here in Iowa, but we could use a little rain to settle the dust. And though it is already November, today I am sharing some images from October in Utah. Here at home, most of the trees have lost their leaves.

This scene was fairly common from the side of Burr Trail.

I have been traveling, in fact, just arrived home yesterday from a trip to beautiful Utah. I took the Amtrak train to Salt Lake City, met a photographer friend there and we rented a car to drive 4-1/2 hours to Boulder, which is in the Escalante Staircase/Dixie National Forest area. The scenery is wonderful. We also went to Bryce Canyon. None of my Bryce Canyon images are downloaded, so you won’t see those today.

The yellow of the cottonwoods (most of the Aspens had already lost their leaves) really stands out against the red canyon walls.

Did you know there are 5 National Parks in Utah? Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, and Zion are the 5. But wait! There is more. Bears Ears, Cedar Breaks, Dinosaur, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, Rainbow Bridge, and Timpanogos Cave are all National Monuments. In addition to that, there are 2 National Recreation Areas-Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge. These are all federal lands and well worth seeing. In 6 days time I did not have time to see many of these, so a trip back to Utah is on my ‘to do’ list.

That’s not all! There are 6 National Forests, 31 National Wilderness Areas, 583 miles of National Historic Trails, 1 National Historic Site, 2 National Conservation Areas, 3 National Wildlife Refuges, 18 National Recreation Trails, and 8 National Scenic Byways.

By contrast, Iowa has 1 National Monument, 1 National Historic Site and 2 National Historic Trails. While Iowa is beautiful any time of year, it is a totally different kind of beauty.

I would say Utah is a dry climate, but where there are rivers or streams that are not dried up, you will find trees, birds and gorgeous reflections on the water’s surface.

Of course, as a photographer, I will go at specific times of the year to try for the best images. The ones on this post are all from the same day, though at different times of the day. I haven’t had time to download the rest of my images. I even got a few bird shots in, though none are especially good. Here is one of a White-crowned Sparrow. I did add 3 species to my life list.

 

The rocks are not all red, but it is the predominate color. We found a slot canyon that was simply beautiful, no less so because it was easy to get to. Some slot canyons have to be accessed by a series of ladders, which I can’t/won’t negotiate. The entrance to this canyon is not readily noticeable.

I would suggest that if you are looking for a lovely place to visit, a place where you can see a variety of landscapes, you might want to consider Utah. Prior to this visit I had only been to Salt Lake City and the 4 corners area, but no place in between. I still haven’t been to the Great Salt Lake, nor any of the National Wildlife Refuges. Those are on the agenda for my next visit.

Of course, in October the cottonwoods are a spectacular golden color, no matter the angle from which you view them.

That is enough to dazzle you for one day, and if, by chance, you are trying to decide where to go on your next vacation, you might want to consider Utah.

Please leave any comments below. Thanks for stopping by.