Zion & Bryce Canyon with Matt & Ray, Day 1

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Photos from this day in Zion National Park

Our first experience with Zion National Park came late at night when barely enough light shone on the magnificence as Barb drove through the twisting switchbacks of Route 9. My head was hanging out of the window and my tongue was hanging out of my mouth as we drove all the way through the park from the West Entrance through the East Entrance and beyond to our destination, Zion Mountain Ranch. That was several years and several trips ago. This year I brought the thrill of this spectacular piece of the planet together with my love of my son and the excitement of a good friend. Neither my son Matt nor even my friend Rayin all his travels has ever visited this special spot of the Southwest, and I was delighted to be their guide for a week-long romp on the slickrock and hoodoos.

With airlines cancelling flights, crunching numbers and caring less about their customers, we found it best to drive a couple of hours to Philadelphia, stay the night before and fly out early on a Tuesday morning. Whereas we used to take a direct flight to Las Vegas and land at 10:26am, we were now routed through Dallas and landed around 2pm. As usual we got our rental and immediately headed for the hills of Utah, about a 3-hour journey. One tradition we never fail to keep is a stop, both coming and going, at the Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza about 35 miles north of the city. It's a great place to stock up on our way in, and the food and service at their little lunch counter is great.

This time when we finally arrived at the West Entrance to Zion in Springdale, we were told by the ranger gatekeeper that the shuttle was making its last round and the visitors center was closing. Our destination was still through the park, and still Zion Mountain Ranch. ZMR is a beautiful section of rolling hills just east of the park. It has magnificent cabins that seem rustic, but have all of the major modern contraptions. It also boasts a large herd of bison that roam free through its pastures and beyond. The folks at this remarkable spot have done an incredible job of accommodating the most demanding guests while keeping the look and feel of the old west. The food is always exceptional and you can often find one of my books in the lobby.

Ray was the only one getting any photos that first day as he perfected the out-the-window shot. We missed the sunset light because of the late arrival, but we were up before the first light of day in the morning. We started with a good breakfast at ZMR's Buffalo Grill and the sun started peeking over the horizon before we were done. The sight of the bison and other animals gathering outside the restaurant in the glorious morning light was our first call to camera. We responded, and the first 12 photos in today's gallery are from then. Matt & Ray would have been happy to stay all day and shoot the sights around ZMR, but there were rocks and trees I hadn't seen in a long time so I hurried them along.

Our first stop inside the park was at the Checkerboard Mesa, their first taste of the palpable beauty of the Zion slickrock. The east side of this park is so drastically different from the main west side, and it always amazes me how many people I've talked to who have been here but never experienced the whole place.

Within 2 tenths of a mile from the mesa pullout I again pulled over to the shoulder, glad that Matt suggested we take the Jeep yesterday when the rental agent gave us a choice. There were big horn sheep on both sides of the road. Off to our left there were two young males practicing their martial art (photo 22), while on our right there was a large group of young eating. The two large bucks of the group came toward us and stood in defensive positions –not as aggressors, but as proud protectors of their offspring. Again Matt & Ray seemed as though they could have stayed here all day, but we hadn't even walked more than a couple hundred yards so far, and there was so much more ahead that was calling to us, even if those guys couldn't hear it yet.

Soon after the first tunnel we came to an old juniper friend who sits on top of a beehive-shaped rock formation (photo 25). Matt & I headed out for a close encounter. We were both working rapidly, opening and closing tripod legs and setting up for many different angles and compositions, exhilarated by the magic of Mukuntuweap. My connection to craft, however, was considerably compromised by my personal joy of seeing my son being overcome by the beauty of place. From photo 25 through 38 I was using the 16-35mm and didn't notice that Manual Focus was selected. In my disconnected haste I hadn't noticed that the little beep that tells me the lens found its target was not sounding. All of those shots were hit and miss, and many from this phase have been totally discarded. When Matt & I were shooting in this area, we noticed many faces in the rock. One in particular seemed to jump out. It was someone "born" the same year as Matt, and I've enhanced (superimposed) his image into photo 28.

We eventually returned to where we left Ray and he was off in the distance shooting scenes and seeing faces of his own. The week before our trip there was a huge flood in the area. Since I have relatively no skills in storm-damage assessment, I may have missed a lot of clues, so found little evidence except for a few small areas of the Virgin, like the bend at the Three Patriachs where there were shoreline reeds muddy and bent from the recent onslaught. It's all beautiful –even the mud. Photos 35 & 36 are perhaps examples of the storm that ripped through the area. We were concerned when we saw the news that part of the access road to the park was closed, but it reopened before our arrival. This time the storm closed nothing in Zion Park.

We drove through the mile-long tunnel, painstakingly constructed in 1936, that separates the east and west sides of the park, and Ray got a good shot out the window through one of the old knock-outs that provided air for the workmen. We eventually parked at the museum close to the west entrance and hopped the shuttle for a ride up canyon. It was getting late and we wanted to be back in time for happy hour, and a sunset shoot at ZMR. Zion National Park consists of one road, Route 9, a major artery connecting St. George on the west with Carmel Junction on the east, and Canyon Vista Drive, aka, The Floor Of The Valley Road, which is a 9-mile offshoot that runs up the canyon and stops at The Narrows. Shuttle buses run up and down the drive throughout the season. There are 8 stops along the Virgin River, but we only had time for one. We stayed on the bus until the very end, The Temple of Sinawava.

We shot in and around the area for a little over an hour when I noticed Matt was no longer with us. I left Ray and headed in the general direction of the Riverside Trail. After only about a half mile I noticed a bunch of folks gathering along the shore off in the distance. I left the trail to join them. Then I found Matt walking through the river to a rock where he set up to shoot a mule deer buck on the other side (photos 57 & 58). We got a few more shots as I remembered the last time I was there with his mom. The place has a wonderful feel that reminds you life offers so much more than language and money, and it was easy to see how naturally and quickly Matt was becoming part of it. We probably floated a little above ourselves as we walked back to the shuttle stop, gathering Ray along the way.

Photo 61 is a bit unusual for me, but reminds me of one of my favorite photographers, Rolfe Ross. Everyone on this bus had a story and we heard most of them by the time we got back to our car at the park museum. We took a leisurely drive through the park, Ray perfecting his through-the-window technique, and arrived in time for our 4:30 happy hour. We must have been pretty strict with the definition because the first shot of the evening, #62, was taken at 5:33. It was starting to get pretty brisk as the afternoon breeze turned to evening chill. A good thing, considering we'll be spending the next 2 days in Bryce Canyon where it's always at least 10 degrees cooler.

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