Sunrise at Bryce Canyon National Park is magical.  I’d spent the night in Hatch, Utah and woke up at 5am so that I could be at the edge of the canyon when the first light of the day hit the unique Bryce hoodoos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After sunrise photos at Bryce I drove along scenic Highway 12, making a quick detour to check out the first 15 miles of the Burr Trail Road that connects Boulder with Bullfrog.  At mile 11 I stopped to explore a shallow slot canyon.

 

 

Next I passed through Capitol Reef National Park.  I took a look at the petroglyphs and hiked to the Hickman Bridge, a large natural arch.

 

 

My final destination for the day was Goblin Valley State Park, where I‘d reserved a campsite.  I’d never been to the park before and was excited to see it.  While taking photos before sunset, however, I realized I wasn’t sure how to do justice to the scope of the Valley of the Goblins.  Unique, quirky rock formations stretched across the entire horizon, and the hoodoos are so uniform in color that my attempts to capture the full sweep of the place fell flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After sunset, back at my tent, I watched the full moon rise over the desert.  It was so bright I didn’t need a flashlight that night.

 

 

Up for sunrise photos the next morning as usual, the clouds teased me with the possibility of epic color, but ultimately the best light was blocked.  I settled for a silhouette of a large hoodoo formation outside the main valley.