It was so nice to have sun all day, right from the get go! And with no wind, the early morning shoot was much more pleasant than yesterday. About an hour from Moab is the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. Our first stop was the iconic Mesa Arch. We knew it was popular but we were not prepared for how many other people would be there at that time of day too. Eventually they cleared away and we were able to get some shots of the sun shining on the arch with a view of the peaks underneath. It’s so nice when the weather and lighting conditions are perfect!
Next was a stop at the Green River Overlook. The Green River joins up with the bigger Colorado River and the view was tremendous.
We stopped to shoot another viewpoint where we could see a winding gravel road below. It looked like quite an adventure to drive that road!
Our last stop of the morning was the Visitor’s Center where we saw another well-done short film. There was a terrific viewpoint right across the road. Where I stood made some people nervous but I was well back from the edge, really I was!
After lunch and a rest, the group drove out to Arches again and we split into two parties. One group went on a hike to Delicate Arch. The other group, which I joined, did a variety of stops. We saw an original cabin of one of the early settlers.
Some more petroglyphs were nearby.
We were able to photograph Delicate Arch from quite a distance away. We could see dozens and dozens of people at the top and along the trail and were glad we had not done the hike to such a popular and over-crowded spot.
We did a short hike in between some ‘fins’ where there was a cool arch.
Our sunset spot was Skyline Arch and we had the place to ourselves. The moon was practically full again. The quality of light at that time of day makes the already red rocks, even more so!
