Prior to my recent road trip to Utah, I had posted a question in Nature and Landscapes Talk and I mentioned that rain followed me this year so I was looking forward to Sunshine. One person answering asked that I should bring rain with me to the West and it seemed as though I did. When we reached Bryce the rain made for dramatic views at times, no people, miserable cold but I enjoyed it by taking at least 300 photos that I have had very little time to view and almost no editing done.
IMG_0629 Bryce by steve findling, on FlickrTaken at Inspiration point, the Hoodoos had just began to show through the clouds in this photo. This was my fourth return to this point and encountered only one other vehicle in the parking lot. When the rain subsided and the Sun began to shine that all came to an end as the buses came rolling in and I than departed from Bryce.
IMG_0597 Bryce by steve findling, on FlickrAs I was driving into Bryce Canyon we received alerts on our phones for flash flooding and the dangers that should be avoided. While we were enjoying the privacy that the cold rain provided in Bryce, there was tragedy just a few miles away in Zion, my next destination.
IMG_0688 by steve findling, on FlickrLater in the day we arrived in Zion from the East entrance, passed through the tunnel and were making our way down into the Canyon when I was stopped by a Park Ranger.
He came to my window and asked that we be patient, that we would have to wait for a period of time before passing him and the ambulance that had turned around in front of us.
I assumed that they were clearing the road as I could see where sand had been bladed from the roadway. A large group of people came into view, all carrying various tools, some were out of my view. Later that evening found me in a Washington Utah Motel, loading my photos of the day on the laptop and watching the tragic news of the 20 people that had drowned in the area that very morning. We had witnessed a recovery in progress,it was the 2nd out of what would become 7 in Zion Canyon, 13 more in nearby Hildale.
IMG_0698 by steve findling, on FlickrThe last photo is of water pouring into the Canyon as I was sitting on the road behind the Ranger, this is quite a distance downstream from the Narrows that I would hike toward the next day, but the water was high, swift and dangerous.
