I’ve lived in Moab for almost twenty years. A Southern Utah OG adventure town, Moab attracts over three million annual visitors from every corner of the world and though I adore my hometown, occasionally I need to escape the buzzing energy that is our tourist season. Recently, I did just that with a two-day photography trip through the other two thirds of southern Utah in my newly acquired Toyota Land Cruiser.
I left Moab for Hanksville late Thursday morning under moody and somewhat ominous skies. Arriving at a turnoff that would take me to two spires surrounded by colorful badlands, I drove through great clouds of dust whipped up by powerful winds. This would usually be an easy and pleasant hike but in the wind, it became a test of my mental fortitude. I arrived at the first spire, where I made several images under rapidly changing conditions. Suddenly, a tidal wave of wind and dust blew past me. I glanced over my shoulder to the south and saw dark clouds marching toward me. Clay badlands are a terrible place to be in the rain, so I beat feet back to my truck. I hit pavement just as the first drops of rain fell on my windshield.
I pressed on to my next southern Utah destination, an overlook popular with the Instagram crowd where I planned to spend the night. Several miles of driving on a number of dirt roads deposited me at the tip of a peninsula with breathtaking views in every direction.
I spent several hours exploring the canyon rim, enjoying and photographing the ever-changing perspectives. Following a dramatic sunset, I crawled into a makeshift bed in the back of my truck, where I watched the canyon below disappear into darkness through the dusty rear window. A brilliant flash of light, immediately followed by the distinctive crack of thunder, woke me from a deep sleep. An intense thunderstorm had settled directly overhead, and rain was falling in waves. I somehow fell asleep with the storm raging outside and when I awoke at sunrise, I was disappointed to discover that the entire eastern horizon was hidden behind a curtain of clouds. There would be no blazing sunrise light today. On the drive out, I encountered a few short sections of clay that were all bookended by sandstone slabs. Each time, just as my vehicle started sliding in the clay, the front tires would grab onto sandstone and pull me away from catastrophe. By the time I made it back to the highway my nerves were shot, I was hungry and desperate for caffeine.
I cruised quickly through Capitol Reef as the cottonwood trees had yet to recognize that it was autumn. I stopped in the small southern Utah town of Torrey for food and fuel, grabbing a delicious breakfast burrito and chai latte at the Wild Rabbit Café, then pointed my truck south on Highway 12.
Snow had fallen at higher elevations. It was already mid-October, and though Boulder Mountain is home to some of the largest aspen groves in the West, I didn’t expect to find any yellow leaves. I rounded a corner and was shocked to see several small aspens ablaze in color! Much to my delight, I found abundant yellow, orange and red leaves clinging to stubborn aspens for the entire length of the drive over the mountain.
The weather worsened as I approached Bryce National Park. Nature photographers are fond of saying “bad weather makes good photos”, and I headed into the park. I stopped at several viewpoints, and at each one I found absolutely epic winter conditions. At one, I watched in amusement as a pair of ravens preened on a fencepost, their black feathers shimmering when ruffled by the wind. The entire landscape was muted by fog and clouds. Several inches of fresh snow had accumulated on trees and was layered like icing on the tops of red velvet hoodoos. If ever there was a perfect winter moment at Bryce, surely this was it.
Nearing Zion, I pulled off on a dirt road and drove a short distance to a flat spot surrounded by small trees. This would be tonight’s campsite. I was again awakened by a midnight thunderstorm. This time it didn’t linger, quickly moving east where the rain would become snow as the landscape climbed in elevation.
I awoke early on Saturday and within a few minutes, I was in Zion, where I planned to hike one of my favorite canyons that I hoped would be filled with colorful foliage. Much to my dismay, I discovered that Mother Nature had other plans. Virtually all of the foliage was still green, with only subtle hints of fall sprinkled throughout the park. Though I was disappointed, I was also eager to get home where I would download my bounty off the SD cards and begin the process of culling through over 500 images. My trip around southern Utah had come to an end, but as I drove home to Moab, I was already planning my next escape into southern Utah’s natural wonderland.
In-field contributor: Bret Edge – 2021 F250 and Four Wheel Campers Hawk UTE
Bret is a professional adventure and nature photographer in Moab, Utah. He, his wife Melissa, son Jackson, and adventure pug travel frequently throughout the West in search of the best trails to mountain bike and hike, and the most epic campsites for their 2021 F250 and Four Wheel Campers Hawk UTE or Land Cruiser 200. Some of his favorite places include the Sonoran Desert, Oregon Coast, Northern Rockies and the Cascades.
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