Cliff and Trees. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Trees and brush at the base of a sandstone cliff along the Virgin River, Zion National Park.
For an autumn photograph there isn’t a lot of autumn color here! Back in 2012 I made two trips to Southern Utah. The pattern of fall color change in Utah, in my somewhat limited experience, is both different than what I’m used to in California and spread out across many weeks and the many climate zones of the state. The first lesson I learned was very early in October: the aspens in Utah change earlier than those in the Eastern Sierra that I know so well. A second lesson was that the cottonwoods and other trees and bushes in the redrock canyon country change next, and they can be spectacular. The third lesson — illustrated here — is that the colors in Zion Canyon apparently change quite a bit later. I haven’t hit the peak there yet, but I understand that it can be as late as the beginning of November.
This visit was barely two weeks into October, and much of the vegetation in Zion Canyon was still quite green. This photograph comes from a very popular and often crowded area just beyond the road-end at the upper end of the canyon, where many begin their walk/wade up the Virgin River. This is, I think, one of those places that is “iconic for a reason.” This section features a relatively flat and wide canyon bottom, full of trees that can benefit from occasional flooding. But for me the massive canyon walls that follow the river’s course are the main show — the sandstone here is massive and nearly vertical.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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