My second National Park visit in Utah was Bryce Canyon where dense hoodoos, or tall rock formations, are jammed into the horseshoe shaped canyon.
Called Bryce Amphitheater, I couldn’t help but think of a rock concert gone wrong. What was going on here that caused everyone to turn to stone?
Please click the images to view larger versions.
For my first sunset shoot I chose, naturally, sunset point. Some say it is misnamed since you cannot see the setting sun from the point. However, I think it is aptly named since the last of the days rays shine directly on the hoodoos and the light bounces back and forth between them making the whole amphitheater appear to glow.
The rock in the upper right of the image is sinking ship rock since it looks like the bow of a ship as it goes down.
If you look closely you can also see some trails winding down between the hoodoos. After I made these sunset images, I started hiking down a trail, compass in hand, to find my spot for the super moon that would rise an hour later. I’ll have those images for you later this week.
WOW! Seems to be my favorite word anytime I look at your images. WOW!
Wow, is good, I like wow 😉 Thanks Joe!
Lovely images Anne. Bryce Canyon is beautiful. I went horseback riding down those trails…camera in hand. Needless to say it was a little hard to shoot as I focusing on staying on the horse…lol.
That would be such a cool experience! I thought about doing some horseback riding as I saw a few places on my trip where you could do that, but I’m not sure how my back would take it. Instead I just got Ray to make horsey sounds as we were driving around 😉 He’s really good at making horsey clip clop sounds, haha. It really added to the atmosphere. Thanks for your comments Edith, always appreciated.
This is beautiful!
Thank you very much Sid!
I always enjoy visiting Bryce Anne and you have captured the spirit in these images. I always feel disappointed in my shots there as they never seem to capture the full impact of the amphitheater.
Hi Len, I think it makes all the difference in the world to be there at exactly the right time when the light bounces around in there and makes the whole thing appear to glow. The other images I made during the scouting trip are all grey and dont do it justice at all. I really loved Bryce. It was cold though! Especially compared to everywhere else we went in Utah. Thanks again for your comments.
Amazing shots again, Anne, well done.
Thanks again Fred, your comments are always appreciated!
Very nice Anne – you really captured the essence of Bryce Canyon.
Thank you very much Russ!
Wow! The scenery is amazingly beautiful! I haven’t seen rock formation as beautiful as this! Thanks for sharing the photos!
Thank you very much Heidi, Bryce really is a special place. All of Utah is pretty spectacular, but Bryce is particularly beautiful.
WOW, Anne. Jusy WOW!!!
Thank you very much Darlene, I like “wow”!
Very impressive shot Anne! I hope that i can visit this awesome place someday. Thanks for sharing those wonderful photos with us and i’m looking forward to see more of this from you.
Thank you very much Born! I highly recommend Bryce as a place to visit, it’s pretty special.
Gorgeous! So want to go there!
I’ve never been here but I’m always captivated by the colours and the innumerable columns in images I’ve seen of this place. You’ve done a great job with these two images. I’d just love to walk down that trail in the second shot.
Gorgeous photos of Bryce. I can’t wait to get back there.
Hi Anne,
I’m a recent follower of your blog…and LOVE all the photo’s! simply gorgeous. We were in Utah in May and absolutely enjoyed all the parks. Bryce was a favorite though, as was Arches/Canyonlands and Monument Valley. Had been dreaming about this trip since I was 15 and I’m now 53!
Keep the beautiful photo’s coming!
Thank you very much Hilde, I really appreciate your kind comments. I’m glad you got to visit Utah, it’s a pretty spectacular place.