Off the Beaten Path

My sister with her Rubicon allowed us to get off the beaten path in this last road trip to the canyonlands of Utah. Perhaps my favorite off-road experience of the trip was the one taken on the last day - Lavender Canyon in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.



The trail opened with what could be a view in any of the four states the Colorado Plateau covers. I thought this bluff, which I photographed again and again in various lights and from different angles was very New Mexico in its appearance. And the lavender and purples of the morning shadows hinted at the name of the trail.

Here is that bluff again after we had turned up the trail and encountered the stream which would be a repetitive feature in our trip. We would cross it several times and meander along dry beds feeding into it when the rains come.

The deeper we went into the canyons the higher the walls rose. And the desert lacquer took on subtle shades of lavender too.
The very tops of the canyon walls were often 1200 or more feet above our heads.

And the crevices hid ancient Anasazi ruins.

 


And unnamed arches.

And just some awesome walls of rock.

 

And surprise splashes of color which are deserving of a blog of their own in the near future. Also look at Creative Journey where I will very soon post blogs of inspiring images to paint.

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