Sunrise shoot, Bryce Canyon National Park, 3°C (37°F). Sunset shoot, Arches National Park, 28°C (83°F).  From hoodoos to arches, today has been one of beauty and grace.
We left our hotel at 6:15 am to catch sunrise at Sunrise Point – how appropriate – in Bryce Canyon.  Last evening’s sunset photos were disappointing; I looked forward to the golden light of sunrise.  I was not disappointed and soon forgot how inadequately I had packed for this morning’s outing.  The rock literally glowed and at times reflected the sunlight onto other hoodoos.

The drive from Bryce Canyon to Moab took us over the watershed divide to the San Rafael Swell.  This area is very much dessert as the Tushat Mountains block rain clouds from the west.  I took this photo at a rest stop along the way.  A short time later we stopped for lunch in Green River.  Along the river bank is lush growth, but the dessert still rules this region of southern Utah.

Arches National Park is as different from Zion and Bryce Canyon as those two are of each other.  Again, the colour of the rock is similar, but the rock formations vary greatly.  As the name infers, this is a park with arches – arches caused by the gradual collapse of parts of the salt underpinning, leading to holes that through erosion become arches.  An arch must have a minimum 1 metre (3 foot) opening, either height or width, to be called an arch.  This park also has formations that are hoodoo-esque but don’t have the same striations and erosion patterns of those in Bryce Canyon National Park.

Tomorrow we return to Arches National Park.  See you then!