Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, Monument Valley – we covered a lot of ground today. Today was our last full day of shooting, as tomorrow evening we return to St. George for a farewell dinner and show and tell.  But first …

Sunrise shoot at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park.  We left the hotel at 5:45 am to ensure we were in place for sunrise as did many other photographers.  We found an immovable phalanx of tripods and cameras already in place when we hiked in to Mesa Arch.

I remember feeling like a hog at Bryce Canyon, having staked out my territory with my tripod.  But I kept offering other folks a chance to cut in front – briefly! – so they could take photos too.  The Mesa Arch shooters felt no similar compulsion.  For the first time on this trip I realized that photography could be a competitive sport.  Below are two photos – one of the sunrise paparazzi and the other of a sign showing what I might have taken had the weather cooperated.

From Canyonlands we skipped over to a kinder, gentler Dead Horse Point State Park.  Legend has it that a farmer corralled some horses at the top of the cliffs where my photos are taken, but failed to provide water for them.  They died of thirst – not a nice story.  Eldon, one of our two photographers, claims the name comes from the pattern on the rocks of the canyon that looks like a dead horse.  Can you see it in my photo?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64513024@N07/21132108208/in/datetaken/

Moving south, we stopped at Goulding’s Lodge in Monument Valley for lunch.  Monument Valley is in the Navajo Nation, so I ordered the special of the day – the Navajo taco, a concoction of Navajo frybread, chile con carne, cheese, lettuce and tomato.  I ate perhaps one-fifth of my meal – it was enormous!

Monument Valley is fascinating.  Huge rock formations, some as high as 300 metres (1,000 feet) jut from the earth.  The formations are not connected and appear to be randomly scattered about.  This time the sun and the clouds conspired to give us near perfect shooting conditions.

Monument Valley is famous as the location of several of John Wayne’s movies.  Eldon, our geologist/photographer, suggests this serene valley might still be undiscovered if The Duke had not ridden through.  Who knows?