Grand Canyon: Ooh Aah to O’Neill Butte

December 8th, 2020 After yesterday’s jaunt, we’re continuing on the South Kaibab Trail towards O’Neill Butte. A few scrubby trees and bushes cling to the rocky spine we’re navigating. It looks as if the trail ends in the open space above the canyon but it twists to the right and drops down to the next layer where the canyon opens

Grand Canyon: South Rim to Ooh Aah Point

December 7, 2002 Yesterday, we began the journey at the South Rim. I said I would share a photo or two each day but… five seems about right! Today we’re moving deeper into the Grand Canyon, from South Kaibab Trailhead to Ooh Aah Point. We start in shadow, winding our way down the canyon wall on a well-constructed trail. At

Sunset of the Week

December 5th, 2020 It was a “Pull over!” kind of sunset on Thursday. I was driving home along the east shore of Lake Tahoe. It started out as a pretty golden glow on the water and, in 15 minutes, exploded into a fiery swath across the sky. I pulled over to capture it and everyone else did, too. For a

Bryce Canyon Pictorial

December 4th, 2020 After yesterday’s geology lesson about hoodoos, today we’re finally entering Bryce Canyon! My pictorial takes us from Sunrise Point to Queen’s Garden Trail, up the west side of Peekaboo Loop to the trail leading up to Bryce Point (last photo) with return to Sunrise Point on the Rim Trail overlooking the canyon (about 10 miles/16 km in

Bryce from the Rim

December 2nd, 2020 Today we’re viewing more of Bryce Canyon National Park from the rim. Highway 63 leads south, following the west rim of the canyon to Yovimpa Point where the road ends near the boundary of the park. Along the way, you can stop to view the canyon from pull-outs at locations including Piracy Point, Natural Bridge, Ponderosa Canyon

Bryce Canyon Sunrise

December 1st, 2020 Today we’re starting a new journey in Bryce Canyon National Park. With the sun rising, this unique landscape of hoodoos and pine trees is starting to illuminate. More tomorrow,Kelly Photos of the Day: Adding a bit of light to the darkness as we get through the pandemic together. This series features travel photos from my archives, shared

Bighorn Hello

November 29th, 2020 Moving on from our afternoon at Zion, we meet one of the park’s endangered residents. A mature desert bighorn sheep walks against traffic on the side of the road. Declared locally extinct (extirpated) in the 1960s, a herd of 14 desert bighorn were reintroduced in Zion in 1978. In the years since, the herd has grown to

Afternoon at Zion

November 28th, 2020 Just around the corner from yesterday’s plain view, the road to Zion National Park descends into a canyon while the surrounding landscape protrudes suddenly in sedimentary peaks. The geology of Zion spans up to 270 million years, connecting with Bryce Canyon to the north and the Grand Canyon to the south. While researching this, I finally came