Helluva Place to Lose a Cow

One of the more famous hoodoos, Thor's Hammer, (featured here) provides a great foreground for sunrise images. When the horizon is not cloudy, photographers often capture the sun as it crests the hammer. On this morning, however, first light provided even more color, by illuminating the clouds in the sky.

Bryce Canyon National Park sits at a much higher elevation than the nearby Grand Canyon and Zion NPs; so, when you visit, be wary of hiking in the mid-day unless properly acclimated. The trails typically drop several hundred feet from the rim and the return can be difficult in the thinner air at high temperatures. Sunrise, even for non-photographers, is an excellent time to visit this park, as the amphitheaters are all oriented toward the east.

Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon Pioneer who homesteaded this area in 1875, was known for describing this land of hoodoos in amphitheaters as, "A hell of a place to lose a cow." A collection of amphitheaters eroded from the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah, Bryce Canyon became a national park in 1928. Frost wedging and rainwater have eroded the limestone rock to produce brightly colored formations, including hoodoos, fins, windows, and slot canyons.

Recognition:

Selected for Display - FEB 2022, National Parks of the United States (online gallery) by R Gallery + Wine Bar in Boulder, Colorado.

Accepted for Display - JAN 2022 Darkroomers Photographic Club, and can be found in the Photographic Arts Building in Balboa Park, San Diego.