I really have to make an extra effort to go out for Bryce Canyon sunsets because when I do, it’s always more than worth it.
Seems like I don’t get out of my RV home much after a full 9+ hour day of work. Or sometimes my schedule has me working through sunset and I’m not at the rim. I’ve been working quite a few late shifts.
Back in June I took a chance on Bryce Point for sunset. Considering the entire amphitheater basically faces east it hardly makes sense to have Sunrise and Sunset overlooks a half-mile walk apart and both facing east. (Who names these vistas anyway?) Yet Bryce Point hooks around enough to provide a northwest to east view.
I’d been sending visitors there for over a month and it proved to be right on. Yet it’s always a luck of the cloud draw.
Shopping last week took me to Cedar City via a pretty drive on SR14, more on that later.
One day last week under cloudy and possibly stormy skies my work schedule took me to the end of Bryce’s scenic drive to Rainbow Point. Presented two almost back-to-back 20-minute programs about the Grand Staircase geology.
Yovimpa Point
Carried a small lightning detector that made noise and varied from 15 miles (no worries) to six miles which is a concern. I do love the energy of a good storm. However, I don’t want to be too close so also warned visitors.
Only dropped a few sprinkles. So not sure if it counts as beginning of monsoon season. I’d be delighted if a good rain would wipe out the obnoxious biting gnats. I seem to be having an allergic reaction with much itching, swelling, some blisters and bruises. Just can’t bring myself to use bug spray. Not sure which is worse.
An exceedingly pesky Raven in the parking lot allowed visitors within only a few feet in the obvious hope of food. Of course not a good thing, so I used the teaching moment before hazing it away.
Because of the cloud cover scopes didn’t go that night so I went home early.
I should have gone to the rim for sunset with a rainbow thrown in. Instead I watched from my windows.
The next night, before my evening program at the lodge, I roved briefly on the rim and caught some of the westering light on the Aquarius Plateau and the hoodoos down below. Clouds continued to tease with dramatic skies and little rain.
After a full day of programs and closing the visitor center I came home, quickly changed, and went back out to Bryce Point for sunset.
On the drive I saw a rainbow and hurried to park and shoot it without breaking the speed limit too much. Under the late evening light the white limestone hills almost look like snow.
At first the actual sunset didn’t look like much.
I preferred the reverse colors and light.
But I remind myself to turn around again and again so as not to miss an opportunity. It’s not every night I see colorful Bryce Canyon sunsets.
On the walk back to my truck, an almost full moon tries to shine through clouds. Ah, next up, full moon.
Linking to Skywatch Friday.
So many wonderful photo opportunities at Bryce Canyon, you are spoiled for choice. I love the rainbow shot and yes the limestone hills do look like snow, I had to look closer to realise it wasn’t. Take it easy and don’t work too hard 🙂
Thanks. I feel a true challenge here as the landscape is so detailed. That rainbow was a choice sighting.
Your schedule sounds exhausting, but your photos are still amazing and a treasure, Gaelyn!
Thank you for every post. Even when you may feel too tired to post, you give us all amazing wonders to contemplate!
Keep on keepin’ on! 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement. It is a busy schedule, but I mostly like it that way. I’m a good tired at night.
Rare it is when a great photo op falls into your lap, most are well earned by “extra effort”.
Your photos are giving me a serious case of Southwest fever, but I’m stuck here till the beginning of Fall.
Keep shooting, Gaelyn… not that anything could stop you.
I love to score serendipitously.
And, we’re stuck in our Home Harbor for awhile. However, we are using your blog to plan our future trips that, we hope, will begin in 2020. 🙂
We are enjoying your shots of Bryce, we were not there for long, only one evening and the following morning so we can see what we missed!!
There is a partial eclipse to the moon here tonight. Not sure if I will make it as it is at 23h30 and we have a very early start for a car run tomorrow morning!! I will see how I feel a bit later. As it is on the horizon I will have to take a walk down the road so……
Keep well, Diane and Nigel
Sadly, the eclipse won’t be visible here. They are not always convenient. You probably saw all the Bryce overlooks, but the light does change with the seasons.
Wow! Incredible photos! You’ve got a good sense of when and where to shoot to capture the most stunning pictures. Also sounds like you’ve got the ranger routine at this park more or less down. I can’t wait to see what you do next!
Thanks. Photography is about catching the light.
‘Light’… Too Little or too much.
Eclipses, solar or moon are very tough shots.
I put myself in a prime location near Newport, Oregon for the 2016 Solar eclipse, and fog and clouds nearly closed out the effort.and opportunity. But nearly at the last minute, the fogs lifted and the clouds parted. Despite that and my expensive effort and equipment, I didn’t get a single great pic. But the experience was unforgettable. And that is what you take away from your efforts to get that great shot.
Nights and days spent out camped in volcanic craters, or on buttes, sides of mountains, or hidden valleys, or at the edge of huge chasms. The often arduous hikes in and out count, too.
What we do to get that great shot is the real treasure, a great shot is just a bonus.
Life, is about the journey. Photos help document the story.
Great eye capturing the mood with your photos! The rainbow is most awesome!
Thanks Jeff. I sure scored on that rainbow.
You take incredible photos no matter where you go. These are wonderful.
Thank you Alan. I only share the good ones. 😉
You captured some spectacular Bryce Canyon moments. I love the rainbow with the white stone. It does look like snow below the rainbow. Sorry to hear there are biting gnats. I am an insect magnet so I am not a fan and would be covered in bites myself. Thanks for sharing so many beautiful photos of one of my favorite parks.
Thanks. I didn’t used to be a bug magnet but these gnats have me itching and swollen from head to toe.
I may have not appreciated Bryce quite enough, always passing through quickly for a hike or two on my way to the “real” rocks of Capitol Reef and Canyonlands. Your photos have allowed me to rethink that a bit. It truly is a lovely place, and you are showing details that get lost in the shuffle sometimes, the shuffle of all those people shuffling up the steep trails! LOL A different perspective is wonderful.
Bryce is a small park that packs a punch. Not as crowded as Zion yet busier than Capitol Reef. I’m enjoying the magic of hoodoos and happy to hear you are under their spell.
“Monsoon” season. Didn’t that start back up after winter at Bryce’s latitude.
My brother in Sun City West complained that it never really ended. Now he is back in the Puget area where it has been very cool, cloudy, and wet this Spring and summer. More to complain about, his mostly favorite thing.
WOW !! some fantastic shots here Gaelyn. Of course I love the one on the Aquarius Plateau looking down at the Hoodoos. But I must say how you captured the rainbow making the limestone hills look like snow was brilliant. I don’t envy you the knats I would definitely protect myself against those if I were you. We have the problem with mosquitoes here, so I spray with Jungle Formula, Do you have it there?.
Thanks Rita. The rainbow shot was a stroke of luck being in the right place at the right time. I won’t spray any DEET products on my skin and would rather suffer the bug bites.
Your photos are always amazing and I enjoy seeing them! What a beautiful area.
Thank you Sandy, glad you like them. It’s hard to go wrong when living/working at a beautiful national park like Bryce.
Wow, beeindruckende Kulisse und die Sonnenuntergänge dazu sind grandios!
Thank you. Bryce Canyon is a beautiful place.
Eye candy, your scenes! I have never heard of a lightning monitor! Very cool!
It is a pretty place. Now if I only had a lightning trigger for the camera.
Terrific.
Thank you.
I am so thankful I got to see Bryce in May. Now I know why it’s so beautiful in pictures.
Worth a Thousand Words
I find it a challenge to photograph Bryce, but there’s no doubt it’s beautiful. Thanks for stopping by.
Lots of ooohs and aaaahs as I was looking through these photos. You capture Bryce so well. I love that rainbow shot!
Thanks. I was immensely happy with the rainbow shot.
Gaelyn, these skies are so beautiful! Incredible. i’m glad you have enough energy to go out after your long hours…. or in between. I’m in awe of that. But it would be hard to resist, knowing what you might be able to photograph.
Thanks. I don’t always get out, like I should have tonight.
Woww woww you got some amazing skyshots. I loved them all. Thank you for sharing. You are inspiring me to get out more.
Thank you so much. I should get out more myself.
So great to see Bryce through your lens, Gaelyn. After a big winter of snow and a wet spring, we are also waiting for the Monsoon rains. I start worrying if it doesn’t rain every few days. We still have lots of snow above tree line and streams/rivers are running high and fast. Do you ever get to hike amid the hoodoos? I’d imagine on your days off, you need to rest and resupply.
Thanks Barb. Even with the great snowpak monsoon rains are sorely needed, as you know. My actual job doesn’t take me below the rim. Days off either find me in down time, chores, or exploring the surrounding area. Temps are up now so I may wait until fall to hike more into the amphitheater.