Red Rocks, Blue Skies

Last month I was in Utah visiting friends, and we went down to St. George and then up to Cedar City to see "Les Miz" (which was FABULOUS!  Small theater, small but extremely talented cast--a wonderful experience)

 

I love love the red rocks of southern Utah.  They are so completely foreign to me, and to see that vivid color rising up out of (usually) faded sage and grasses amazes me every time I see it.  Heading north out of St. George we were early enough in the morning to still catch some nice shadowing going on across the folds and pleats in the mountains.  The contrast of the red rock against the grey mountains in the distance caught my eye, too.  "Quick!  Pull over!"  (yes, on the freeway; but my friend's DH is a photonut, too, so he is always willing to pull over.  It's so nice to be with someone who understands about grabbing the moment.)

 

 Before we got to Cedar City we took a side trip and went up (and back) in Kolob Canyon.  Going in we were early enough that a lot of the formations were still pretty shaded, but by the time we were on the way out we were able to see alot of them with the sun hitting them full on, bringing up the colors.  This formation fascinated me, because not only was there the red rocks, but it was capped off with a more sandstone colored formation.  It also show the diagonal uplift that helped form the canyon.

 The colors on this one amazed me....the red cliffs, the rim of white rock at the edge, and the sage-brown uplands.  This is Horse Ranch Mountain, which leads me to wonder if there really was a horse ranch waaaaay up there at one time.