Out the East Entrance of Zion and on toward Bryce Nat'l. Pk.

Got a late start this morning and tarried too long at an artist's gallery, but it all was good.

Anxious to see the East Entrance 'coming and going'.  The view will be so varied from both directions.

Here we go, headed East...

Canyon Junction...as we leave the 3 mile road that connects the Lodge up the Canyon with Utah Hwy. 9, we are headed east on Hwy.9 for 23 miles of AWESOME mountain scenery until we turn north on US 89 outside the Park.  Hold onto your seats, folks; pictures don't do it justice; you just have to experience it yourselves.  "Come on down."

The view changes at every bend in the road

There's a tour bus (that rectangular dark spot) on the upper portion of this U-turn where you meet yourself coming back..several of those on this trip...and no guard rails!!

AWESOME...and there's that bend in the road to the left

AND AWESOME

                                                      AND AWESOME SOME MORE

...and the sights just go on and on and on.

This is approacking the first tunnel.

Tunnel 1, Window 1

Out the window of a slowly moving car

You're not allowed to stop

Tunnel 1, Window 2

Emerging from Tunnel 1.

And you can't even see the bottom of this spire

The surface texture of the rocks is changing on the east-facing rocks

The light at the end of Tunnel 2!

Around every bend a different view

the trees and vegetation are changing...must be more moisture on the east side

Son Warren could tell us all about these rocks, geologist that he is.  They just LOOK DIFFERENT to me.

Pctures from a moving car window aren't always perfect, but this road doesn't always accomodate pull-offs for photo ops!  It's often 1,000 ft. down...with no guard rail.

 

 

Even the clouds are different...and always that blue, blue sky

These rocks look "softer"...their folds are more rounded

I believe this is the west exposure of Checkerboard Mesa



                                                           This IS Checkerboard Mesa

Checkerboard Mesa zoomed in

Checkerboard Mesa from afar

Leaving the East boundary of Zion and headed for US 89 at Carmel Junction, then north to Bryce National Park with a stop or 2 along the way.

We are losing altitude, the starkness of the rock cliffs and canyons, and the arid  vegetation.  "On a clear day, you can see forever."...a little overcast today and many fires in the area.

It's just another canyon, folks!!  Just notice though how the vegetation has changed.

Even the flowers by the side of the road have responded to increased moisture with brighter, more prolific plumage

Definitely different folliage and plant life...but still that big sky look

Bingham Art Galleries.  Imagine a fine art gallery 'out here'.  Let's stop and see what they are about.

 The Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts carries on the Maynard Dixon legacy of southwestern artists.  From the Southwest that Thomas Moran made famous and those who followed, not necessarily in his footsteps, with their own styles and forms of art the Thunderbird (Maynard Dixon's logo) Foundation

preserves his Utah homestead and gallery and educates the public about his contributions to American art.

The Board and staff were putting together the final touches for a fundraising gala to be held the evening I passed through.  Many beautiful (and expensive) paintings were hung for auction as were some small canvases priced lower in the $1,000 range.  See following....

Ray Roberts' cowgirl crossing a stream was one of my favorites

This quadrant of an oil was by Kate Starling, one of the artists to whose paintings I was most attracted.

mountain meadow by Ron Rencher

Carol, I wish you could have seen Spike Ress' clouds

This one looks more like Cedar Breaks National Monument...also a little like Bryce.

This is Edith and Maynard Dixon's home, situated along a wonderful stream and looking at an inspiring view of the mountains to the east.

...the mountains to the east...

There were beautiful flowering plants and a wonderful trumpet vine covering the side of a shed, to which hummingbirds flocked; but they were camera shy!

Moving on up the road toward Bryce.

Clouds for Carol

And that blue, blue sky for all

More clouds for Carol

A stormy sky for the the rest of us

Carol's clouds are lifting

There's still threatening weather in the distance

The sun reflected off the scattering clouds.

I was so concentrating on the clouds, I omitted the landscape, which is more like much of Wyoming and Montana as the river valley, fed by the Asay River, spawns fields and farms.

The scenery is about to change again as we enter Dixie National Forest, which covers a large portion of south central Utah.  How many shades of coral and sage green can you see?

Red Canyon is an introduction to Bryce, except we are "down among the hoodoos"...by definition: a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion.  Hoodoo - to cast a spell.

Enlarged for you to see the faces of Pharoahs and Sphinx...I'll bet you didn't know they were here !

Zion doesn't have the only tunnels through this beautiful, colorful rock.  There are 2 here together.  Look closely, and you can barely see the shadow of the opening of the 2nd one around the bend.

Destination!

Bryce will be tomorrow's entry.

We're finally here.