Cathedral Dawn

Upper Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef National Park is usually the sought-after destination for those making the 57 mile loop drive in this remote section of the park.

Along that loop, there is only one place where camping is allowed, so we organized our two-day excursion to end with the first day at that campground, which overlooks the spectacular upper valley. Both that evening and early the next morning, we spent some time trying to capture both the late evening and morning lighting of this "monument valley." This particular photo was captured in the morning with the first direct rays of sunlight illuminating the formation in the foreground, while the tall cliffs, walls and pinnacles in the background awaited their turn in the sun. Those distant formations are over an impressive 400 feet in height. Later that morning, we would hike right along their base, but for the present, it was difficult to tear ourselves away from such a magnificent morning light show.  

HDR Image. Photo taken March, 2017.