Southern Utah - A Personal Journey

Southern Utah is a truly amazing place. Wherever I wander I am overwhelmed by the spirit of place. Never, in all of my travels, have I experienced such an ethereal landscape. I emphasize the word "experience" because there is more to this land than meets the eye. It must be felt from within.

During my first visit to this area, in the summer of 1986, I became enchanted with the magical spell this land casts upon those sensitive to its natural beauty. On one special evening, as I watched the sun set over a landscape of unimaginable beauty, my life was transformed forever.

In the years that followed my wife Rhonda and I made our way 2000 miles west, from our previous home in western New York to our current home in Moab, Utah, in the heart of the land that we both love. Join us on our journey, as we continue to explore and learn about the natural wonders that surround us in southern Utah.

 

September 16, 2008: 2008 Journeys

2008 has been a lot of fun as we continue to explore southern Utah and portions of western Colorado. Some of the trips that we have taken, and will be taking, demand a lot of planning and preparation so updates to this website have been rather infrequent.  However, we just got back from Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and are taking a short break, so I have finally uploaded over 70 of my favorite photos taken thus far this year into a brand new gallery. I really like the new software that I used for this gallery so have a look! After the main gallery page loads I recommend that you just hit the play button at the bottom of the screen, sit back and watch the slide show. Also, open your browser in a large window because larger versions of each photo will be loaded based on your window size. A high speed connection is recommended...

Click here for my 2008 Gallery

Photo Note: The lenses used for all of these photos were my Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 Di-II LD Aspherical and my Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 EF-S IS.

May your journeys be exciting and safe.  Enjoy life my friends!

Steve and Dakota

September 8, 2008: Steve the Cat on Mars

VERY exiting news: As strange as this may sound, there is now a permanent feature on the planet Mars that bears the name of our cat, Steve. Trust me, I am not kidding! On August 16, 2008 the Phoenix Mars Lander team named a rock at the landing site after our very own Steve the Cat. The team is continuing a tradition that was started 30 years with the first Mars lander of giving whimsical names to nearby rocks, which are then used in planning surface operations. Steve's rock is located adjacent to "Snow White Trench", which is the spot where the team first directly sampled water on Mars.

Here is how it all started: Several years ago I put up a small website with pictures of our cat, Steve. After submitting his name to be included on a DVD that would be attached to the Mars Phoenix Lander, I added a Mars section on his website. It turns out that the Phoenix Science Operations Team came across Steve's website and really enjoyed the content so they added a link to Steve's website from the Official Phoenix Website. Since that time I have received hundreds of messages from people around the world regarding Steve's adventure. In fact, on the weekend of the Mars landing Steve's website received over a quarter of a million hits!

Why have updates to my utahredrocks.com website been few and far between lately? Because I have been a slave to my CAT'S website! However, Rhonda and I feel that this is an IMMENSE honor and it has been worth every second of effort. We will never look up at the night sky the same way again.

You can check out Steve's website by clicking here.

Ward Roylance

I am indebted to one person in particular who opened my eyes to the natural stone artistry of southern Utah, the late Ward J. Roylance. Author of numerous books and videos about Utah’s "Art in Stone", Ward had a gift for sharing his love of Utah with everyone he came in contact with. During the short two years that I knew him, prior to his death in 1993, he was my inspiration for continued exploration of the wonders of southern Utah.

It is with great honor that I dedicate this web site to my dear friend and mentor, Ward J. Roylance.

Ward once told me that he and his wife Gloria thought of themselves as seed sowers, planting seeds of inspiration in the souls of those they came in contact with. I know that my roots now lie deep in the heart of red rock country and I know of many others, too numerous to mention, who also carry on Ward and Gloria's passion for the land.

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Living With No Regrets

2002 was one of the most challenging years Rhonda and I have ever experienced. Although it's good to have it behind us, I have decided to add a permanent section about our experience to this website because there is much that I don't ever want to forget. I have done this not to emphasize the bad times, but to encourage others who may be considering a major life change.

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Utah's National Parks

Utah has 5 national parks, all of them located in the southern part of the state. Although there are thousands of square miles of additional wild and scenic lands, the national parks showcase some of the very best scenery that Utah has to offer...

• Arches National Park contains the world’s largest concentration of sandstone arches. You won’t see this many arches anywhere else in the world. Colossal sandstone fins, massive balanced rocks, soaring pinnacles and spires dwarf visitors as they explore the park's viewpoints and hiking trails.
• Bryce Canyon National Park is filled with massive sandstone spires, called hoodoos, located deep in a natural sandstone amphitheater. The trails to the bottom of the amphitheater transport you into a city of stone.
• Canyonlands National Park is the largest national park in Utah. Views from the Island in the Sky District encompass thousands of square miles of canyon country. The Needles and Maze Districts are backcountry paradise.
• Capitol Reef National Park is an oasis in the desert. The Fremont River traverses the center of this park, resulting in a lush oasis complete with beautiful fruit orchards and abundant mule deer. The west section of the park contains beautiful red sandstone formations, and the eastern section consists of beautiful rounded white sandstone domes.
• Zion National Park has the Virgin River at its heart which has created a picturesque canyon full of lush riverside habitat. The eastern side of Zion consists of beautifully eroded white Navajo Sandstone formations.