Classic Rocks

Travel and Commentary from Utah

By Mark Smith

May 4^th, 2021

Postcards from the New Stone Age

During an April visit to four national parks in Utah - Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Zion, plus a side trip to Dead Horse Point State Park - we encountered colossal, sweeping vistas dominated by ancient rock structures, many of them a vivid red.

If you look closely at the title photo above, you can spot sections of Arches' Park Avenue trail, which winds through this canyon and out into the distant valley at center-left. It is an amazing hike.

Feeling the Effects of Time

We consciously slowed ourselves down and examined the landscape in more detail - closer in, from the side, even underneath rock arches. These next photos help me to recall the moments I shot them - the amazing quiet, the cool temperatures - and to wonder at the intentional randomness of the physical world, and the millions of years in which natural forces have carved, colored, and re-shaped solid rock.