I Had a Day...

Arrived Thursday afternoon in Deer Valley, Utah—just up the hill from Park City, a short drive from Salt Lake City. Woke up at 4:15 am; out the door at 4:45. Drove 4+ hours to Moab. Entered Arches National Park at 9:00 am. Hiked until 1:30. Lunch at the Moab Brewery; coffee at Moab Roastery. Entered Canyonlands National Park at 3:30. Hiked until sunset, ~6:30. Drove back to Deer Valley, arriving 11:15 after all the skiers in the party had gone to bed. The day was nearly perfect: 60-65 degrees, mostly sunny. All told: 500+ miles driving; ~20,000 steps. These are some snapshots I took.

[Click pics to embiggen slideshow]

Gee, that's a GREAT looking LAKE! Wonder if it's SALT-y

Downtown Park City

Three Wisemen near the entrance to Arches NP

THREE WISEMEN up close and personal.

Contrails or Chemtrails? You decide! Tic Tac Toe above ARCHES NP.

You want to hike with me! The ledge trail on the way up to Delicate Arch.

Gee, that DELICATE ARCH seems kinda' tiny!

Delicate Arch: Astride the mountainside

Delicate Arch from underneath

Haha. Yes, I was there.

Such a poser.

Petroglyphs.

Moar arches!

Vistas for days.

DOUBLE ARCHES. [Click pic to enlarge so you can see the tiny people]

BALANCING ROCK

COURTHOUSE. Exiting ARCHES NP

GRAND MESA, otw to CANYONLANDS NP

Breath taken! CANYONLANDS NP

Canyons within Canyons within Canyons!

I may have mentioned: You want to hike with me! Scruffy Troll photobombing my picture. The path to GRAND VIEW POINT runs right along the canyon edge.

Like I said... 

Gasp! Sufficiently breathless.

For the ongoing series: Things growing on other things.

The path to Grand View Point.

Careful there, Jimbo!

View from the path.

The GRAND VIEW POINT!

Earth Day, 2010

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary celebration of Earth Day. Without WoW turning into a Facebook page, I'll celebrate by posting some nature pics I've taken in the last couple weeks. (Click 'em, yo!)

Here's Jake and Lily frolicking in the Gulf and a picture of the State Park on St. George Island, FL:

Here's a pic of black water from Tate's Hell Swamp and the Apalachicola National Forest:

Here's some pics of my backyard. I've lived in Atlanta for ten years, and this is the prettiest Spring ever. (Thanks El Nino) The azalea blooms are gargantuan, the fringe tree blossoms cottony, the Japanese maples extravagant, the Carolina jasmine imperious, and the dogwoods and cherry blossoms (pretty much gone by now) were fragrant and beautiful. And the greens are deep and varied. It's a riot back there:

Enjoy! Have a nice weekend.