More Stormy Scenes From Fabulous Southern Utah

Last night, I stayed in a cozy log cabin in the hills just south of Torrey.  The rain poured down, hammering on the roof...one of my favorite sounds.  I slept well.  The rain's effects on the countryside were less favorable.  Here, highway 12 just north of my cabin required a ford in order for me to get gas and brekky in town.  As the barriers hint, the water was only a few inches deep so I made it OK.

There is lots of slickrock country on highway 12 south of Torrey.  Geological forces have contorted the rock in many forms.

This morning the Escalante river was flowing briskly, but causing no problems.  That was not the case yesterday, as the soggy landscape on each side of the stream indicates.

This rock formation was highlighted beautifully by a sunray.  Wet weather is a photographers dream...the lighting is dramatic and dynamic.

And, approaching Escalante, I drove into another frog strangler.  I took refuge in a Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument visitor center in town for about half an hour...it was raining so hard I couldn't reach my car without getting totally soaked.

Finally the rain let up and I continued westward.  It wasn''t long before I came upon this spectacular water/mudfall.  It's at least a hundred feet high!  Blow up the pic for the best effect.

Didn't have time to go to Bryce today, but I caught an Oh Wow! glimpse of Cedar Breaks National Monument.  Look at the colors!  It's been said that if Cedar Breaks were located anywhere but Southern Utah, it would be renowned as one of the world's natural wonders.  As it is, it's just as spectacular as Bryce and Zion, but not as extensive.

Cedar Breaks has colorful hoodoos, like Bryce.

Blow this pic up and be overwhelmed by the myriad of shapes, shades, and contours.  At 10,400 feet above sea level, erosion from rain, snow, wind, freezing, and thawing masterfully sculpts the land.  It was 42 degrees and raining here...but I was comfortable in my jeans and parka.

One thing about red states...they let you drive fast.  Blow up this pic and you'll see that the speed limit on this stretch of I-15 north of Cedar City is 80!  Given the rain I usually drove a few mph slower than that today, but it's nice to know you can.