After all the driving that we did yesterday, we decided that today would be a day to recharge. We had breakfast and lounged around doing nothing. This place is the best. We would stay here again in a heartbeat.
In the morning, I set up my camera near a rock outcropping that I wanted to photograph at night and did some live composite images (kind of like painting using moving clouds). I got some nice results.
Around noon, we decided to visit Escalante Petrified Forest State Park which is only a few miles out of town. We left Escalante Yurts, and I went in the wrong direction. When I realized what I had done, we turned around and were admiring the scenery on the way back. The aspen trees had turned a beautiful yellow and they were on the edge of a small creek or river. We haven’t seen clouds often in Utah, but they were there today. It was nice to add them into the photos.
Our second stop was to get the car washed. It was a do-it- yourself car wash and probably the worst one that I have visited. When I chose to rinse to wash off the soap, a mixture of soap and water continued to come out of the sprayer. It was so frustrating. I eventually gave up and toweled off the remaining soap. I guess that the car will bubble up in the next rain.
Just outside of Escalante is the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park which also includes Wide Hollow Reservoir.
We wanted to see the petrified trees but learned that we had to hike to see them. The hike was deemed moderate to strenuous. At my age, I don’t think that I have moderate to strenuous in my system. We decided to walk by the reservoir and look at the petrified tree that was on display not far from the parking lot.
There was also a display garden with native trees and cacti. This one was especially beautiful.
We went back to our yurt which was named “Aspen” to relax, sip some wine, have dinner, and retire for the night.
At some point, I noticed a large letter “E” on the mountainside northeast of our yurt. I pulled out my Mavic 3 drone and flew over to check it out. I hap hoped that the “E” was the first letter in “Escalante” but it was just an “E.” While I was up in the air, I did a downward facing shot of the seven Escalante Yurts yurts (plus the office which is a yurt) and another shot that included the owner’s house. It was good to fly my drone as many areas that we have visited prohibit drone use.
The skies were cloudy most of the day and I really wanted another chance to do my star trail photography. I went outside are 9 pm and low-and-behold, there they were. I had set up my camera near a very large rock outcrop with the camera facing north. I was hoping to get a circular spiral. Since each exposure takes at least an hour, I didn’t have time for two many tries. I almost got it on my first try but I was not truly facing north. I moved the camera for the second attempt, and I got exactly what I wanted. What an end to two beautiful days in a place that we would both return to in a heartbeat.
The line that you see going across the image is an airplane crossing the field of view.
Tomorrow, we are off to Bryce Canyon National Park and an overnight stay at Bryce Country Cabins. From what we have heard from others, Bryce is the most beautiful of all of Utah’s national parks. We can’t wait.
© 2023, Herb Segars. All rights reserved.
