A Window to the Past

I have always been rather fascinated with the ruins scattered around the southwest, built a thousand or more years ago by a culture we know as the Ancestral Puebloans (once called the Anasazis). You almost can't hike a canyon in southeastern Utah or southwestern Colorado without finding some ruin tucked away high up on a cliff or perched precariously on the edge of a sandstone precipice. I think it's the imagining of what their life must have been like that piques my curiosity. Trying to picture them building these carefully crafted structures which still bear their fingerprints in many cases; picturing women grinding corn while the kids play nearby; picturing them sitting in the warm winter sun of their south-facing veranda with the fresh fluffy snow of a recent storm blanketing the landscape around them. All of these images fill my mind as I sit and admire the ruins of once spectacular structures. A recent trip to Hovenweep and Canyon of the Ancients was no exception. I admire these places because, as the light seeps through the window in this picture, images of the past seeps through these ruins in my mind. Each ruin is in itself, a window to the past.

Little Ruin Canyon

The sun sets on a dusty spring evening over Little Ruin Canyon at Hovenweep National Monument.

Bryce Canyon Hoodoos and Tree

As seen from the Queen's Garden trail, a tiny shrub of a tree clings to the white hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park

Sunrise at Inspiration Point

Sunrise at Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon National Park as the beautiful clouds began to break up and scatter over the park.

A Window and a Fin

A lone tree sits atop a fin with a window along the Queen's Garden trail in Bryce Canyon National Park

Light on the Hoodoos #1

When the light of the morning hit the rocks on this lovely Sunday morning, we couldn't help but stop to take in the brilliant glow. It was as if the light came from within the towers themselves and the rest of the canyon was glowing from their brilliance. This image was selected by John Fielder as one of 50 out of 450 applicants to be displayed in an exhibition at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center (Pueblo, CO) entitled "America's Parks: A Centennial Celebration". It will will be displayed in the Hoag Gallery June 7 through August 7, 2016.

Light on the Hoodoos #2

When the light of the morning hit the rocks on this lovely Sunday morning, we couldn't help but stop to take in the brilliant glow. It was as if the light came from within the towers themselves and the rest of the canyon was glowing from their brilliance. This image was recognized as one of the top 250 (out of thousands of international entries) in the 2015 Denver Audubon Society's "Share the View" photo contest.

Bryce Canyon Bristlecone Snag

The stories of years gone by are held captive in the fading rings of a bristlecone pine as the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon tower above. August 2015

Desert Rose and a Cottonball Sky

A twisted, gnarled bush reaches toward the softly lit sunset sky in the canyon country of southern Utah. May 2015

Comb Ridge Sunset

The sun sets on comb ridge with the desert blooming after spring rains in the foreground. May 30, 2015