Zion National Park. Given the Great Basin’s high temperatures and Utah’s unseasonably low river levels, we decided to drive directly to Zion Nat’l Park from Bend to explore the Virgin River Narrows. We rented river boots, neoprene socks, & walking sticks, caught the first 6 AM shuttle, and hiked about 5 miles up The Narrows. Because of our early start, we had the gorge mostly to ourselves! Although we carried full photography kits (including tripods), we didn’t do much serious shooting; I treated this first visit as a scouting trip. Bob had an unfortunate dunk of his camera, which put it out of commission for the remainder of the trip. He did finally receive a rented replacement in time for North Coyote Buttes. In addition to the narrows we visited the Emerald Pools, Hidden/Menu Falls, and trails along the Virgin River. Zion Gallery

Antelope Slot Canyons. After our strenuous hike up the Virgin River’s Narrows in Zion, we were looking for an activity that would save Bob’s knee for the trip’s later highlight, The Wave. So we decided to visit Page’s Lower and Upper Antelope Slot Canyons. I had long avoided them due to their wild popularity, and therefore crowds. But I found them amazing, and well worth seeing. In fact, I visited both twice! Antelope Canyon Gallery

North Coyote Buttes . This entire trip was built around the June 6th permit we secured into The Wave’s North Coyote Buttes last March. Only 20 people are allowed in per day — 10 via an online permit lottery & 10 via an in-person lottery the day before. We had been unsuccessfully trying to secure a permit both ways for over a year, with Bob finally succeeding last March. I especially wanted to explore the Sand Cove area, which I had missed during my 2007 visit. We left Page around 3 AM for the drive to the trailhead and started the walk in by headlamp around 4. We thought we had plenty of time to arrive at Fatali’s Boneyard at sunrise, until the sky started brightening too early. We quickly figured out that we had been confused by the Utah-Arizona time difference and used a sunrise time that was an hour off. Nonetheless we arrived on location shortly after sunrise, with the sun not yet over a nearby ridge. Although we found some interesting shots, in hindsight I realized that in our rush we were about 100 yards off from the best location. Oh, well, next time. We then spent the rest of the day visiting Sand Cove, the Second Wave, The Wave, Top Rock, The Alcove, Melody’s Eye & the Top Rock Window, and then returned for late light at The Wave, Sand Cove, and the Second Wave. We finally got back to the car at dark — an amazing 14+ hour day. North Coyote Buttes Gallery