Zion National Park in the Snow is a Special Kind of Experience
Zion is a magnificent place, but a real challenge to photograph.
I prefer to vacation in the wintertime. I take road trips on my bike in the spring and fall, but winter is when I take some time to spend in one place.
And one place I love to visit is northern Arizona and southern Utah.
Especially Bryce and Zion Canyons.
Too damn crowded in the summer.
You literally have to ride a bus in Zion… and I don’t do buses.
So I go in the winter.
Barebone trees, dormant bushes, and no crowds.
And if there is snow… we have something special.
Zion is a difficult place for me to make photographs. The majesty too big, the cameras so small. There are magnificent images taken there, but it is still a challenge for me.
I want to say something different, something about scale, humanity, and how the majestic rock that is that park fits into my view of the world.
I don’t want a postcard shot. I don’t want another of the same ol’ stuff.
Even if that same ol’ stuff I just referred to is pretty terrific on its own.
Of course, this may just be a ploy to get me back there as often as possible. Since it is a challenge, I must return again and again to those incredible stone monuments to time.
And again.
Perhaps even this February coming up (2023). We’ve been promised some snow this winter, so it may be time to revisit.
You know what I mean.
Snow adds a texture that is sometimes unseen. Bushes that blend into themselves now wear a layer of snow to define them, expose them. Perhaps to show them off as unique.
If you are lucky enough to get there when the snow is really fresh, you can see it clinging to the smallest crags on the huge exposed rock.
Contrast. Texture. Dynamics.
Snow provides all three.
And it is so much fun when you feel that warm sun on your face up in the high country.
That is my favorite part of Zion — the eastern side beyond the tunnel. The canyons and crevasses just call out for exploring.
Grab a camera.
And a good, warm, jacket and head to Zion this winter.
You will not be disappointed.