leemoji.photo
KO/EN

Journal Entry

leemoji.photo Journal

Southern UtahUnited StatesApril 17, 2021

Three days in Utah, from a frozen lake to red canyons

An April 17–19, 2021 road trip across southern Utah, beginning among snow, forest, and ice before moving into red cliffs and hoodoo country.

Bare aspens and conifers reflected across a lake with ice along its edge.

April 17 — A lake still holding winter

At 8:28 AM on the first day, ice and snow remained along the lake. Bare aspens stood beside darker conifers on the opposite shore.

An icy lake bordered by bare aspens and conifers.
An icy lake bordered by bare aspens and conifers.

From another side, a thin sheet of ice covered most of the water. Overcast sky, snow, and dark open water made the scene feel closer to winter than mid-April.

Snow along the shore of a partially frozen lake.
Snow along the shore of a partially frozen lake.

At the forest edge, we pointed our cameras at each other. The person, snow, and marks left on the nearby aspen became one small record of the quiet lakeshore.

A person holding a camera in a snowy aspen grove.
A person holding a camera in a snowy aspen grove.

At 2:18 PM, the view opened over a deep wall of rock. Unlike the flat water of the morning, forest and cliff now fell away in several layers.

A deep cliff and distant plain viewed from the forest edge.
A deep cliff and distant plain viewed from the forest edge.

Near the end of the day, red columns and a long cliff followed a bend in the road. Gray lake and red rock had appeared only hours apart.

A curving road beside red cliffs and rock columns.
A curving road beside red cliffs and rock columns.

April 18 — Red and pale layers of stone

The second afternoon passed through rock where red layers met pale sandstone. Under a clear sky, the boundary between colors and the shape of the cliff were sharply visible.

Red and pale sandstone layers beneath a clear sky.
Red and pale sandstone layers beneath a clear sky.

April 19 — The view opens

On the third afternoon, a high viewpoint opened across forest, pale cliffs, and red hoodoos. Features seen at close range over the previous two days now sat inside one larger landscape.

A high view across forest and red rock formations.
A high view across forest and red rock formations.

At 5:11 PM, hoodoos, a winding path, and the distant plain shared the final frame. The journey that began beside a frozen lake ended above the red terrain of southern Utah.

Hoodoos, a winding path, and a distant plain seen from above.
Hoodoos, a winding path, and a distant plain seen from above.

The largest changes across the three days were color and elevation: gray shoreline, red roadside rock, and finally a view that gathered several landforms at once. More than any single stop, those quick transitions shaped the trip.