Utah in winter

North east out of Vegas, you follow a long vast valley scattered with Joshua trees and not much else, until the highway meets the Virgin River. The Virgin River Gorge is a gateway, literally and figuratively. The Virgin River originates in Zion National Park, and I am pleased to greet it out here in the Mohave desert. It took much longer to get out of Vegas than intended, so I stopped off at Snow Canyon State Park for the night. From there I found that state route 14 was closed, so I headed north and to 20 over the pass. Unknowingly, I’m driving into a winter storm dropping four times the amount of snow expected. Six hours into this lovely weather, I decide that lower elevation is the thing for me, for I have made the mistake of taking a rear wheel campervan up onto the high Colorado Plateau in late December. Leaving Bryce Canyon for another day (and 4WD), I went south to Zion.

I have chosen an image created on this expedition for the January Print of the month. I’ll post it next week to bring in the New Year.

Merry Christmas!