Jesse and I spent 18 days of “WOW” amidst the colorful towering rock landscapes of southwest Utah. We backpacked, hiked, car-camped, and enjoyed a few nights with showers in small towns. The following is a selection of images from my diary of the trip.

Jesse enjoyed the views from an alcove at Red Cliffs.

Our early campsite was at Pyramid Ridge Campground. We enjoyed our fresh flowers.

Our first backpack was along La Verkin Creek, in northwest Zion. I forgot my watercolor paints, but explored with pencil, and even rendered rock formations with Rooibos tea! Later, at Watchman Campground in Zion National Park, I was happy to have my 12-color half-pan Winsor Newton travel watercolor set in-hand again.

I returned home with many dramatic impressions of rock, including having seen petroglyphs (art pecked into rock) that we visited along the way.