Day 365+1: September 26, 2005 - End of the Road


by Karen Williams
Just to be on the safe side, we spent an extra day in Zion. The views from the Kolob Reservoir Road are fantastic, and not often travelled on. It's also a great jumping off point for day hikes, overnights, or access to the Subway.



There was a huge sense of relief at coming to the end of the 365 Days in Zion project. Spending every day hiking around in Zion was amazing, but searching out a perfect picture every day was difficult. Zion has more wonder than the two of us could ever hope to capture, and the only thing lacking on days where our photography struggled was our creativity. The project was great to push us, and now having done it, we feel that we could go back and do it right!



Sorting through all of our thousands of photos to find some to put up on this blog was the first round to identifying photos for a book project. Hopefully it won't take as long for stage 2!

Day 365: September 25, 2005 - West Temple

by Christian Williams
The West Temple from the west side of Zion. The large red dome in the foreground reminds me of a more spectacular form of the famous Ayers Rock in Australia.

by Karen Williams
It's fitting that on the last day of our photo project in Zion, I capture the quintessential picture of a photographer in Zion. I love the way the elements are arranged in this picture, with the foreground compressed up against the background.

One more bonus picture with some final thoughts tomorrow (we added an extra day at the end, just in case we counted wrong by a day!) 366 days in Zion for no extra charge!

Day 364: September 24, 2005 - West Rim

by Christian Williams
With the project coming to an end, we decided to spend the last days of our 365 day project hiking across the West Rim in Zion. Coming down the West Rim, the view is spectacular, and a little bit unnerving. This picture might not do it justice, but the slick rock trail winds down the face of a shear cliff with nothing but the valley below.

by Christian Williams
After descending the West Rim face, and looking back across the valley we were rewarded with this amazing view.

Day 363: September 23, 2005 - West Rim at Sunset


by Christian Williams
The cloudy sky became a sea of color as the sun was setting over the West Rim. From my viewpoint which overlooked a seeming endless expanse of mountains, I could scarcely take in the beauty of the white faced mountains and the beautiful array of warm colors in the sky above.

Day 362: September 22, 2005 - Clear Day in East Zion


by Karen Williams
The clear blue sky radiated bright sunlight which brought out the colors of the green vegetation and red and white rock. This fall day had absolutely no haze in the sky - everything looked clear, clean, and crisp.

Day 361: September 21, 2005 - Green Spikes


by Karen Williams
I liked the perfect green spikes on this plant. They are evenly spaced, in a way that almost seems manufactured. The sand covering the plant adds even more interesting texture to the fuzzy surface of the spikes.

Day 360: September 20, 2005 - Orange Flowers


by Karen Williams
It is fall and the flowers are starting to wither with the coming crisp cool weather. I still found these fun orange flowers blooming and took some pictures of some of the last flowers of the season.

Day 359: September 19, 2005 - East Temple

by Karen Williams
The enormous East Temple looms over the Pine Creek Switchbacks and the entrance to Main canyon.

Day 358: September 18, 2005 - Almost Home

by Christian Williams
This viewpoint is not only stunning, but brings a rush of excitement, as it's the last major "bend" in the road before exiting the park in East Zion. This brings a sigh of relief, as it means we're almost home. Living in Glendale, it's a two hour drive to the "big city" of St. George (pop. 4500).

Day 357: September 17, 2005 - West Temple View

by Christian Williams
This view point from the Pine Creek switchbacks road is a common "pull out" by tourists seeking to take pictures. The panorama view is stunning in person, unfortunately Zion is just too big to fit in one shot from this location.

Day 356: September 16, 2005 - Vibrant Colors

by Christian Williams
These white and red cliffs are alive with color as the sun lowers in the eastern sky. I love the way the rocks look with the shadows stretching across the elevations in the rock face.

Day 355: September 15, 2005 - Sunrise

by Christian Williams
I got up early and headed out to East Zion for a view of the early morning light. This photo is looking west toward Bridge Mountain and East Temple. Note the tunnel that cuts directly through the rock in the bottom right corner.

Day 354: September 14, 2005 - The Otherside

by Karen Williams
Checkerboard Mesa is the most famous landmark in East Zion. Here is what it looks like on it's least famous side.

Day 353: September 13, 2005 - Purple Daisy


by Karen Williams

It never ceases to amaze me how out of place these delicate, beautiful flowers seem in the harsh desert environment of Zion.

Day 352: September 12, 2005 - Red, White, and Blue

by Christian Williams
Red sandstone, white sandstone, and a deep blue sky. Who knew Zion was so patriotic?

Day 351: September 11, 2005 - Parunuweap Pass


by Christian Williams
Starting in East Zion, we hiked up to Parunuweap Pass, a trail across petrified sand dunes which provides an excellent view point into Parunuweap Canyon to the south and East Zion to the north. This photo is looking south into Parunuweap Canyon.


by Christian Williams
Turning around looking back to the north in East Zion canyon.

Day 350: September 10, 2005 - Nightime Lights

by Christian Williams
I found a place at sunset, setup the tripod and waited for the bright colors to streak across the sky. Unfortunately, the colors didn't come, as is sometimes the case in Zion. The sky merely got darker, until nothing was visible. Not to let nature get the better of me, I pulled out the spotlight, and made my own light. It would have looked nicer if nature had cooperated.

Day 349: September 9, 2005 - Orderville Canyon

by Christian Williams
I spent the afternoon hiking into Orderville Canyon, from the top side, rather than up through the narrows as I did on my previous hike. It's one of the more remote areas of Zion, but very beautiful. This narrow section of canyon wall reveals great texture and shadows from the light above. Notice the large bolder wedged into position at the top.

Day 348: September 8, 2005 - Contrasts

by Christian Williams
What strikes me about this scene is the strong contrasts. Dark shadows in the lower third of the photograph, with some islands of light emerging up from below, followed by the glowing mountains in the background. Finally, the deep blue sky and fluffy white clouds. I enjoy the way my eyes track through each of these layers of contrast.

Day 347: September 7, 2005 - Sunflowers

by Karen Williams
I returned to the scene of the roadside sunflowers from a few days earlier and wanted to incorporate some of the rock wall in the background.

Day 346: September 6, 2005 - Lines in the Rock


by Christian Williams
If not for the shadows of the setting sun, I would not have seen this pattern which repeated itself across the entire lower section of the canyon wall.

Day 345: September 5, 2005 - Sunburst

by Karen Williams
This small, struggling tree is a familiar sight to observant visitors who frequents East Zion. It's managed to take root at the top of this rock-shaped tower, and lines up perfectly when the rising and setting sun.

Day 344: September 4, 2010


by Christian Williams
A beautiful day for a walk along the watchman trail near the main canyon campgrounds.

Day 343: September 3, 2005 - The Zion Narrows

by Christian Williams
I had spent a lot of time in the Narrows before, but I had yet to hike the entire 16 mile stretch. Karen was pregnant at this point and didn't feel up to it, so I brought along my hiking buddy Randy. Note to self, when choosing a hiking buddy in the future, don't go with someone who runs marathons for fun.

The Narrows is one of the most amazing places, with rock walls towering high above you and nothing but the river in between. Naturally, during the rain season or high-water periods hiking is restricted.
To hike the Narrows requires a day permit. To save on time, we picked the permit up on the previous day, and started the hike at dawn from the trail head at Chamberlain Ranch. The beginning of the hike is very interesting as the trail starts along flat ground with a small stream running alongside. As you walk, the stream gets larger and larger, and the canyon walls climb higher and higher. This waterfall is one of the earlier sights along the hike.
Orderville Canyon connects into the Narrows. We took a short detour hike down the canyon and back to the main section, which added a few miles to our trip. Hiking in a river is extremely tiring by about the tenth mile, the constant water resistance on my feet really stressed the tendons in my ankles.
This waterfall is called Big Spring, a year round fresh spring. It's a stunning sight to be rounding the corner and have this oasis appear in the middle of the river.

Epilogue: The hike took all day. We didn't get home until past night fall (because we had to shuttle back to pick up our car at the top of the trail head). From the fatigue and constant water exposure my body was shivering continuously as I drove myself the one hour drive home. I probably had mild hypothermia. I remember being so cold when I got home, I walked straight into the shower, turned it on hot and passed out for about 3 seconds! Then I got back up and was fine. The next day my legs were quite sore (Randy on the other hand wasn't phased at all). But it was an awesome hike.

Day 342: September 2, 2005 - Knifes Edge


by Christian Williams
From this angle, Mount Spry has the appearance of a knife with a razor sharp edge. This is one of my favorite mountains in Zion, which towers over pine creek junction between main canyon and the switchbacks to East Zion.

Day 341: September 1, 2005 - East Temple

by Christian Williams
The East Temple looms overhead, with a deep blue sky in the background. The iconic East Temple takes on a whole new shape when viewed from its "back side" in East Zion.

Day 340: August 31, 2005 - White Cliffs

by Christian Williams
The great cracked walls of East Zion have the appearance of leathery elephant skin. I climbed around in the ravine below trying to get just the right angle for this shot and liked the way the shadowy rock wall frames the right boarder of the photograph.

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365 IN ZION

365 Days in Zion is a photo experience by Karen and Christian Williams. Together, we spent an entire year in Zion National Park amidst snow, rain, flash floods, brush fires, and the beautiful sunny blue skies that typify Southern Utah in the United States of America.

365 Days in Zion National Park

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