Day 328: August 19, 2005 - Horn Beetle

by Karen Williams
This awesome gold beetle is the only one like it I have ever seen. I love finding new little critters around Zion to watch and photograph.

Day 318: August 9, 2010 - Many Pools, Forked Tail

by Christian Williams
These large potholes are formed from rain water, racing down the canyon and swirling in these depressions, taking pieces of rock and sandstone with it. Each hole is teaming with life during the spring, but as the hot days of the summer progress, the water slowly dries up, and all the life goes with it. Until next year.

by Karen Williams
Look closely. This lizard, perhaps escaped becoming lunch meat for some predator, and lost its original tail, but was rewarded with two more.

Day 313: August 4, 2005 - Glowing Clouds in a Brilliant Sky

by Christian Williams
As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the clouds glowed in the brilliant blue sky over the shaded rocks of Zion.

by Christian Williams
I went to an area of the mountains where I have seen the mountain sheep before, and found this bold male sheep that I spent some time photographing.

Day 311: August 2, 2010 - Sheep on the Wall

by Karen Williams
I came across this herd of mountain sheep while hiking in Zion today. I sat and watched them for quite some time, and followed them the best I could - which was difficult because they are walking on a rock wall that is almost vertical. It is rare to see this many sheep together at one time, and it was interesting to see the way they climb from place to place in areas that look impossible to walk.

Day 303: July 25, 2005 - Posing Lizard

by Karen Williams
This lizard posed for me for awhile, giving me a chance to admire the patterns on his scaly skin and to capture his super model pose.

Day 288: July 10, 2005 - Snakes and Tunnels

by Christian Williams
This little snake was fun to chase around and try to photograph. I like the way this photo turned out. I adjusted the aperature so I could capture the sharp gaze of the snake as he slithered across the sandstone.

by Christian Williams
As I hiked through the canyon, I came to this wall which looked like a vertical tunnel in the rock. The deep red rock looks beautiful on this uniquely shaped curved wall.

Day 280: July 2, 2005 - Jolley Gulch

by Karen Williams
When we were backpacking up on the East Rim Trail, we crossed over a waterfall that was in a canyon called Jolley Gulch. We decided to try and find it from down below so we could check out the waterfall. On the way up the canyon, I spotted this butterfly and loved the intricate patterns on its body and wings.

by Christian Williams
Here is the waterfall in Jolley Gulch. It required a bit of hiking, scrambling, and a whole lot of getting wet to get there, but the views in the canyon were well worth the effort.

Day 277: June 29, 2005 - Mountain Sheep

by Christian Williams
We were driving through Zion when we noticed a traffic jam ahead. When we pulled the car over, we saw a herd of mountain sheep up on the cliffs, with a whole bunch of tourists down below trying to snap some pictures. We decided to hike right up after them, and were rewarded with some close encounters with the wildlife.

by Karen Williams
As we stood watching the sheep, we heard some more sheep calling from behind us. The sheep on the mountain top came running down the mountain side to join the rest of the herd.

Day 273: June 25, 2005 - Butterflies

by Karen Williams
While driving along the highway, I spotted a bright patch of orange down in the wash, and decided to explore. I found a small group of butterfly weed plants growing in the sandy soil. There are relatively few flowers that grow in this area, so I was surprised to see these bright flowers in this spot. There were beautiful butterflies dancing around the flowers.


by Karen Williams

This butterfly is a Tiger Swallowtail, which is my favorite butterfly. I had never seen them before hiking in Zion National Park. They also love butterfly weed, and anytime I find a patch of these flowers in Zion, I can wait and the expected butterflies will appear. As it turns out, this spot was an unusual place for butterfly weed. I have never seen butterfly weed grow so large in this place, if it blooms at all, in all the years since I took these photos.

Day 263: June 15, 2005 - Mountain Sheep in the Canyon

by Christian Williams
I was hiking through a side canyon in East Zion when I came across a family of mountain sheep. I counted at least 6 in all. This one caught my attention by separating from the pack and walking straight across a 1 inch band of rock in a vertical wall.

by Christian Williams
On the way out of the canyon, I was interested in the way the walls of the canyon left only a narrow opening through which to see the Zion landscape.

Day 261: June 13, 2005 - Roadside Flowers

by Karen Williams
Zion National Park is a wonderful place, where you can just stop by the roadside and take in some amazing scenery. The road was lined with these beautiful flowers, so I pulled over and spent some time taking pictures.

by Karen Williams
On closer inspection large bumblebees were swarming all over the flowers.

Day 254: June 6, 2005 - Lee Pass - La Verkin Creek Trail

by Karen Williams
Kolob is an area of Zion that is less explored, but offers stunning views of red rock, beautiful rivers, plantlife, and other stunning views of valleys and mountains. It is less crowded than the main area of Zion, and most of the best trails are only accessible during long day hikes or backpacking trips. We spend the next few days exploring some of the less seen areas of Zion in the backcountry.

by Christian Williams
As we were setting up camp for the evening, I noticed this large black beetle, with its back cracked open and a spider feeding on its insides. The beetles legs, mouth and antlers were still moving.

Day 250: June 2, 2005 - Frogs and Rockstars

by Karen Williams
It is probably pretty clear by now that I really like frogs. And lizards. I just think they are fascinating. We found a group of frogs in a canyon in east Zion, and spent some time photographing different ones, but I love this closeup as the frog started climbing up out of the water. It is amazing to watch these little creatures climb up vertical walls of rock!

by Christian Williams
This day is the first of a week we spent hiking and backpacking in Zion with Uncle Bill and Cousin Amy. We have been hiking together for many years, and enjoy exploring new places with them. This tunnel goes under the road that winds through east Zion, and we could not resist posing like the hiking rockstars we are to signify the beginning of a totally awesome adventure.

Day 247: May 30, 2005 - Bands of Light

by Karen Williams
I spotted this lizard fighting with another lizard and my presence distrupted their territorial confrontation. The two lizards quickly separated and ran in opposite directions. I'm always impressed how lizards can disappear into tiny little cracks in the rock. This lizard wedged himself where he supposed he was out of sight. I braced my macro lens up against the rock to get a picture of him in his hideaway. I like the effect of the two diagonal bands of light across the top and bottom that is created in this photograph. This effect on the rock is caused by the reflecting sun, combined with the higher ISO and lower depth of field required to reveal the shadows within.

Day 244: May 27, 2005 - Mountain Pools

by Christian Williams

This area of Zion often has beautiful pools of collected rainwater. Today was especially nice with the stormy clouds rolling in over the lovely mountain scene.

by Karen Williams

The pools of water are often filled with tadpoles, and later in the season if there has been enough rain, frogs. I like watching the tadpoles come up to the water surface. It looks so funny to see their little mouths poke out of the water, so I tried to get a picture of one. After a whole lot of watching, waiting, and missing the moment by a split second, I finally got a pic just as this little guy broke the surface.

Day 240: May 23, 2005 - Something in the Air

by Karen Williams
While Chris was off in the canyon, taking pictures of the narrow walls in the fading light, I was following a lizard around. Pretty soon, he was joined by a companion, and they started chasing each other, and well, you know the rest.

by Christian Williams
Little did Karen know, while taking pictures in the canyon, I heard a frog's distinct repetitive croaking. I looked closer and saw two frogs, in a mating ritual. The large bubble under its mouth, swells up whenever it croaks. There must have been something in the air today.

Day 238: May 21, 2005 - Upper Emerald Pool

by Christian Williams
Karen and I hiked up to the Upper Emerald Pools, a beautiful hike with wonderful views of the main canyon, and with so much water this year, the waterfalls were spectacular as well. When we reached the uppermost waterfall, we noticed these hikers rappelling down the falls. I have no idea what hike ends at the top of the falls, but it is a long way down from there!

by Christian Williams
A picture of the whole waterfall to give a perspective of how large it is. If you look closely you can see the rappelling hikers.

by Karen Williams
Although I enjoyed the beautiful scenery, I also found this great lizard with a beautiful blue belly. Uncle Bill, I am sorry I can't remember the name, I know you must have taught us what this little guy is called on one of our many hiking trips! I love the varied textures and patterns in this scene, with the rough bark next to the orderly, spiny lizard scales.

Day 234: May 17,2005 - Canyon Frogs

by Christian Williams
This skinny slot canyon has always been a favorite location of ours to hike around. Depending on the time of year and the amount of recent rain, it can be full of ponds or mostly dry. There is always some water in this location though, as the back areas of the canyon are never touched by the sun. This makes it a great spot to look for frogs, especially in the late spring and early summer when there is plenty of water.


by Christian Williams
I found this frog under a rock. I watched it for some time, and mostly it just watched me back.

Day 231: May 14, 2005 - East Zion Views and Critters

by Karen Williams

I climbed up onto a trail that had spectacular views looking back towards East Zion. This is where I spend most of my time hiking, but I have never taken any pictures that capture what East Zion is like. So here it is, a huge, expansive, never-ending jumble of rocks, mountains, canyons and trees that I spent an entire year exploring, and never saw it all!

by Karen Williams

While hiking today I found a variety of lizards. I liked this photo out of all the ones I took because I love the way the lizard is perched on top of this rock, with just a glimpse of the rocky mountain expanse behind him. He gets to enjoy the good view every day and probably doesn't realize how cool that is.

Day 224: May 7, 2005 - Caterpillar Surprise

by Christian Williams
I had come across a nest of caterpillars like this once before, so I knew it wasn't an anomaly. But it was a fascinating sight, that still to this day makes my skin crawl.


by Christian Williams
Today was another beautiful day in Zion National Park and we spent several hours exploring all of it. Here the often dry Clear Creek is running, due to the recent rains, and snow pack, which was beginning to melt.