"The colors are such as no pigments can portray. They are deep, rich, and variegated and so luminous are they that the light seems to flow out of the rock rather than to be reflected from it."

Clarence Dutton, "Report on the Geology of the High Plateau of Utah",1880

This is the Horseshoe Overlook at the Colorado River near Page, Arizona, just outside of Lake Powell. The site gets its name because the river has carved a U-shaped path around the rock in the center, but this view shows just a partial look at the right-hand side of the horseshoe. This was taken in March during my fourth visit to this overlook; each time the lighting and color of the rock are slightly different - and thus even more interesting. The way the rock, river, and reflected sky come together in this image makes it one of my favorites.

"The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time."

Henry David Thoreau - source unknown

When our children were young and we used to vacation at the ocean, the kids would make "dribble castles" at the beach. They'd pour water onto the sand to make it like a very loose mud, and then pick up a handful and let it dribble out of their fingers so it would form little statues, towers and castles. That's what came to mind when I saw this "Devil's Garden" area along the Hole-in-the-Rock Road in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument area in southeastern Utah. Walking among those rock formations made me feel like I was among some mutant giant-sized dribble castles. That's what I like about hiking in this part of the country - the ability to imagine and invent our own meanings about the grandeur of the landforms.