Our latest aerial stock shoot took us to Monument Valley, Utah. After finally getting a break in the weather, Stan and I took off on a Tuesday afternoon and headed south over the eastern slopes of Mount Nebo and over the Manti valley. We turned east at I-70 east then headed south to Capitol Reef National Park. Utah has some amazing geological features and one of best is Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef. You don't get the whole effect from the ground, but from the air it is spectacular!
We then continued over to Escalante Canyon and followed it down until it merged with the main channel in Lake Powell. Don't tell anyone, but spring is a great time to head to Lake Powell - the lake is gorgeous, the weather is perfect and no one is there! I think we saw three boats on the lake. We followed the channel upstream to Hall's Crossing then headed over to Cal Black Memorial Airport for fuel. After filling up we headed directly to Goulding's airstrip at Monument Valley. After checking into the hotel, we headed back up into the sky to get some sunset shots of Monument Valley. Our timing was perfect, but the low clouds on the horizon interfered with what was otherwise a gorgeous sunset.
In the morning we were up and in the air before the sun, and we had great shooting conditions in Monument Valley. The air was perfectly smooth, and the formations looked awesome in the warm morning light. We then flew up to the San Juan arm of Lake Powell and followed it down to the main channel. After a few circles around Rainbow Bridge National Monument, we continued down the lake to Wahweap bay and Glenn Canyon Dam.
Paria canyon was next on the list, and the geology of the area makes some of the eroding hills look like sherbet ice cream! Paria is a ghost town with almost nothing left after a fire a few years ago, but it was the location set of several western movies. Continuing on, we flew North to Bryce Canyon. Most people never get to see the canyons and hoodoos from the air looking west - spectacular! We topped of the tanks at Bryce Canyon airport and flew over Otter Creek Reservoir on our way to Wayne Wonderland airport, near Loa, for lunch.
It was a great couple of days flying over Utah and taking in some of the most spectacular scenery our state has to offer. For more shots from the flight, click on the "Stock" tab above, go to our stock site, and then search for "monument", "lake powell", "escalante", etc. or you can click this link: http://tr.im/kdDv - you get the idea!
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