Advice for photography in Canyonlands, Utah in mid-February?

Hi All,

I'll be in and around Canyonlands from February 18-25. I'll be

pack'n my two Mamiya 7IIs, assorted lenses, tripod, graduated

neutral density filters, etc. I'll also be well supplied with lots

of Velvia 100 ("non-F", rated at 100 ISO with an 81A filter), Ilford

Super XP-2 (rated at about 250 ISO with a deep yellow filter), and

Kodak 400UC. I've got some guide books, too, and have searched

photo.net for information.

I'll be staying in Moab, and traveling by jeep. Of course I'll hit

the standard iconic-photo spots. But, I'll also do some hiking to

get off the beaten path for some hopefully more creative images.

Anyone have any photographic must-do's or must-avoids to pass along?

Thanks!

--Randall

Amie,

Thanks for your response. What time of the year and long were you there?

The weather data I have seen shows February to be, on average, the second driest month of the year in Moab. I am hoping that Mother Nature doesn't choose my visit to be the time to go "anomalous."

Randall,

I don't have any sage advice as I've only been there in the spring BUT I am interested in any suggestions you get. I'll be there from Feb 22nd to the 28th and am looking for the same kind of opportunities. If you have any ideas you'd care to share please drop me an email at mudshark@esper.com. Thanks. Gene

Dead Horse Point is the obvious "must see".

If you want to see petroglyphs, the road to Potash just North of Moab has panels of them right up against the road. People frequently rock climb in the area. You'll see signs pointing to the side of the road. They say something descriptive like "Indian Art". It may take a few minutes of staring at a rock wall before you see them, but once you see one you'll start to see hundreds of them and wonder how you could possibly have missed them.

In Canyonlands, Devil's Kitchen in the Needles district is pretty cool. Some of the "needles" (rock spires towering hundreds of feet tall) have fallen over and cracked. The cracks range from a foot or so wide to maybe a couple of feet wide by maybe 50 to 100 feet high and can be very interesting to navigate through. It can be a hike to get to, and photographically it may not be what you're looking for, but I had a good time there.