North Fork Virgin River by Oak Creek, Zion National Park, UT, 11/6/2006
Near the end of a lovely autumn day exploring Zion Canyon near the Virgin River, I noticed how splendid these colorful Fremont cottonwood trees (Populus fremontii) looked in the late afternoon sunlight against the multicolored Navajo sandstone formations. The trees grow along the river and turn yellow and gold in autumn, adding to the kaleidoscopic splendor of Zion. The white peak to the right of center is called the Sentinel. To the left is one of the Towers of the Virgin. Bee Hive Peak is at far left. Below them is the Streaked Wall. These buttes are the result of resistant, unfractured rock standing after highly fractured rock between them became eroded and was transported away by the river.
