Mar 2, 2010

Easterner West

We enjoyed a trip to St. George, UT this last weekend. St George is not only a home base for visiting several national parks, but also boasts some excellent parks of its own. Snow Canyon State Park is such a place. At only $5 per car to enter, it is an affordable alcove of red rock, lava flows, and white sandstone where visitors are allowed to scamper on the mounds and petrified dunes--definitely not like a National Park. And yet, this park has kept a remarkably wild feel about it. There is literally a neighborhood at the gate, but the solitude a mile up the road is real. This is one of the things that drew M. to the park day after day during his visit from New York City. Maybe it's one of the things that's drawing him back as he considers how he can make the move here from NYC.




I met M. the first afternoon I was down there; it was actually the highlight of my trip. He allowed me to shoot images of him, both with my camera and his single use film camera. We chatted about what to do in the park, what brought him to St. George, what brought me, etc. It was enjoyable, and I learned volumes talking with him. He may have picked up a tip or two from my buddy Gary and me, as well: I caught him on his belly next to a desert puddle recreating the image Gary was going for. As you can see, he just looks like the picture of contentment--like those little people painted into grand Chinese landscapes.


Click through for a few more images of M., as well as some other stragglers we found...






















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