Never-Ending Fall of 2023

After so much success in Utah, our next adventure took us to California, but not without a stop in Utah's Zion National Park along the way. We got a campsite in one of the Park Service campgrounds in the park, where we ended up camping across from some of the most obnoxious fellow campers one could imagine, singing Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" at the top of their lungs late into the night, until a park ranger came along and told them to pipe down.

Our first stop in Cali was Death Valley, where they had just reopened after being closed for two months due to flooding caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Hillary back in August. Obviously there were no fall colors in Death Valley, since the only two seasons are summer and hell-on-earth, so after a few days exploring the park, we headed around to the other side of the Sierras and spent a few days in Yosemite Valley, one of Cindy's favorite places. I was astonished to see some remnants of fall still making a scene, and felt lucky to be able to photograph fall colors in late-November.

The mix of different pine species and lush colors was really interesting around the base of Yosemite Falls.

We retraced our steps on the return trip and drove to the Kolob Canyon section of Zion National Park in Utah under very different circumstances. With all the snow piling up on the redrock spires and surrounding pinyon forests, and with a long, snowy drive taking up the next two days, it was clear that, at long last, my seemingly endless fall of 2023 had finally come to a close.