Drowned out by the array of National Park options nearby, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is an overlooked gem in the wild treasure chest of southern Utah. Gut-sucking slot canyons, lush forests, cool rivers and diverse wildlife animate the harsh deserts of Escalante, whose borders brim with majesty and adventure. Towering sandstone monoliths dot the vast red, brown and yellow landscape, enticing thrill-seekers to voyage deep into its brutal beauty.
It's also a photographer's dream.
But while the colors are vivid and the landscape is diverse beautiful, it was the deep, enveloping silence of this place that sticks with me. Thus that's what I aimed to capture: the silent isolation and rugged remoteness of this small sliver of desert in the American Southwest.
Here are some photos from Coyote Gulch (we entered via Hurricane Wash) and Reflection Canyon.