This tree had so much character; bowing and pointing to the Navajo Sandstone Buttes behind it. #TreeTrunkTuesday #RockinTuesday #ColorADay #BlueTue #AlphabetChallenge #WeekUForUnloved #landscape #ProtectOurPublicLands #Utah #backpacking #hiking

Happy #BlueSkyMonday!

For Sunday #Stunday “Bookends in amber stone Frame my path towards golden domes I lightly step and pause my breath Bowing in reverence to my home” #OrangeSun #EastCoastKin #photography #poetry #coloraday #Nature #ProtectOurPublicLands #utah #backpacking #hiking

For #BlueSkyArtShow #Bright. This was on the last day of our 17-day backpack trip in southern Utah. It would have been a great shot. Unfortunately, our tent had 1 broken pole, another cracked, and 2 broken zippers. The tent looks pretty pathetic in this photo!!

For #BlueSkyArtShow #bright Waking up to a beautiful morning in the desert #EastCoastKin #Sunrise #Photography #Utah #ProtectOurPublicLands #Nature #Wildplaces #hiking #backpacking #GSENM

For #FishyFriday. Anyone else see a fish face? #landscape #rockscape #eastcoastkin #NavajoSandstone #ProtectOurPublicLands #nature #wildplaces #hiking #backapcking #photography

Happy #BlueskyMonday!! Hope your week is full of blue skies 😊 #Nature #sandstone #NavajoSandstone #hiking #backpacking

The reflection in the potholes is so pure in this canyon, it almost looks like a natural arch or bridge. #Stunday #shotsinslots #ProtectOurPublicLands #Nature #wildplaces #Utah #photography #landscape #hiking #backpacking #GlenCanyon

#BlueSkyArtShow #Evening A red headlamp highlights the tent as the sun sets. #Nature #Desert #Utah #photography #landscape #ProtectOurPublicLands

For #FossilFriday here is a Theropod dinosaur footprint from the Kayenta Formation. We found 3 Dino trackways while we were on our 17-day backpacking trip.This was the best preserved footprint of the ones we found. #dinosaurs #Utah #Fossils #backpacking #nature #geology #Jurassic

“I reach out To untangle Curls of cross beds Stained in iron Dreadlocks in rocks” #poetry #ProtectOurPublicLands #rocks #NavajoSandstone #Wilderness #Nature #Utah #landscape #photography

Without shadows, you cannot see the light.- Haruki Murakami This #photobyraykenny was taken in the Mount Pennell WSA. The shadows in the front & back highlight the ridge between which glows with beautiful light. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekSForShadow #Wild #Hiking #nature #Utah #Landscape #photography

Potholes of water are magical gathering places for life and beauty. #WaterWednesday #nature #ProtectOurPublicLands #landscape #photography #reflection #hiking #backpacking #utah #desert #water #EastCoastKin

Happy #BlueSkyMonday. Enjoy your week and don’t forget to be grateful for what you have, or have experienced. #Nature #Utah #hiking #backpacking #ProtectOurPublicLands #landscape #landscapephotography #eastcoastkin

Last shot of the week for #Alphabetchallenge #WeekRForRock I am pulled in by the beauty of crossbeds in the Navajo Sandstone. #ProtetOurPublicLands #hiking #wilderness #backpacking #Sandstone #Stunday #geology #landscapephotography #GlenCanyon #Utah #nature

Happy Sunday! Hiking through this gorgeous area on our 17-day #backpacking trip, my mind & soul were calmed. It felt holy. I reflected who I am, and who I want to become. #Stunday #GlenCanyon #nature #utah #ColoraDay #OrangeSun #hiking #ProtectOurPublicLands #photobyraykenny #ShotsInSlots

“I dress myself in a swirled cloak of cross beds, Wrapping my arms around the sky, I hug the clouds in glorified joy” #poetry #WeekRForRock #hiking #wilderness #backpacking #offtrail #NavajoSandstone #crossbeds

This “reddish” tree is for #BlueSkyArtShow #Autumn In Colorado, Autumn is represented by Aspen trees turning yellow in the mountains. Every one in a while you find more “reddish” ones. It is fun to search for them!

Happy Owloween!! #Spooktober #Halloween #Owls #GreatHornOwl

I’m back! I’ve been off of Bluesky for a month. Part of it included a 17-day backpacking trip in southern Utah. Here is a shot from that amazing trip. I’m still coming down from the high. #scape #landscape #WeekRForRock #sandstone #landscapephotography #ProtectOurPublicLands

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see -Taoist Proverb This saying is appropriate in these times. A calm mind provides us with clarity & introspection. Anger will not move us forward #photobyraykenny #WaterWednesday #nature #SierraNevada #hiking

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” - John Muir #ColoraDay #RedWed #AlphabetChallenge #WeekLforLines #nature #packrafting #SierraNevada #backpacking #Landscapephotography #wilderness

Being a geologist, I love photos of cross beds & high angle bedding planes. Here is the Jurassic/Triassic Navajo Sandstone from the Waterpocket Fold, Utah. The high angle & length of the beds tells me this was once a desert with dunes similar to the Sahara. #RockinTuesday #geology #sandstone #fold

A fun hike in CO is the Collegiate Peak Loop. It combines the western & eastern alts of the #ColoradoTrail & is ~160 miles. Stay at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs & leave a resupply bucket there. If you ave 15 mi/day, it then turns into a 6-day trip & a 5-day trip. #MountainMonday #backpacking #nature

Happy #BlueSkyMonday and #SleepySep #moon! Photo taken near Tropic, Utah.

The Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness is more than just Coyote Buttes and Paria Canyon. This rarely visited butte on top of Vermilion Cliffs glows in the morning light with streaks of creamy white and an orange marmalade top. #ColoraDay #OrangeSun #Stunday #hiking #wilderness #offtrail

Happy #Stunday and #ShotsInSlots day! I can be redundant at times, with all my posts of places off trail in the Grand Canyon. Yes, here is another one. I’ll just say it is not too far from Crazy Jug Point. #NationalParks #GrandCanyon #slotcanyons #parkchat #nature #landscapephotography #backpacking

To me, #home is more than 4 walls. It is where my heart feels joy, a place I share with people I love, and a journey of wisdom for my soul. #BlueSkyArtShow #EastCoastKin #photography #hiking #natue #ColoraDay #GreenSat #SleepySep #pillow #NationalParks #Canyonlands

Happy Friday everyone! I hope the day treats you kindly and remember: “Peace isn’t about avoiding the storm - it’s dancing in it with grace” - unknown #ForestFriday #nature #reflection #SensoryArt #Weather #scape #landscape #PhotographersofBluesky #photobyraykenny

Hiking along the Esplanade Sandstone in western Grand Canyon is sublime. #scape #landscape #GrandCanyon #NationalParks #Parkchat #landscapephotography #nature #backpacking #photobyraykenny #hiking

“Scarlet bells bow down With tears about to drip off The desert wakes up” #ColoraDay #RedWed #SensoryArt #weather #bloomscrolling #Haiku #poetry #wildflowers #nature #macro #photography

Enjoying some flat water on the Colorado River on a Grand Canyon packrafting trip. #WeekKforKaraoke: “Take me to the River” - Talking Heads #GrandCanyon #NationalParks #Parkchat #ColoraDay #RedWed #packrafting #backpacking #photobyraykenny #landscapephotography

Beehive Rock in Horseshoe Canyon Wilderness Study Area. The butte is mostly made of Jurassic-Triassic Wingate Sandstone topped by the whiter Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. #RockinTuesday #SaveOurPublicLands #geology #nature #landscape #photography #photobyraykenny

A beautiful rainbow during this morning’s hike up Perins Peak in Durango, CO. I love living here. #Nature #Hiking #photography #rainbows

Happy #BlueSkyMonday! Here is a photo of an unnamed lake along the Kuna Crest in Yosemite National Park. #MountainMonday #NationalParks #backpacking #Parkchat #wildplaces

Happy #BlueSkyMonday & #MinimalMonday! This is a small desert milkweed (Asclepias erosa) growing in Canyonlands National Park. Fun fact: eating milkweed protect Monarch butterflies because the toxins from the milkweed make the butterfly unpalatable to its predators. #nature #NationalParks #Parkchat

Happy #RockinTuesday! Being a geologist who loves the Grand Canyon, I can never share enough photos of it. Here is #photobyraykenny in a remote canyon of the Grand Canyon. I love how the layers of water and deposits in the drainage contrast with the colors and layers of the Vishnu Schist.

Here’s an interesting photo for #SleepySep #bed. You can see 2 bed frames in this photo. In a remote area of the Grand Canyon, this old cowboy camp was used from the early 1900s to ~1960. Please admire but don’t disturb these sites if you find one of them. #history #GrandCanyon #backpacking

Happy #BlueSkyMonday and the beginning of September! Here is one of our beautiful blue lakes in southwestern Colorado #MountainMonday #nature #lakes #photography #SanJuanMountains #hiking #ProtectOurPublicLands

If you would like to know more about Southeastern Utah Butterflies, here's a catalog of the area's species. Please share. drive.google.com/file/d/1b9OA... Have at it free, or contribute a donation for any amount? gofund.me/eba90270 #butterflies

Beautiful narrows in Capitol Reef National Park #Stunday #ColoraDay #OrangeSun #NationalParks #Parkchat #ShotsInSlots #canyons #nature #hiking #backpacking #photobyraykenny

A #haiku #poem for this beautiful #AbstractAug #Sky: “Ribbons flutter by Floating on a blue pallet Never touching earth”

The gnarled and curves of a Jeffrey Pine tree stump makes for an interesting photo. Photo taken in Ansel Adams Wilderness, CA #TreeTrunkTuesday #ThickTrunkTuesday #nature #photography #hiking #backpacking #trees

Lighting and the time of day can change everything. Normally, this is a non-descriptive butte in Canyonlands National Park. But it is “FIRE” with the morning light. #Stunday #NationalParks #Parkchat #Canyonlands #ColoraDay #OrangeSun #hiking #backpacking #photobyraykenny #landscapephotography

As the summer winds down, I am getting the itch to be back in the desert. This photo from the Waterpocket Fold takes me there. #Stunday #GlenCanyon #nature #Utah #hiking #backpacking #ProtectOurPublicLands #landscapephotography #eastcoastkin #WaterPocketFold

For #BlueSkyArtShow #Skyline

Gosh. Thanks for sharing this. It's a real pick-me/up. I can no longer hike and explore as much. Thankfully, before, I did manage to get a baseline catalog of Southeastern Utah's butterflies. Please share, to those interested. It's not published, and I would hate for it to vanish to history.

A beautiful Anise Swallowtail seen in Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. #InsectThursday #Butterflies #ColoraDay #YellowThu #photobyraykenny #thelittlethings

Happy Thursday! Here is a long-nosed leopard lizard to brighten your morning. Fun fact: Leopard Lizards are fierce predators and have been found choked to death attempting to consume prey that is too large for them to swallow. Canyonlands, 5/26/25. #herps #wildlife #nature #lizards #photobyraykenny