The Citadel at Bryce Canyon
Were you ever profoundly moved by something you saw? When the scene made you stop and think, and moments later you were transformed, with a totally different outlook?
I experienced this at Bryce Canyon in Utah. Winter is my favorite time at Bryce. Snow adds contrast to the color palette, the crowds have vanished, the summer heat has gone... definitely gone.
In complete solitude, hiking down the trail, I turned a corner, and saw this:
The colors and shapes stopped me in my tracks. Above all, I was struck by the sublime serenity of the scene.
I wondered, "How many times throughout centuries and millennia, have these conditions been repeated with no human present to view it?" Yet here it was preserved, waiting for me to see and absorb.
It made me think there's bigger things in life than my own petty worries.
"There's definitely a higher power in control of things. Everything is going to be OK".
Viewing the image again transports me to that time and place, November 24, 4:08 PM, 2011, Bryce Canyon National Park.
The same sense of well-being encompasses me each time I look at it.
I call it "The Citadel", not only because it looks much like a fortress, but because a fortress is a stronghold, a place of refuge and safety. That's the way it made me feel in that moment. Safe, secure, at peace.
I can't remember exactly where this was in Bryce. It's certainly off one of the main trails near the entrance of the park. If you go in winter, bundle up and be prepared. The rim elevation varies between 8000 and 9000', so it can get quite cold. Traction devices for shoes and boots (sold at the general store before the park entrance) are a necessity when hiking on steep snow and ice covered trails.
"The Citadel" is available for purchase in the Panorama gallery.
Wishing you the "Peace of Light".
Thomas Cakalic
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