Southern Utah In Bloom

a portfolio by Larry Ultich

After countless trips to southern Utah, Larry and Donna Ulrich are no longer strangers discovering for the first time, but old friends back to explore again. Yet each curve in a road or trail reveals new pleasures ‹ towering rock hoodoos rising from the canyon floor, petroglyphs, and sandstone cliffs. Playful rock, twisted into forms we identify with predictable names, marches across the landscape. Amid all of the river and rock, it is easy to overlook a daisy.

The steep canyon walls most often associated with southern Utah generally are lacking in vegetation. But where the rapid erosion that typifies the badlands of the Colorado Plateau has slowed, geology gives vegetation a chance. In the broad, flat divides formed between uplifted mountains, on gentle slopes along the rivers, in alcoves, and on mesa tops full of rich volcanic soil, native plants flourish.

Given the right conditions, the desert explodes with color, and wildflowers become the main attraction.

The bloom generally begins in late April in the lower canyons of Zion National Park, May being the month with the greatest variety and abundance of blooms. Throughout the summer months the blooms advance up the higher plateaus, and in very wet years the valleys and mesas can be ablaze with a dazzling array of colors.

Some of Larry and Donna's favorite areas for flowers in early spring are in and around Capital Reef National Park and Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument. Southern Utah's best summer flower displays are in the lofty meadows of Cedar Breaks National Monument.

If the flowers are spectacular, the rocks and cliffs may just get overlooked. ...

SEE THE WHOLE STORY AND PHOTOS IN THE Spring 2002 CERCA

The March/April 2003 Issue is out. Find it at Las Vegas bookstores today.