Mesa Arch is located in Canyonlands National Park. The name of the
park might sound familiar to you. That is the park in which hiker Aron
Ralston was trapped by a boulder in John Blue Canyon and had to
amputate his arm in order to free himself as portrayed in the
movie "127 hours." But don't worry about me. Canyonlands National
Park is composed of three sections, and I went to the Island in
the Sky mesa, which is not as remote as John Blue Canyon.
Mesa Arch is well-known for its sunrise scenery. A day before
going to Canyonlands, I stayed in Green River, which is about 60
miles away from Island in the Sky. I left the motel at 4:40 am and
arrived at Mesa Arch about 6:10 am. While waiting for the sunrise,
I experimented with light painting, as shown in the first photo. A
few minutes later more and more photographers came to the site,
and at last the whole area was packed with tripods. If I leave the
spot, other people would move in. As a result I didn't have much
freedom to explore different perspectives. Nonetheless, I am happy
with the results in spite of the limitation.
