steveberkley

Zion's Reach

Many of the trees at Zion National Park in Utah have variable sizes and fantastic shapes because they grow in harsh and difficult conditions, on cliffs and bare...
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Many of the trees at Zion National Park in Utah have variable sizes and fantastic shapes because they grow in harsh and difficult conditions, on cliffs and bare rocks, in crevices and cracks. They grow in places that receive little water and where summer temperatures can soar daily above 100 degrees. These trees send their great roots down into joints and fissures in the rock, searching for available water and breaking the rocks into soil. High on the tops of hoodoos and out along the slick rock of the Mt. Carmel Highway, their twisted shapes resemble, perhaps, goblins and witches, giants and wizards. Often they look like Japanese bonsais, as if they have been carefully pruned and shaped and then placed for all to see and admire.
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