It's always surprising to find how much of America is empty, like this stretch of Highway 89 going north to Jackson, Wyoming. No habitation from horizon to horizon all around, just sagebrush and the occasional herd of Pronghorn Antelopes. Open range country with big, spectacular skies

Our first day in Zion the temperature was in the high 90's so we headed off from the end of the road to explore the narrow, shady canyon of the Virgin River, wading the cold water over rocks and red sand until we left the most of the other tourists behind. Wary of a trailhead warning of flash floods, we turned back when thunderclouds started sending down large drops
This 1/2 mile trail to a lookout over Zion canyon called for a good head for heights since at one point we were walking on a pathway of planks fastened onto a sheer cliff face. A large tarantula did not yield right of way but was quite content to be photographed. At the end, a sheer drop overlooked the narrow, switchbacked road we had driven earlier, including a one-mile tunnel through the mountain
Yes, the Grand Canyon is BIG and DEEP! We stayed a couple of nights on the North Rim, just missing thunderstorms the night before. Trees had blown down, closing some roads for a while, and a grandfather had been blown off a trail in front of his family, falling 500' to his death. While we were there, his body was still unrecovered due to high winds
See the Clarks Nutcracker in the tree? We were also watching a Peregrine Falcon hunt from an outcrop in the abyss below
To get some idea of scale, can you spot the people on the narrow spur above the rock window?
And can you spot June waving in this one?
Unlike the desert on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, the approach to the North Rim is across the forested Kaibab Plateau - scenic miles of alpine forest, meadows and aspens
Bryce Canyon, a photographer's delight
After Bryce we explored nearby Kodachrome Basin. We had the trails there almost to ourselves although it was too hot to do anything strenuous
Driving ten miles into the sagebrush desert on a dusty dirt road, crossing washouts and with no signs of human habitation in sight, we were starting to get uneasy and checking the GPS when we finally came to a small parking lot, outhouse and a few hundred yards of paved path sitting incongruously in the middle of nowhere
We had arrived at Grosvenor Arch, a rock formation over 200 feet high, rising from the arid wasteland with a spectacular double arch. I managed to catch a contrail crossing the window against the incredibly deep blue sky
On our way home we spent three nights at Yellowstone National Park. This skyscape was captured at Mammoth Hot Springs
Late September was an ideal time of year to visit Yellowstone. The peak tourist season was over, the Fall colours were starting to show, and there was wildlife everywhere. We were warned that this magnificent bull elk guarding his harem outside the lodge at Mammoth was rather cantankerous, having attacked several people and cars a few days earlier, causing considerable damage.
Home, home on the range? Bison were everywhere. The steam in the background is one of the hundreds of geysers in the park
The bison (aka buffalo) were huge, magnificent beasts. They go where they want, taking little notice of humans or cars - who is going to argue right of way with something that size? They have a wild and baleful eye, and I took lots of photos
But June got the best of all. On the last morning, with mist rising from the Yellowstone river in the background, we stopped in the road to let a herd cross. When one animal started to walk down the passenger side, I passed my camera to June and she captured this from her side window - perfectly framed!

Yellowstone is mainly an old caldera, very large, with geysers and other thermal activity almost everywhere, including this steaming volcanic "cow pat" in the lake. Plumes of steam often made it seem as if the whole landscape was on fire
The "Dragon's Mouth" would discourage the most avid caver, sending intermittent surges of boiling water shooting out accompanied by deep throated roars
Naturally we had to wait around (with many others) for Old Faithful to erupt, although it is not as impressive as it once was. This is the busiest part of the park so we didn't stay long
More bison, more geysers, more hot weather. Many of the pools were crystal clear, blue and surrounded by mutlticoloured mats of bacteria and other strange growth.
Steamed June! One could only get close to most of the geysers and hot pools by using boardwalks, because the surrounding ground, however firm looking, was just a thin crust over boiling water and mud. Ignore the warnings and you may break through and scald to death.
On the way back home we stopped for a few hours in Deer Lodge, Montana, home to the first territorial prison in America. Right on main street, the high sandstone walls dominate downtown. Built in 1871, it is now a museum where one can wander on a self-guided tour - we had the whole prison almost to ourselves, which was kind of eerie. This cell block is comparatively luxurious - the original accommodation had no plumbing, just two buckets in each cell: one for water, one for sewage.
The fearsome, iron-bound door to "The Hole", a maximum punishment isolation cell where inmates were punished by complete darkness, existing only on bread and water. This practice was later discontinued as being inhumane
The prison is a grim place, a powerful incentive for anyone to stay honest. This ingenious collapsible execution device, nicknamed "The Galloping Gallows", was transported from place to place in the territory as needed,