Favorite Place

What place that you've already visited at least once would you place at the top of your list? What place is your favorite place? Where would you go to lose yourself or find yourself? Where would you go to relax or refocus? Where would you go to be inspired and grounded at the same time? Is there such a place where one can do all these things at once? It seems impossible to choose a single place as your favorite. As I show a snippet of mine below, I think of the other places near the top of "the list". Glacier National Park is as pretty a place as I've been to. The Grand Canyon has always been a special place to us because of our many backpacking trips there and the fact that is where our wedding took place. The Badlands of South Dakota and the Redwoods of northern California are pretty tough to beat. The Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Canada hold a special place in my heart. Our recent journey to the Napali Coast was unbelievable in beauty and serenity. The deciduous woods and undulating soybean fields of southern Indiana are always going to standout in my mind as special. But if I had to choose one place, I'd choose an area that encompasses a myriad of special places---southern Utah. Southern Utah would be my choice. My choice includes such places as the national parks of Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. It includes wild places like Dark Canyon and Cataract Canyon. It contains the alpine areas of the La Sals, Abajos, and Henry mountains, as well as scorching hot lowlands such as the areas around the rivers like the Colorado, the Green, and the San Juan. Southern Utah is where I could hole up as a hermit or wander as a vagabond and be happier than at any place I've ever been to. What about you? What is your favorite place?

This is part of Chesler Park in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.




"One of the most sacred geographical spots on earth," once stated river runner Joe Molica. He was talking about the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers, which is the beginning of Cataract Canyon.




A southern Utah sunrise near Elephant Canyon looking out toward the La Sal Mountains. The world would be a better place if everyone could experience the colorful serenity of southern Utah.