I missed last week’s marginalia because I was galavanting in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument with my dad and friend Brent.  Many thanks to my wife for letting me be gone for a while.

• On our way home from Utah, Brent and I set a new personal record for hiking in and visiting national parks.  We hiked in the Grand Staircase-Escalante before leaving, then hiked the Navajo Trail in Bryce Canyon National Park, visited Cedar Breaks National Monument, and then did a short hike in the Kolob Canyon region of Zion National Park.
• All of that hiking led to new photos here (bottom two) as well as new webpages for Bryce Canyon and the Grand Staircase-Escalante.  Overall it was a very productive trip.
• At his blog, Ian Plant has a fun poll regarding the theme ‘suffering’.  What have you suffered through in the field.  Read my contribution in the comments section.
• Guy Tal has a really nice commentary on the originality of your photography.  Although I take my photos for me, it still made me take pause, especially on my recent Utah trip, and forced me to take a step outside of my compositional comfort zone.  Thanks, Guy.

In the spirit of trying something new, here’s a result from my recent trip:

Cedar on sandstone, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 2009