Southeast of Moab the La Sal Loop Road pauses above the deep gash of Mill Creek Canyon before descending to cross the narrow chasm. From that vantage, the broad, flat shoulder of ridge between Horse Creek and Brumley Creek watersheds leads the eye slowly upward toward the rise of Mt. Mellenthin before curving south into the deeply incised Brumley headwaters drainage that eventually ascends to the heights of Mt. Peale, at 12, 721′ often, as here, shrouded in cloud. Across the lower reaches of that forested shoulder, Gamble oaks and small junipers spray an autumn palette of color, while higher up thick groves of aspen, some leaf-bare and others still in golden splendor, cover the mountain. Still higher the great conifers reign, but crowning them all beyond the tree line the high peaks of the La Sals stand tall and shining in the season’s first dressings of snow. I was far enough removed from even the nearest foreground that a focal length of 150mm took in a fairly wide angle of view. An aperture of f/20 gave depth-of-field (f/11 would have been sufficient here), and a shutter speed of 1/10 second at ISO 100 gave me an overall medium exposure. This, too, is the glory of the Colorado Plateau.