A scattered grove of Ponderosa Pines fills a sandstone basin in this photograph taken high on the crest of Waterpocket Fold of Capitol Reef National Park. Pronounced cross bedding within the Navajo Sandstone is accentuated by the low angle of light. The nearly 100-mile long uplift known as the Waterpocket Fold forms the backbone of Capitol Reef National Park and stretches from here all the way to Glen Canyon and the waters of Lake Powell to the south. Created by an underground fault which did not break the surface, thick layers of Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate Sandstone have been pushed up out of the earth and folded to create a rugged barrier here in south-central Utah. Several perennial streams cut through this long sandstone ridge as they drain the high alpine regions of the Aquarius, Thousand Lake and Fish Lake Plateaus to the west. All photos in these galleries may be ordered as fine art black & white framed prints or for stock photography usage.