First Valley Tribunal — Acrylic

This is the valley that greets you just past the entrance to Arches — and on this morning it greeted me with everything it had. The sunrise came on in layers: deep purple pressing from above, then vermilion, then a blaze of orange and gold flooding the horizon. The Courthouse Towers caught the light and burned crimson while the park road threaded through the valley floor like an invitation to go deeper. In the far distance, if you look carefully in a large print, you can pick out Balanced Rock and the Windows on the horizon — the whole park laid out ahead. This was the first valley I ever loved — the place that made Arches feel less like a destination and more like a homecoming.