First Snow, Towers of the Virgin, Zion National Park, Utah

High above Zion Canyon in Zion National Park, this photograph captures the Towers of the Virgin frosted with early-season snow. Soaring more than 3,500 feet above the floor of the valley, this enormous wall of Navajo Sandstone is often dusted with snow during a typical Zion winter. These ephemeral snows usually melt quickly in the warm winter sun of southern Utah. The high plateaus of Zion National Park form the headwaters of the Virgin River. These winter snows provide most of the water for the rapidly growing towns of Saint George and Hurricane just downstream from this location.