Kanopolis Lake, Horse Thief Canyon

With the nice weather last week I just couldn't stand to stay in the office so I headed down to Kanopolis Lake in central Kansas and hiked part of Horse Thief Canyon. Nobody knows for sure why the canyon is named Horse Thief, but it may have been because a rancher caught 2 men stealing some horses and took them to the canyon and threw them off one of the higher cliffs (so don't steal any horses if you go hiking there!). It was also the first state park created in Kansas. I love hiking at Kanopolis, between Horse Thief Canyon and Red Rock Canyon, you get into some landscapes that fairly unique for Kansas.

This is a 4 shot HDR.

A few more photos from this hike are on my blog at:
http://scottbeanphoto.com/2009/april/horsethief/index.html

Boy, I wish I could have made it out of "the office" last week too.I haven't been to Kanopolis for a few years, but it is one of my favorite places in central Kansas. The canyons around there are fun to explore and photograph.

I like the first few in your gallery but the 4th looks the most natural to me. The HDR makes the colors look a little off at least on my monitor.

Nice shots Scott. It looks like you had a nice mix of sun and clouds to offer good weather for your hike. The canyon should have a lot of good possibilities for future trips.

This looks and sounds like a place I need to have on my list. You had some nice clouds to go along with the nice scenery. Glad you were able to "ditch" work for some of the ditches at Kanopolis! Thanks for sharing Scott.

Nice job, Scott. I really need to go to Kanopolis more. I've hiked Horse Thief Canyon, but I'm not familiar with Red Rock Canyon.

This looks like a really interesting area to explore. The rock formations have some beautiful color. With a little more color in the way of leaves, this might look even better.