Slickrock and Shadow

Leeds Waterfall  The locked gate forced me to walk up the dirt road to Oak Grove for my hiking exercise this day.  Walking allowed me to SEE things that would overwise whiz right past me in a car.  Walking allowed me to HEAR those things too. So I HEARD falling water, I looked off the roadside and I SAW this lovely gem of a waterfall.  It's certainly worth a skinny dip to cool off on a hot day.  It's also worthy of a landscape photograph too!  

Sunrise at Fairyland Point is GORGEOUS! Fairyland Point is the most easily accessible Bryce Canyon location.  Fairyland Point is the first viewpoint when entering the park, before the park entrance and before you pay to enter.   Bryce Canyon doesn't advertise this hidden gem to those entering the park, but there is a sign you see as you exit.  Sneaky, isn't it?  Well, if you know where to turn, you can see this yourself.   Directions:  from the Sinclair gas station across from Ruby's Inn, drive 1.5 miles south.  Take the unmarked  paved road on your left and you'll be gazing over Bryce in less than 60 seconds.    

Nankoweap Granaries and Grand Canyon: iconic landscape photo of the Grand Canyon Nankoweap Granaries are a classic, iconic image of the Grand Canyon.  I knew we'd stop there on our 12-day river trip because it's a great hike and I signed up for the hiking trip.  Lots of camps dot the river at this location and this is the first place we found neighbors:  two other groups were camped here.  A fourth group came in late in the day. We hiked here in the afternoon.  We set up camp, ate lunch, got lots of water and took off.  Ascending steep steps, I was thankful it was April and 70 degrees instead of July at 112 degrees.  Our group came across a beautiful but very threatening rattlesnake. Rattlesnake on the trail. Do not disturb. As we ascended further, the ruins came in sight.  These are beautiful in such a spectacular setting.  I will let the photographs do the talking. The group enjoying the scenery. Wildflowers and Nankoweap...

Dead twisted tree at the trailhead for Boulder Mail Trail:  taken at dawn after a stormy night. Dawn after a storm welcomed me to a new adventure.  I was about to hike down the Boulder Mail Trail (BMT) to Death Hollow but this awesome twisted tree and developing sunrise made me stop and enjoy a little pre-adventure beauty.  I set up my tripod several minutes before this shot and took a photo about every 2 or 3 minutes.  The clouds grew more colorful and purple.  Then the light touched the treetops around me and I took this exposure.   This is the apotheosis of a beautiful dawn.  

Color Streaks Through Stone Coyote Buttes South is an immense landscape with no trails.  There are few landmarks and only limited information.  I used Photographing the Southwest:  Arizona  to pick a sunrise location.  Beyond that I found information scarce.  Some online guide information and plenty of time looking at satellite images helped me decide where I wanted to go.  The problem is that something like this on satellite: Coyote Buttes South satellite Images with some GPS locations I programmed  before  my trip. Ends up looking like this in reality: Coyote Buttes images from the ground:  terrain looks much rougher in reality! As usual, I wanted to explore further afield in this awesome locale, searching for something novel and exciting.  I like that feeling of discovery so I left the tall teepees of Coyote Buttes South and crossed that sandy 1 mile to reach the far side of Cottonwood Cove.  Here I d...

Dawn glows from the sky and stone at Coyote Buttes South Sunrise at Coyote Buttes South is a highlight of the year for me.  Pink clouds and no wind made the silence unmistakeable as I stood over a world of swirling sandstone colors.  Coyote Buttes South is remote enough that this overlook has no name.  It should have a name like "inspiration point" or "artist's lookout" but few people make it here to the Cottonwood Teepees.   Coyote Buttes South colors take it up a notch from the North buttes.  Here they are mixed like saltwater taffy and run through rocks, ridges, edges and cliffs.  The colors run through everything!  It's amazing and might be hard to believe until you see it, touch the stone, take a breath and realize that you are not dreaming.   To get here, you've got to get a permit, drive the sandy road and walk about a mile.  The sand makes it slow.  Start before sunrise if you want to see this view because t...

Watkins Glen:  classic view of falling water, bridge and pools Watkins Glen is both a town in the Finger Lakes region of New York as well as a state park.  Among photographers it is most famous for the view pictured above:  the bridge, stone stairs clinging to a cliff while water is falling all around is surreal.  To me it felt like I had entered Rivendell from Lord of the Rings.  During my trip to New York, I went to this location twice.  I went in the afternoon with my family.  During that trip, several hikers were always to be seen in front of and behind us.  I wouldn't call it crowded but it was not empty. That same day, early in the morning I came here alone at the time of sunrise and saw two people total during my entire hike from the top of the gorge to the bottom and then back up.  I really had the whole place to myself and was delighted to discover waterfall after waterfall all the while walking on a perfectly maintained stone...

Big Spring:  a difficult and beautiful destination in the Virgin Narrows I hiked (and swam) to Big Spring in the Zion Narrows.  I love the Virgin Narrows in Zion National Park and hoped to finally go all the way to a special spot 4 miles upstream where fresh water copiously pours out of solid rock.  I went in September.  Rain had fallen about a week earlier which muddied the river more than I expected.  I walked up in liquid that resembled chocolate milk.  At one point I even had to swim through a deep section! Big Spring is a lovely destination.  Three different flows come out of the rock with beautiful ferns and trees adjacent.  Photographing this beauty required a wide-angle lens and a polarizer.  The fast flow of water rattled my tripod when I shot in the river itself, making me keep a hand on it at all times.  I climbed up on the spring to shoot these ferns up close but it can be quite slippery (remember, this is called "slic...

Cottonball Clouds at Sunrise:  They Floated over the Islands Sunrise or sunset at the ocean is a fabulous life experience.  The golden hour light enhances any prime landscape location and a trip to Tonga is included.  The morning clouds were a little of everything during my trip:  overcast and grey, bland blue skies and partly cloudy.  The partly cloudy skies are the best for photography as the clouds take on various hues of the rainbow and contrast well with the clear areas.  My lead photo was taken at the end of the trip when unusually tall clouds floated over the islands like marshmallows or cotton balls.  They were beautiful and seemed like moving islands themselves.  The low angle of light also catches on the boats nearby for better yacht photos too. Sailboats at the Golden Hour:  a sure-fire successful photo Morning light catching an anchored sailboat I had better sunsets than sunrises.  I can't say if Tonga is alwa...

Barren Winter:  yellow stubble for grass and a hidden sun A winter visit to Montana afforded me an opportunity to shoot my little remote cabin in subzero temperatures.  Wind and rain made things cold indeed.  The large cloud did not however spoil the sunset because some golden yellow rays came down between the cloud and the mountains.  Grass was short, dead, awaiting summer temperatures to revive.  

East Temple as seen from the West Rim Trail Background: The West Rim Trail is one of the top backpacking trips in all of Utah.  It is the best and most renown backpacking trail in Zion National Park.  For over a decade I've had it on my wish list and never seemed to get things started.  Finally I made a short bucket list of things to do, short enough that I could accomplish some of these things each year.  I have less than 10 things on this list.  West Rim Trail made the list and I finally stopped making excuses and instead took those days off work.  Time to stop planning and start doing. The Permit: I went as a walk-in to the ranger station at 6 AM, waited in line and got my lucky top-choice campsite:  # 5.  Why #5?  Campsite 5 is right in the middle of the hike, it's right on the edge of Phantom Valley, it's right where I wanted to be for sunset and sunrise.  And I got it.  Yes!  Campsites 4 and 6 are also on the pla...