Northern Montana, The Full Version
OK, I’m done messing around with the computer and I’m posting photos the “old fashioned” way for now. Photos from this post are from Fort Peck Reservoir to St. Mary, MT. I think there is even one for Wyoming and Eastern Montana. Highway 2 changes its straight course once it hits the mountains, but that is for the next post though!
Northern Montana is fairly flat which is good for the Amtrak and Burlington Northern lines as well as the wind. There is NO protection from the bitter cold air that pushes across the Canadian border each winter. On this day though, the temperature was in the 40′s with strong winds. People there were in shorts!
As far as the images, I do like the town of Dodson, it has 1 bar. The only other thing there is another bar. Shots, shots, shots! I also threw one in from the Wyoming sky at night at sunset and after. Looking back I didn’t take as much time as I originally planned for photography and opted for driving and seeing more country with my own eyes. I’m completely happy with this choice since it leaves SOOO much out there to photograph. And from the number of cars and photographers I saw, I’m not in any hurry. I drove one 90 mile stretch and saw 4 cars:) Welcome to Montana, home.
Northern Montana
Here is one image of Glacier Park rising over the prairies of Montana. I’m trying out a new format since the site I normally use to post images is down. I have more on the way! Enjoy:) EE
Bryce Canyon-Under the Rim Trail Part 2
I recently returned from vacation so there was a short pause in posting photos. It’s now been over 100 in southern Utah so my focus is returning to the mountains. Here’s the rest of my photos from Bryce Canyon. Once again, a breath taking place! I like the 1st three pics:)
Imagine this:
On top of this:
And doing this:
Bryce Canyon National Park-Under The Rim (Part 1)
Temps have already climbed up to the 90′s in southern Utah so the decision was made to head south! Then it was decided to head up, and up to where the earth and sky meet. Welcome to Bryce Canyon.
Bryce Canyon National Park is a popular park for good reason. It is simply stunning. From the car it is steps to the edge of the world and this is where 99% of people take photos of Bryce Canyon from. We loaded up the packs and headed into the depths of Bryce Canyon and headed south on the Under the Rim trail.
Night one was spent below the rim next to a very small, but consistently flowing creek. The morning shade only lasted for 9 minutes then it got hot. There are no bugs out this time of year so you don’t get your blood drained when changing to t-shirts and shorts! We hung out for a while but an 11 mile reality eventually set in. Off we go.
By 7:00pm that evening we were still short of our intended camp. Instead, we came across another camp site with water at the TOP of the rim! Sick-bird! We were both exhausted from up, down, up, down, wait for it….up all day long and couldn’t wait to kick off the shoes. The most disgusting mac & cheese I’ve ever had rounded out a great day on the trail.
I have a natural tendency to wake up early when backpacking which serves me right when photographing sunrises. This time was no different. I woke in time to wander towards the rim of my own private Bryce Canyon sunrise. It was just as magnificent as the last time I backpacked in Bryce, many years ago. I had my camera with me this time:)
With only .9 miles to the road, the tough decision was made to not cut off my arm and just hang out in camp all day. 5pm came way later in the day, after Rummy, a 2 hour nap, drinking some “juice”, and lots of coffee. It was such a great time hanging out in such a spectacular place that it was difficult to leave. After hitch hiking to get the truck (much easier than at Coyote Gulch!!), we headed south to Rainbow Point and worked out way back at sunset.
We literally saw nobody at our vista point at sunset. I heart Bryce Canyon! Here’s some photos that I have edited so far. Stay tuned for more photos from this amazing place! EE
Coyote Gulch-Long Version
Coyote Gulch. Escalante. Adventure. Coyote Gulch brought adventure that is for sure. Beginning with a full moon hike in through “Crack in the wall” to a full moon exit, there was plenty of adventure and good times.
I had 2.66 days off so Kyle and I packed up shop and after a few necessary stops in town, we raced towards Salina, UT. Salina you say? Yes, beautiful Salina, UT right off 1-70 and legendary Mom’s Cafe that closes at 9pm. The GPS said we’ll be there in 3 hours or at 8:55pm so that meant 8:40 realistically. 8:45pm we pulled in to find they were open until 10pm. Nice. A full meal was had, complete with dessert and a fresh pot of coffee to go. We still had a long night ahead of us, Escalante isn’t exactly the closest place to SLC.
We found a nice campsite after stopping at 9000 feet on the Boulder Mountain highway to soak in the view under the moon. It was a bit chilly and a bit windy so it was more like “Oh, that’s cool. Let’s go.” Morning was much less windy and a fire was restarted without effort. This led to an alpine start to our final cruise to Escalante.
We stopped on the Hole-in-the-Rock road after it was brought to light that Kyle had never been in a slot canyon. Perfect. There are 2 right off the road to check out for a quick day hike. Spooky and Peek-a-boo are a quick 1-2 hit and serve as a great intro to slot canyons! We did a quick loop through both the canyons, discovering routes through impossible obstacles and emerging from darkness to a still sunny afternoon sky.
Next stop, 40 mile trail head and Coyote Gulch not too distant. Packing up at 7pm led to a night start to our hike in. No worries, the full moon was super bright and it was warm. On top of that, I’d been that way before and was confident we could find “Crack-in-the-wall” even at night. Just in case, I filled 2.5 gallons of water so we could camp on the rim if need be. That water is still sitting on the rim, we found the crack no problem. It is pretty awesome to be at that spot, regardless of the hour. There are a billion photos out there of the view, it doesn’t suck. Time was ticking so we continued on through the crack via headlamps, lowering our packs down ahead of us. A quick slide down a steep sandy hill brought us to Coyote Gulch and a seemingly perfect campsite. Water, sand, rocks, 30 foot drop 12″ from our pillows…perfect. A midnight gourmet pasta dinner with some Old English 800 cans completed an awesome day!
Another alpine start and we were off to see the Escalante River. The sidehill traverse of sandstone above a 30 foot drop to flat looked much more possible in daylight. It was quite intimidating by headlamp! The Escalante River was full but not flooding. The greenish brown/blue color of the water contrasted beautifully with the new foliage, giant red walls and endless blue sky. It was peaceful but we had some hiking to do so we reversed direction and headed back to camp.
Coyote Gulch wastes no time throwing amazing landscapes in your face, at every turn, mile after mile. Waterfalls, constant water flow, canyon walls, old cottonwoods, campsite after campsite appear throughout the miles. Oh, there’s arches there too. And a natural bridge, which as it sounds, is an arch over water. Not bad. There are endless opportunities to photograph this canyon and simply enjoy the sights. It is a visual overload and a treat to the eyes all in one.
We planned to exit on the Jacob Hamblin Arch trail, expecting a cairned path leading out of the deep canyon. Didn’t see it. Instead, I later learned that it is a 45 degree rock slab that you are supposed to scale and it’s not recommended with full packs. No worries, we didn’t see it anyway! It was evening and cameras were put away and the map was pulled out. It was now dark and and we had to decide what our options were. Hike back 6 hours to our entry point, then up a steep sandy hill, through the “crack” and back to the truck. The math on that option equaled a LONG night. Option #2: Continue hiking to the end of Coyote Gulch and out the Hurricane Wash trail. That was 5 hours but it put us on Hole-in-the-rock road at least. Sign us up!
The 5 hours went by in a blur of hunger, exhaustion, pain, thirst and sleepiness. We hadn’t planned on staying out another night but our extra food carried over nicely. We feasted on coconut M&M’s for dinner, reserving 1 Clif bar and 1 granola bar for breakfast. Hurricane Wash trail doesn’t resemble a hurricane as much as a wash and overall I think that trail sucks. We both agreed that hiking that route was best done at night with only a moon and headlamp to guide the way. 2 or 3 a.m. brought us to the trail head where our ground cloth, sleeping pads and bags were laid out.
I woke once in the night to see the moon setting and another time to see the sunrise. Watching a beautiful sunrise from a pillow is amazing and I recommend you doing so sometime. There are easier ways to do it though. I got up, grabbed a Clif bar and Nalgene of water and began the 10 mile trek down the road to the truck. Immediately a car came by and with a lone thumb out, I was soon cruzin’ down the road with a family heading to the same trail. Soon I was back to the parking lot where Kyle had waited and a gourmet breakfast of Gatorade and chips and salsa was prepared.
The entire trip was awesome despite the long, long hike. I can’t wait to go back and spend time in Coyote Gulch and fully enjoy the scenery that passed too quickly on this adventure. It is one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever seen. EE
New Camera:)
When writing my last post, I failed to mention that I recently got a new camera! DLSR’s have dropped in price significantly and I was able to pick up a D300 at a reasonable price. There are a few differences between the D300 and the D80, namely quality.
I’m not a gear junkie and don’t get off on specs but I’m keen to the details of cameras. The D300 offers improved weatherproofing, durability, sensor cleaning and better high ISO performance. There are a few fun features like 7fps, live view and HDMI output which are not super important to me but fun nonetheless.
It’s slightly larger and heavier than my D80 so I’m not jumping at selling my D80. The image quality is similar for most of the work I do so it will be hard to justify the weight on lengthy hikes. The D300 offers better color management and with the better high ISO performance though, so leaving it at home will be a tough decision.
The only thing I really noticed was the excitement I felt for creating more images!
EE
73 Degrees and Sunny
That was the forecast for Central Utah near Capitol Reef and the San Rafael Swell so the decision was easy. Peace Out!
I hadn’t been to the Swell in years so this seemed like a perfect time. I stopped at the Wedge Overlook and gazed at the aptly named Little Grand Canyon (more so because of the Grand and not the Little). The view is big, really big, and with no people around it feels even larger! From the Wedge, I made my way down to the San Rafael River to find a good camp spot. Found it, but then the sunset didn’t cooperate as planned. A rogue band of clouds moved in prior to sunset so it was just flat and grey during magic hour. Oh, well.
The morning brought more sun so I continued on south to Capitol Reef. On the way I learned a few things: 1-Hanksville is really small and doesn’t have a tire shop 2-Fix-a-flat works ok 3-I’d rather be driving on a dirt road than an interstate 4-the Swell is awesome.
Capitol Reef was empty but what ever people were there all decided to do the same hike I was going to do. At least everyone was going the opposite way:) I had the upper section all to myself in perfect light. I purposely walked really, really slow downhill to maximize my time in this amazing place. I was recently writing a friend about National Parks in Utah and I concluded Capitol Reef is my personal favorite of the 5. I love the solitude, the complexity and the rugged, simple beauty. I’ve had many great memories in this park and will continue to have more!
Lastly, I visited the Buckhorn Wash Petroglyphs and was inspired by a few images. One is of a figure holding its arms out and long strands are draping from the arms. This image is often referred to as “rain angels.” In a land of sun, water is precious and seemingly sacred to past cultures, enough so to paint an image that has lasted 2000 years without rain damage. These, along with many other displays, are not hidden and are plainly visible on a major wall along a major river. It is in fact, as if they are on display for the world to see. All of a sudden, time stops. In this place at this moment, what is different now than 2000 years ago? Not much at all. Amazing.
EE
Enjoy, EE.
