I”m still in the long process of scanning slide file from the pre-digital era. This week, I scanned some images from a trip to Utah in the spring of 1988. On our first travel day, we stopped at Fisher Towers to spend the night. While eating dinner the sun slowly sank in the western sky. And, then, for just a few minutes the colors on the towers was intense. Quick! Find the camera and fire off a few shots. It didn’t hurt that the moon was in the image to lend some balance.
Category: Photography
Four days in Death Valley National Park
Although Death Valley National Park is only a six-hour drive from Flagstaff I have never visited the park. That finally changed the first week of January when we made a four-day visit. We left Flagstaff well before sunrise so that we could arrive in the park around noon time and then spend the afternoon visiting sites and hiking.
One of our first stops was the well-known Zabriskie Point. Many photographs have been taken here—as well as a movie by the same name—and these images should look familiar as a result. From there we went to the visitors center to get some ideas for the afternoon. We ended up on Artists Drive—known for its multicolored rocks.
The highlight of the day was a late afternoon and early evening visit to Badwater Basin—a salt flat that contains the lowest elevation in North America (282 feet below sea level). The salt flats are noted for the hexagonal salt crust that forms after rains and standing water evaporate. We arrived as the sun was setting and began with the warm colors of sunset and transformed into the cool colors of early evening. Wonderful!
The next day started with a sunrise photo session on the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Well, not quite sunrise—we were a few minutes late! The morning light was quite nice on the dunes but what I really wanted was sand without footprints. A bit of searching turned up this nice bit of pristine sand.
We followed that with an afternoon hike up Fall Canyon (near the better known Titus Canyon). Fall Canyon is accessible by foot traffic only and has more of a backcountry feel than its neighbor. The canyon reaches a pour-over that can be passed with a bit of climbing and scrambling. This leads to a narrow, serpentine, water-polished section of the canyon that is truly magnificent. Hikers that turn back at the pour-over are missing a great section—perhaps even the best section—of the canyon.
We returned to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes after dark to stargaze and create star trail photographs of the night sky with the dunes lighted by the crescent moon.
Another morning, another visit to the sand dunes and this time we were there well before sunrise. The temperature was probably around 40 degrees—which was fine as long as there was no breeze. There was a breeze. The sunrise colors on the dunes were spectacular and we were rewarded with these delicately sculpted dunes with beautiful interplay between light and shadow.
After a quick lunch we went to Mosaic Canyon. This is a slot canyon best known for its smooth and polished marble. After a short hike through the marble narrows the canyon appeared to be blocked by rockfall but a bypass was possible to one side—and onwards we went finding another section of narrows.
We paid a visit to the Furnace Creek Ranger Station to get some information and came away with some great hiking ideas. So, late in the afternoon we headed to Salt Creek. This is a running—albeit salty—creek through the desert. We were astonished at the marvelous riparian zone and wetlands formed by this creek. We finished the hike with very nice sunset colors over the peaks and reflected in the waters.
Our last hike was in the lightly visited Sidewinder Canyon. The attraction here is the many small side canyons that are exceptionally narrow and deep with little light penetrating downwards. Flashlights are useful here.
And, then, it was time to drive home. We very much enjoyed the days of hiking in pleasant weather in the middle of winter. I would like to return—soon—and visit many of the other wonderful locations in Death Valley National Park.
An afternoon mountain biking on the Black Canyon Trail
Warm temperatures and bluebird skies beckoned us to ride on the Black Canyon Trail near Rock Springs, Arizona, late last week. We arrived to a nearly empty parking lot at the trail head. In fact, we only saw a few other mountain bikers and a couple of hikers during our five hours of riding. It’s probably more crowded on weekends and holidays.
The trail starts with a moderate climb before descending down and across the Aqua Fria River. As long as there has been no significant rain (or mountain snow) the river is shallow and easily crossed on a bike. If the water is high, it’s time to turn around.
The trail climbs steeply after the crossing but after a bit the grade relaxes. But only a bit — there is still a lot of climbing.
The trail can be done as an out-and-back or, if a shuttle is arranged, as a point-to-point. We did the former and ended up riding about 18 miles for the day.
By late afternoon, we were approaching the end of the ride. We stopped for a few minutes on this convenient bench and let the warm afternoon sun slowly sink behind the hills to our west. With the ride complete, it was time to drive back to Flagstaff where there is still snow on the ground.
Winter returns to West Fork Oak Creek
Winter has arrived in northern Arizona with snow and very cold temperatures. On this morning (09 December), the temperature fell to -9°F in Flagstaff and -23°F at Grand Canyon Airport. That’s getting cold enough for West Fork Oak Creek to start freezing over allowing wintertime travel. It had snowed a few days earlier and with fresh powder this had the potential to be an interesting hike and photo trip.
But the creek wasn’t frozen enough. Where there were rocks or logs crossing the creek was possible — if not easy. But in spots where one had to cross an expanse of ice — well, no, not yet. Nothing quite like stepping out onto the ice and having it crack in spider web fashion under your feet — with knee deep water below. So, we were unable to travel more than about 1 ½ miles upstream before returning.
We ran into only one other group of hikers on the trail. Although from California, they have lived in cold climes before and were not daunted by the cold and snow in the canyon. But they, too, turned around at the icy crossing.
There will be other chances later in the winter when the ice may be safely passable. Or, maybe not. It’s always a bit of a mystery on what we will find when we arrive at West Fork Oak Creek.
Fog in Northern Arizona
We woke up to a foggy morning in Flagstaff and a quick check of satellite data clearly showed widespread fog across northeastern Arizona but not across the remainder of the state. We quickly broke out of the fog and into sunny skies as we drove south of the Mogollon Rim for a trail run with our running group.
Intrigued by the fog, I traveled to the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon in hopes of getting some interesting photographs. At Yavapai Point on the South Rim there were few visitors. After all, who wants to see a canyon filled with fog! Visibility was on the order of a hundred meters or less and driving was an interesting challenge.
Leaving Yavapai Point, I drove east on the Rim Drive to the first pullout. Moments later, the fog briefly cleared and I could see the North Rim above the top of the fog. Then, just as quickly, it filled back in. A short while later, this clearing repeated itself. This time I captured an image that shows a vast expanse of fog filling the canyon and the North Rim just barely peeking above the fog.
Then it was time for some fun. I set the camera to take long exposures and shot a photo every time a car drove by. The red streaks of the vehicle tail lights and the fog being illuminated by the lights created interesting images.