Another perfect weather day...

The locals say that this is very unusual, and that a change is coming soon. So, I spent the day near the summit, reveling in the spreading color. I took a hike to Teresa Lake, one of the Alpine lakes here.
The good news is that I made it at that altitude, the bad news is that in the Fall the snowmelt water has mostly dried up:

This is a place in which to deeply relax, knowing that it is like this only a few days of the year:

It will take getting home and spending time, but I know already that the Lehman Caves pictures are the  antithesis and perfect counterpoint to the scenes at the sun-drenched surface. The narrow, serpentine tunnels connect chambers of astonishing complexity formed over millennia by rises and falls in water levels.

There are formations that look like popcorn, others that look like bacon strips, others like hanging drapes and even some shields that look like parachutes:

Did I mention the icicles?

Just kidding. Everything down here grew in silence and darkness for countless centuries. The stories of how Ab Lehman found the caves are doubtless embroidered in the century since he found them. No matter. It is a thrill and a privilege to see this shrine to Nature's infinite creativity.

On to more adventures!

An ultimate in contrasts

I made it through a long day, and I'm off again shortly.  Just to show the extremes from yesterday, here are the hillsides exploding with Fall colors which are spreading all over the flanks of the mountains.

And then, last evening, I enjoyed a tour through the amazing Lehman Caves, labyrinthine chambers and passageways decorated like this Gothic Palace:

No time to work on pictures now--I have to go out and get them!

Great Basin National Park

It was a long day and it's time to sleep but Great Basin is a small but beautiful park. The main attraction that towers over the landscape is Wheeler Peak, 13,000 feet high.

I was thrilled to discover that my estimate of when the Fall colors would begin was accurate. My guardian angels did it again. All during the day the colors seemed to be changing before my eyes,

This weather is supposed to hold for several days, and the colors, now above the 10,000 foot level, should spread across the high slopes.  It is gorgeous up there:

I'll be watching the colors spread and going into the Lehman Caverns tomorrow afternoon. Now, i'd better get some sleep! This day started at 3:00 A.M.!

The personalized Cavern trip will be late tomorrow, so I may not get online until Thursday...

Among the joys of being home...

While I obviously love being on the road shooting pictures, it is nice to get home to a big, powerful computer which handles my panoramas. Some scenes are simply too big for a single shot, no matter how wide the lens. Instead, I shoot several vertical shots which Photoshop then stitches together.

I also have time when at home to look at the videos I never have the time or energy to watch when traveling. This is the view from Dead Horse Point:

Last year when I went to Moab the mountains had their first snow. This year I went a month earlier, and the view was sublime. This is a horseshoe bend in the road that climbs the mountain group.

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Then there were the immense vistas one sees from atop the Island in the Sky, the plateau that makes up the northern sector of Canyonlands. This is the view eastward from Grand View: toward the Manti-LaSal mountains:

And only a couple of miles away on the West side of Grand View is the Green River overlook:

Until the next adventure!...

Bidding a fond farewell to Moab

I have done a lot of traveling in Utah, and Moab seems to have the greatest concentration of different subjects to photograph.

And--that is not even to mention all the varied hardbodies one sees each day--river rafters, mountain bikers, rock climbers, hikers. Mix those with all the white-haired park visitors and it is a rich brew.

Alas, it's time to hit the road. Yesterday ended it with a another triumph of sunshine. First I went up in the mountains to take a last look out over Canyonlands:

A quick stop at Park Avenue in Arches was next, to see the tiny people in the vast scene:

Then a quick run up the road to visit Sandstone Arch, framing more tiny people:

On the way back to the motel, I had to take a quick drive out on Route 128, the route of the Colorado as it flows through the town:

Following the river to the East one revels in the long series deep canyons we also see from atop Grand View when we are in Canyonlands:

Let me leave you as I head for the highway with a calm moment from yesterday afternoon. A fitting finale to a superb week.

I'm outta here!

What a difference a day makes...

The old song had it just right. I try to schedule enough days on these trips to ride out a period of iffy weather, and it paid off yesterday!
The day began with beautiful skies, so I raced out to the
Red Canyon portion of the Colorado River.There are miles of scenes like these!:

Then it was on into Canyonlands and the overlook above the Schafer Trail. This road drops an initial 1,400 feet, then goes out to the river canyon and descends another 700 feet.

As I was taking still photos, a park worker pointed out that a car was coming up the trail, adding motion to the scene.

Out on the promontory overlooking the long trail, the view was heavenly in the sunshine:

I shot nearly 600 frames this day, so I can only give a slight taste of the wonder of the day. This is a high cliff at Dead Horse State Park overlooking the pans where they dry potash (fertilizer) in the sun, much like harvesting sea salt on Bonaire:

Today's sky shows promise, but I won't know til I get out there...

Desperately Seeking Sunshine...

Sunday was kind of ugly, what with the sky full of clouds and the roads full of Sunday Grannies who slowed me down as I frantically chased patches of sunshine. The big overlooks were a conspicuous casualty, look for example at the giant mud pie of a shadow as I looked South from Grand View (the tip of Island in the Sky) toward Junction Butte.

.There was a brief two-hour window where the Sun broke through in early afternoon. Arches had the best of it, since each of the interesting sites could fit into a moving patch of sunshine. I raced to Balanced Rock:

You don't want to be around when that thing falls. It will go from tourist attraction to projectile in an instant.

Near Balanced Rock is the Garden of Eden, a series of towers whose size was hard to portray until a nice couple with their baby walked right in front of the left-hand tower. Now, that gave a sense of scale to the formations!:

The Sun held in just long enough for the long walk to Broken Arch. That's it, far out near the end of that line of sandstone towers:

OK, OK. I take it back. Because it was Sunday, a nice group of tiny people were wandering around the arch to give it scale in the pictures:

One does get an interesting impression in national parks. Everyone seems to be from somewhere other than America. I listened to a polyglot of European, Japanese and other languages as I photographed various sites. Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and eastern Europe were especially well represented, and I had some pleasant conversations, since everyone has at least some English. My first thought was that we Americans seem to take our own wonders for granted. On the other hand, I'm reminded that I lived in San Francisco for 25 years and went to Muir Woods once. Somehow, a busy career doesn't leave time for touring in one's own country.

Speaking of careers, during the long walk back to the car I got through by cell phone to daughter Kira, who was recovering from a killer week as she tries to wrap up her latest movie. While I loudly scorn the prima donnas who parade on screen, she has given me new respect for the unsung heroes, the technicians who actually make films work.

May I have some sunshine today, please?...

The mornings have been sublime...

...but, as in most of life, the situation deteriorates as the day goes on. I see by the TV weather that the entire southwest seems to have thunderstorms rolling through. Sigh. Looks like more days of 'Cloud Dodge-em.'

Still, the mid-mornings have been clear. Here are the Three Gossips and Courthouse Towers in Arches National Park:

You get the idea. Look at that clear blue sky.  So, I raced up into the Manti-La Sals to get a high view of Cathedrall Valley:

The Priest and Nuns formations tower above the valley:

Back in Arches, the skyline is filled with spires of sandstone eroded into fanciful, even whimsical, shapes. These are part of the Devil's Garden, where several major arches are found:

Soon, however, the clouds came on in battalions and regiments. Every overlook I tried had big black cloud-shadows everywhere.

Moab is right at the foot of the Manti-La Sals where all that rain is falling, so I returned to the motel in a downpour.

Hoping for another clear morning!!

Into every life some rain must fall...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had it right:
                     "...thy fate is the common fate of all,
                     Into every life some rain must fall,
                     Some days must be dark and dreary."

The Manti-La Sal mountains are tall enough to make their own weather, and it was impressive. The visitors are frolicking at the Schafer Road overlook, but a few minutes later as I was driving along, I thought the raindrops were going to come right theough the windshield.
Earlier, there were a couple of hours of hazy sun, so I raced around to some of the views. This one is near the False Kiva  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Kiva

I swore I was going to get to the False Kiva, which involves a long hiks and clambering down a vast cliff. I got this close--the alcove with the Kiva is high up on that wall to the far right.

I knew that if I went across that cliff they would bring me home in a bag, so I retreated.  It is a great view on a sunny day, I'm sure:

All of this is on the Island in the Sky plateau. The Colorado River carves all the scenes on the East side of the plateau:

On the West side of the plateau, the Green River does its part:

That was the sunniest moment of the day, which I'd call divine intervention.

Much more to come, if the rains will abate. What a place!!

The God's eye view

I booked a flight over Canyonlands to see the nearly-impenetrable sectors of the park which lie to the South of the Island in the Sky. The Maze and Needles are for the young and hardy who are equipped with 4-wheel drive vehicles. Looking down, you wonder how much of these expanses has ever been seen from the ground.

No, I wouldn't want to be walking out there. It's much nicer up here!

At one point in the flight, we flew over a complete double loop of the Colorado River, one of those natural wonders which make one believe that Nature indeed has a sense of humor.

It was a special treat to look down on the Island in the Sky, a vast raised plateau near whose southern tip so many dramatic panoramas are presented to the humble photographer. The Grand View overlook is at the tip of the plateau, looking across at the free-standing Junction Butte. The junction of the Green and Colorado rivers is just to the left of the butte.

More adventures today! I have a long list of targets, but may end up dodging thunderstorms, which are in today's forecast. Sigh.

Return to Moab

Moab is one of my favorite places, and just a few driving hours from Vegas. I arrived in early afternoon and took a quick drive in to the Dead Horse State Park (never mind where the name originated).

The Colorado and Green Rivers have carved deeply into the sand stone on either side o the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park, which adjoins Dead Horse.

Then I went to Mesa Arch

Mesa faces due East, and looks this in the afternoon:

Ah, but at dawn, the arch is transformed!!

Now, if the weather holds, there will be some awesome views--like this one off Grand View, at the southern tip of Island in the aky:

The Manti-La Salle mountains, in the far right background, are another target. Last year I suffered clouds, rain and snow. Really hurt the gorgeous Fall colors. Can't wait to get back over there!

Much more to come!