Playing Texas Dodgem with the Cloud gods...

I awakened this morning to--surprise!-clouds. Looking for any break in the overcast, I went out to Gold Bar on the Potash Road. Took some videos of the flying lawnmower drivers. They were in from Salt Lake City, and left after a quick flight. They call what they do Powered Parachuting or Flying Gocarts. Whatever.
That image of the river bend at Gold Bar above is taken from the trail I hiked to Corona Arch. It is a mile and a half hike to reach the arch formation, and there is a 440 foot climb--each way.  Just kidding. I think.

As we approach the formation we see a Halo Arch in that big hole, and the huge Corona Arch over to the right:

The Halo Arch is a horizontal opening to the sky:

Then you walk through the Corona Arch to shoot the Sun side. Note how tiny the people look.:

Then I saw what looked like blue sky out route 128 to the East. So, I took off to take some pictures of the colossal canyons cut by the relentless Colorado. This is near Big Bend::

This shot above is from just a mile further East from Big Bend. A couple of miles past that there is a turn where we see the enormous Butte known as The Castle near Castle Valley. That is it, directly behind the river.

If you look back through the last few posts, you see that despite the weather's effect, Moab is one of the most scenic places in the country.

Since the weather looks bad tomorrow as well, I'm expecting to drive home. Another adventure!

Singin' in the Rain...

This is the kind of day that requires invoking my idol Winston Churchill: Never give in....Never give in...Never give in...

I can't remember the last time I had to shoot pictures from under an umbrella. The subject matter has to be pretty interesting. 

This is a magic week, despite the rain. the aspens and birches are in full Fall change. These are East of Moab near the Dewey Bridge. Notice in several of these pictures that some leaves are still green, while others have begun their color change cycle.
This next image is from the same spot, but turning to look across the river:

Since the leaves as shwn here are early in their cycle, I'm going to pull a Churchill and stay here 'til the Sun comes out. After all, how many times do you see this?

 Of course, this is a game the trees don't win. In the end, those lovely leaves will lie everywhere:

And don't think there aren't other colors!

The trees are changing everywhere, not just in the Manti-LaSal mountains. This is the small town of Castle Valley. Makes one understand why the Mormons ended their westward trek in Utah. Even the low clouds and rain can't diminish the beauty of this valley.

  So--like Churchill, I shall persevere here in Moab until the Sun lights all of this scenery.

Day 1 in Moab, Utah...

The weather forecast when I left home was ugly, and when I came up into the mountains of Utah it was into thick clouds. Uh-oh.
Fortunately, by the time I hit the road to leads to the wedge, also known as Utah's Grand Canyon, the Sun came out.
It isn't as big or colorful as the Grand Canyon, but it is huge in its own right. The panoramas and videos I'll process when I get home may do it justice.

 A bonus is the Fall foliage. the yellow in the first picture above isn't shrubs,--far down in those deep valleys there are large aspen trees in gorgeous yellow. With the buttes behind them at sunset as in this second picture, it is gorgeous.

 Below is the Colorado River carving Red Canyon along Route 128; that road runs along the river for 25 fabulously scenic miles:

 Any road you travel has immense, towering red sandstone formations, some topped with castles or towers.

 This is the  Fisher towers as the Sun is going down. I took a lot of shots of free-standing towers here that are magnificently scenic.

All in all, a helluva first day when I was expecting a disaster.

Forecast for tomorrow is rain. Guardian angels, get to work!!

The Hole in the Rock...

This is my second post of the day--there was simply so much to be covered in the day!

This location, The Hole in the Rock, was the reason for my 60-mile trip across the desert today.

Thank goodness we had a big 4-wheel drive vehicle. Sure, I could have come here on a boat on Lake Powell--but the way I did it, I feel I much better understand the Mormon achievement.
My Guide, Sean, is very knowledgable guide whose stories helped me understand this achievement. Getting 83 huge wagons down this slot in 1879 strikes me as in the league with Ernest Shackleton's 'Endurance' saga in Antarctica in 1911.

To top it off, that water you see wasn't there in 1879. This water level rose behind the Glen Canyon Dam, built after the Second World War. Those wagons had to go down 600 more feet to the level of the original Colorado River!

Again--how in the world did 225 Mormons, half of them children, get 83 big wagons down that slot?

Goosenecks, indeed...

Today's Sun made it possible to take pictures at the dramatic Goosenecks State Park, off the road to the Moki Dugway. It is another meander of the mighty Colorado river, just like Horseshoe Bend near Page (100 miles away) and Dead Horse Point State Park outside Canyonlands.

The shame is that Horseshoe Bend is carved in brilliant sandstone filled with iron for red color, while the others are lacking the rust color and are really hard to make beautiful.

Tomorrow is the long drive home, but I am looking forward to actually processing all these pictures and the videos of the low-flying bomber and the Moki Dugway drive....

Goodbye to Utah--for the moment...