The good weather arrives as I leave...

It was a bit off-putting to have clear skies yesterday and hear forecasts of high 80s arriving by Sunday--after I'm gone..

Oh, well. I raced around in the sunshine and enjoyed features which had been obscured by clouds all week. From high on Wasatch Mountain I looked down on Heber City and Deer Creek Reservoir:

 

Outside Heber City, in Midway, the residents of Wasatch County took a small mountain, built a spiral road all around it three times, and put a Veterans' Memorial on the top. On a day like today it is a poignant reminder of what America used to be:

 

 

The shadows are from four high flagpoles behind my camera.

 

 

Mounts Timpanago and Twin Peaks grace the skyline, while a small shrine honors the fallen:

 

 

 

It was hard to avoid those snow-topped mountains as one drove around:

 

 

 

 

I said farewell to Deer Creek and Jordanelle parks:

 

 

 

Now, it's time to load the car and head back to Vegas. Gotta do laundry before the next adventure!...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return of the Cloud Dodger...

The day began with a beautiful clear sky, so I drove eastward out of Heber City to the Starvation State Park and reservoir (don't even ask).

Perfect! I got the drone out and launched it:

What a nice way to start the day! I drove back toward Strawberry Reservoir, where the sunny skies began to be peppered with white, innocent, fluffy clouds.  That was a clue.

The eastern end of Strawberry was dramatic with those fluffy clouds:

 

Sigh. Here's the rest of the picture:

 

 

As you suspected, my road back to Heber City went right through that storm. Think of it as God's car wash.

 

The skies were clear in the city, so I went into Deer Creek State Park and launched the Phantom. The city is at the far end of the reservoir, with the dam around to the left and behind me:

 

 

The Provo River runs westward through a scenic canyon. That snow-covered peak is Cascade Mountain, which lies behind Bridal Veil Falls:

 

 

 

There are several overlooks  along Provo Canyon Road where I could put the drone up out over the river:

 

 

Before more clouds closed in, I ran over to Jordanelle Reservoir, hoping for a patch of blue sky:

 

 

The forecast today is for clear skies on my final day. Hope springs eternal!

 

 

 

 

 

Some actual good weather!...

With luck, the weather forecast started to go wrong yesterday (Big storm! 70% chance of rain!). Actually, there were three sunny hours in the morning and a couple in the afternoon.

I began with the Soldier Dam at Strawberry Reservoir. What a difference!  This was Tuesday:

 

and this was Wednesday morning:

 

 

Hard to miss getting dramatic shots with these conditions! This is the side bay to the right in the picture above:

 

 

Then I drove West past Deer Creek State Park:

 

 

Time to use the clear weather to capture Bridal Veil Falls at its best:

 

 

Launched the Phantom and soared!

 

 

Since the falls were what brought me here, I decided to see what the eagle sees. Piloting via the display on the Android (since I couldn't see the drone up there), I soared to the upper falls.

 

 

I returned later to try catch the Sun on the falls, but the wind was up. No flying here!  I paused by the Provo River at the base of the falls. This river shaped the canyon, and the road past the falls was built to follow it:

 

 

Since the Phantom could never handle his wind,  I put on the telephoto and watched some young hikers who had climbed to the base of the lower falls:

 

 

At this early hour today's skies look encouraging, so I think I'll drive to the colorfully-named Starvation State Park. Must be a good story in that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guardian angels get combat pay...

Since there are destructive storms across wide areas of he country, I shouldn't complain. But I'll complain.

The dark clouds and intermittent rains have marred some gorgeous scenery as I scouted the area and found some lovely scenery. The forecast is for more storms, so the Find-the-Hole-in-the-Clouds game will continue.

For example, in the morning between rain showers I put the drone up at Bridal Veil Falls. I learned what happens when the drone gets to 400 feet above you; a big black nastygram with yellow lettering fills the center of your camera image, sternly warning you, 'Maximum height exceeded.'  Oh.

But the camera keeps shooting...

 

A few minutes after I landed the Phantom, the rain was pouring down.  Good day for scouting new places, if nothing else. Thirty miles East of the falls lies the huge Strawberry state park and reservoir.

 

Despite the drought, I heard on the radio that Utah's snowmelt runoff water supply was normal. No wonder you see a lot of prosperous-looking farms everywhere you drive. The level is certainly down at places like Strawberry's Soldier Dam, but there's a lot of water here!:

 

 

Like those clouds?

 

Soldier Dam isn't as big as Hoover Dam, but it will do. Great fun to drive on!

 

 

Late in the afternoon after giving up and going back to my room, I happened to look out the window. Were those patches of blue sky to the north over Jordanelle Park? The angels said, 'Get up off your lazy butt and go up there!"

 

Yes, ladies.

 

 

I managed to get off four shots to make the panorama before that ominous cloud-shadow on the dam covered half the lake.  Note to self: timing bonus for the angels.

 

Returning South toward Heber City, I saw more patches of blue sky toward Provo to the southwest.

 

When I got to Deer Creek Reservoir, the clouds to the West were like the skies of Mordor and the snow-capped peaks were wreathed in them, but there was enough Sunlight to work:

 

 

I even stood on a pullout by the highway and put the Phantom up:

 

 

The weather forecast is ominous, so the guardian angels have their work cut out. Thank goodness the people who claim to tell us what the climate will be in 100 years can't get Wednesday right...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges from the weather in Utah...

After an enjoyable but too brief visit from my son and his friend Rachel, during which we did a demonstration flight,

I hit the road at 4:30 A.M.for the long drive to Heber City, Utah (near Provo).By the time I began exploring my intended targets, the sky was filled with thick clouds.

Since the wind was light, I put the Phantom up for some exploratory flights. Can't wait to shoot places like Jordanelle Lake in real sunlight. There are beautiful snow-covered peaks in the distance, but they are currently covered with clouds. Hope they clear! They'll make a magnificent background...

 

 

Despite the Memorial Day holiday, the crowd was spread out. Some relaxed at the base, others hiked or jogged. In the second video below, you will see that some of them have hiked up to the base of the Middle Falls.

 

 

These falls are a challenge. They're over 650 feet in height, the light was poor, the drought has diminished the flow of snowmelt, and if I aim the camera at the upper falls I'm sure to get prop guards showing in the frame. Sigh.

 

I'll pray for better sunlight and hit it again.

 

This area is so photographically gorgeous, though, I'd be happy to come back and see it again in Summer with blue sky and blazing sunlight...

Guardian angels arrived just in time..

The wind dropped and the Sun came out in all its splendor. I raced around hitting high spots I hadn't been able to capture earlier, so it was a really busy day. Tonight I pack and head home early tomorrow, so this will be the last dispatch for a while.

Artist's Point was beautifully lit by the morning Sun through a clear sky. I'll try to remember to put a map of all these towering buttes on the web site. Here we see Rain God, Cly and Elephant buttes:

 

Panning right, we see the end of Cly, Merrick, Mittens and the smaller buttes:

 

 

I'll skip the video from here to save wireless time, since I've shown the cloudy view earlier. The sunny version came out really well. 

 

Moving West, I flew up next to Camel Butte, looked to my right to North Window, with the distant Three Sisters and Mitchell Mesa in the distance on the left: 

 

 

The view from the North Window entrance encompasses Elephant Butte (center, close by) and Mitchell Mesa (large mesa with Three Sisters to its left).  Through the window, we look out on Merrick, East and West Mittens and some small spires.

 

 

Then I drove over to be closer to Three Sisters and the huge Mitchell Mesa. Turning right, the Phantom saw Merrick, the Mittens and smaller spires with names like Big Chief, Castle, Bear and Rabbit, King on his Throne (yes, I got the map).

 

 

For a completely different subject, I drove North to Goosenecks State Park, where I flew the Phantom out over a dramatic double bend of the Colorado River.

 

 

and a brief video clip:

 

 

Since water is the heart of human activities, much we find here is somewhere near the Colorado River. The town of Mexican Hat and its trademark Rock are both within sight of the river:

 

 

I flew the Phantom up just high enough to see the top of Mexican Hat Rock and the river flowing by.

 

 

Almost out of charged batteries, I finished up with a quiet flight near the town's boat ramp.

 

 

A couple of final targets today if conditions hold, then shoehorning all this stuff into the car for the ride home. Then I can show some of the longer versions of the short clips that were possible here. The drones are no substitute for the tripod photography, but as a complementary view they add a lot.

 

Another great adventure!...

 

 

 

 

 

Can't buy good weather...

Between clouds in the morning and howling winds after 1:00 P.M. it's been a struggle. On the one really beautiful day I've had, I shot this on the way into Monument Valley: 

 

The big butte in the distance is Spearhead Butte, site of a grand overlook called Artist's Point. I waited through the morning cloudiness yesterday to get at least some light.  When I thought I had enough color to see anything,  I put a Phantom up to get the sky view.  Surrounded by curious visitors from Europe, up she went:

 

 

I'm hoping to get some clear skies and Sun (what's that?) before I leave, so I can fly this spot again when it has dramatic color.  Hope springs eternal. So far, there has only been one really good day out of five. Sigh.

 

A dozen of the major buttes are captured in these two shots from the drone. Camel, Col, Elephant in the far distance between those two, Then in the second shot, Mittens, Merrick, Elephant  and the distant ones I'll have to get the map to identify:

 

 

 

Because the wind was strong yesterday afternoon, I Finally got to work on some of the panoramas from earlier days. Here's the wall the Moki Dugway switchback road climbs:

 

 

and the view from the top.

 

I shot a GoPro video of the six-and-a-half minute descent which I'll have on the web site after I get home.

 

Here's a panorama of the bend in the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry. That was on the trip to get here on the first day:

 

 

And, finally, every time I return to my room I pass the scene of the near disaster when the wind blew the drone over this cliff, and I finally spotted it in the bushes down at the water's edge:

 

 

I'll never forget this place. Neither will my poor legs...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All things come to him who waits...

Even a day of sunshine and lights breezes. Of course, my legs look as if they were in Bonnie and Clydes car when the Feds shot it up  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bonnie+and+clyde+car&qpvt=Bonnie+and+Clydes+car&qpvt=Bonnie+and+Clydes+car&FORM=IGRE

As long as I can still walk, the adventure goes on. I went up to Valley of the Gods and put the drone that fell over the cliff Sunday up near the North entry road. Battered and bruised, she still flew like a dream.
 

 

On to the saddleback!

 

 

 

 What a difference!

 

 

On to the stone formation for which the town of Mexican Hat is known:

 

 

The wind began to stir in late morning, so I completed the drone's day at the bend of the Colorado River above town:

 

 

 

 

High hopes the weather will stay on for a couple of days!

 

 

 

Seeing what the birds see...

Well, not quite, as we'll see later. It was another day with lots of thick clouds and some wind, but I pressed on to the saddleback in the Valley of the Gods and launched. I'll repeat Saturday's picture so you see the overall topography. A superb location

 

Sunday was a cloudy day, but the view was still glorious! Knowing that they had a blizzard in Denver yesterday and 5 inches of snow in Phoenix, I'll be quiet...

 

 

 

The drone is up next to the high fin (the left one in the picture above) I'm standing next to my car in the lower left. That high fin is really up there! I couldn't see the drone, so I flew by what  the camera was seeing.

 

 

 

I have a half-hour of videos flying around up here, but the broadband is too slow to upload them. Here's a preview.

 

 

 

 

More when I get home!  Also, I'll still come back on a sunny day if I can!

 

Later in the afternoon, the Sun came out and I thought that the wind had diminished just a bit.  I learned from my diving career that fatalities come from small mistakes compounding. Should have remembered that.

 

Lulled by the bright Sun, I decided to put the drone up near the motel along the Colorado River.

 

 

You see that high slope to the right? And the bushes by the river?

 

Looking upriver, there is a cliff. Remember that cliff and the bushes down by the water...

 

 

 

By now you may have guessed the rest. After a perfectly fine landing, a sudden gust of wind skittered the drone along the ground from where it had landed to the cliff--and over.

 

I climbed down the steep slope of loose rocks, expecting to end my career in a landslide any moment, Of course, I had to carry the controller down, so I could beep the drone and have it answer.

 

I found it sitting atop one of the bushes down at the river. Then I climbed back up, carrying both the controller and the drone. No, I don't know how.

 

I'll spare you the photo of my legs. The picture is like the one of my arm when I fell out of Hope Arch last year, but in this case, the affected limbs won't be incapacitated for six months. They just look awful.

 

Fortunately, I travel alone, so nobody has to be embarrassed by being seen with the patient.

 

A final look at the scene of the wreck:

 

 

More tomorrow--God willin' and the creek don't rise...

We play the hand we're dealt...

This was one of those 'Chasing sunspots' days. Windy, with big, thick clouds casting dark shadows. So, the trick as always was to find a good spot and pray that eventually a sunspot would hit it.

First to the Valley of the Gods, a smaller and (on weekends) far less crowded park than Monument Valley. The broadband here is about the same speed  as in Page, so I'll only put up tiny video clips and use mostly stills.

The road in Valley of the Gods runs past small and larger buttes:

 

This is one we old westerners would call 'Tard' (Tired) Butte.

 

 

On the saddleback between the two buttes is a (very tiny) car sitting on an ideal drone launch site if the wind goes down.

 

 

Then off to Monument Valley. Since I have a huge gallery of stills on my web site http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/MonumentValley/MonumentVly.html   , I shot a lot of GoPro videos on the road. This is the entry view past the most familiar buttes--Mittens, Elephant and Merrick).

 

 

I found a safe place to fly the drone at Camel Butte. It acted as a massive wind barrier for the flight:

 

 

I didn't realize it from the ground, but the drone's camera saw the Three Sisters formation in the distance through the slot as it gained altitude. A Navajo merchant is also setting up for the onslaught of afternoon trucks full of tourists (the sunlight is on the faces of the main formations in the afternoon) :

 

 

Then I turned the drone toward the North Window, through which we can see Mittens and Merrick Buttes. There was a road to the window, but the wind was whipping through it:

 

 

Here's a still of that view: 

 

 

I have found a lot of new targets during the windy days, so I'm looking forward to flying over them when the wind goes down. Note the optimism...

 

More adventures to come!

 

 

 

Triumph and Tragedy! Uh, no, it's just me whining again...

Page was sunny and windy, so I could get some colorful photos. The Monument Valley area was sunny and windy this morning, but deteriorated to rainy and windy.

Let's begin by seeing if my broadband here is faster than in Page. Here are some videos from  Lees Ferry and the Glen Canyon Dam complex around Page. This one shows arriving at the high hill known as the Wahweep Overlook:

Then, the peaceful small rapids on the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry:

 

 

This morning I drove from Page to Mexican Hat, Utah by way of Kayenta in Arizona. I'll be going back and forth between the two states in the next few days, hoping the wind and Sun cooperate. As I write this, the wind gusts look to be 40 miles per hour or so and the sky is dull gray.

This morning, East of Kayenta a few miles, I sought out the graceful volcanic formation known as Church Rock. I lined it up with a larger formation which lies along the road that leads North toward Monument Valley. That one is called Agathla Rock. They fit nicely in the frame together.



Telephoto time...



Then I drove North to get closer to Agathla Rock. It is quite majestic, and I hope to return on a sunny day.

 

Now it's up to the power of prayer. I am devoutly praying for better conditions.

Page, Arizona is nearly all national park-like…

This is a two-dayer, because I was too tired to prepare a blog yesterday.

Most of the area around Page is in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area or the security zone around the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Understandable given recent headlines; one consequence is that it’s a no-drone zone. Add pretty steady winds and the drones are grounded, anyway.

 On the way in from Las Vegas, I stopped off at Lee’s Ferry, A fishing zone in the southern part of the Glen Canyon system. It is a peaceful spot, with the Colorado River running through.

In some areas, the currents form small rapids:

 

Along the road there are some precariously balanced rock formations.

 

 

Nearby, we find the old and new Navajo Bridges;

 

 

 

Sigh. Like Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam, the water level in Lake Powell is very low.

 

 

 

You can see the low-water mark behind the beautiful Dam. Uh-oh.

 

 Upstream, the vast expanse of Lake Powell is a boater's paradise. This is a view of the Wahweep Marina from the overlook

 

 

 

 

 

 

Las Vegans are hoping for a water release from here to help raise Lake Mead’s level. After seeing this, I suspect Nevada will be under California-like water restrictions soon. The West needs some of those Winter storms we got in the 1980s. We will, of course, complain when we get them.

 

I do have lots of material for panoramas from these spots; when I get home I’ll have more time to process them. 

Off to the area around Monument Valley tomorrow morning. No federal restrictions on the drones over there. Only being careful not to annoy the Navajos. Fingers crossed...