USS Yorktown (CV-10) Panorama

I'm not sure what I thought this would look like exactly, but I thought it would look bigger than this. . .

Not to worry, it really is a panorama, about 1.5 MB, so when you click on it, it'll be big enough to study in detail. It's also HDR - High Dynamic Range - and I think it turned out pretty well. The panorama is made up of three frames, combined in Photoshop. How many of the planes on the flight deck can you identify?

The shots were taken from the boat once Tony and I were chased away from the Naval Weapons Station on the Cooper River and made it back to Patriot's Point. We'll have to avoid that next time. . .

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As a Texas Longhorns fan, I found the College World Series awfully exciting this year. The Commodores of Vanderbilt rained on our parade, it's true, but they did it in such a manner that I'll be forced to continue watching to see how they fare against the Virginia Cavaliers next week. And I expect to be watching the Longhorns again next year. . .

Homeward Bound

On the 16th I left the motel in Flagstaff about 4:00am headed for Texas. I was thoroughly worn out and decided to drop the excursion to the Big Bend NP. Wish I had remembered to cancel the motel reservations in Alpine. Anyhow, I made it back to Austin before sunset.

This is very nearly sunrise just outside of St John, Arizona. I had a little farther south to go before turning east and crossing into New Mexico. Just before I crossed into NM I came across half a dozen or so elk cows grazing on the roadside in the Apache National Forest. They were not concerned initially, but when I started taking pictures - none of which was worth anything in that dim light - they crossed the road, walked up to the barbed wire fence and jumped it from a standing start. Impressive for critters that big.

I chose this route simply because I'd never been this way before and I had no idea what the countryside would be like. I think I checked Google Maps Street View but didn't see anything of interest. I was really surprised just how pretty this western section of New Mexico is.

I think I reversed these last two pics. This one was from just east of Luna, NM, near where I saw the elk. The picture above it was from a bit farther south, in the San Francisco Mountains.

That's it; I'm done. I'll answer any questions that come up but I'm going to relax a bit.

The five panoramas I promised you.

Looking SE along Professor Valley RD from Utah 128.

The Henry Mountains (Mt Ellen), looking east from Utah 12.

Checkerboard Mesa, Zion National Park.

Looking west at the Streaked Wall, Zion National Park, from Utah 9.

Looking east over the big surprise of the trip, the San Francisco Mountains of western New Mexico.

Additional Panoramas I came up with after publishing my plan. I shouldn't be penalized for doing extra...

View looking west from Water Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park.

View looking NE from Point Imperial, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim.

View looking NE from Vista Encantada, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim.

The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, near Marble Canyon, AZ.

Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim

This will be another easy post, because there's so little to comment on other than my poor planning and its marginal results.

This view is looking SSE from Point Imperial (8819) on the Kaibab Plateau across a small sector of the Grand Canyon and the Walhalla Plateau. The pillar in the lower left is Mt Hayden (8362) and Brady Peak (8121) in the right middle ground. Slightly right, on the horizon, is Humphrey's Peak (12,637), 66 miles away near Flagstaff and the highest natural point in Arizona.

As I mentioned early on, well after I decided I wanted to be part of the 10% - no, not that 10%. . . the 10% of Grand Canyon visitors who make it to the North Rim - I discovered that the road to the North Rim is closed from mid-November to mid-May and consequently had to delay my trip to arrive here on May 15.

This view is looking NE from Point Imperial across the ridge that runs from Woolsey Point (out of frame to the left) and Bourke's Point (out of frame to the right). Barely visible on the horizon is Navajo Mountain (10,346), across the state line in Utah. The line of sight crosses the Colorado River about 7 1/2 miles away as it flows through Marble Canyon about 6000 feet below.

It took me so long to pin down that date because most of the references to park roads are so resolutely vague! Even the normally helpful Google Maps only included the parenthetical "Closed May" along with the road ID. Once I did find a reference that was bold enough to specify May 15 as the opening date, I slacked up on the actual planning and amused myself surveying other adventurers' pictures taken from the North Rim and working myself into a frenzy to sieze my own opportunity to shoot the canyon.

What looks like a cache of rocks on the mesa to the left may look familiar from the first image. It's the opposite side of the peak of Brady Peak, looking NE from Vista Encantada. Once again Navajo Mountain is barely visible on the horizon. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago that I had enough views from this location to create another panorama, which I'll include in the last post of the series.

The blocked off road up Zion Canyon put me way ahead of schedule. I arrived early in the park in spite of having to stop and confirm that the road in was, indeed, open. The electronic traffic sign at the Jacob Lake portal alternately flashed two messages: (1) Grand Canyon Highway Closed and (2) Grand Canyon Highway opens May 15, 2014. (Well, it's noon on May 15, dumbass. Is the highway open or not?) Realizing that the lady in the convenience store was not responsible for the the ambiguous messages flashing outside her front window, I restrained myself and asked kindly for the highway status. She smiled, mentioned something about how much extra business they were getting because of that sign, confirmed that the highway was open and told me she hoped I would have a wonderful afternoon on such a pretty day.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I was when I shot this image of the Angel's Window. Eventually, I zoomed in on Google Maps and found an unnamed overlook between Walhalla Overlook and the Cape Royal parking lot. I shot this from this serendipitous overlook, 1/3 mile (line of sight) from the window.

The drive in to the visitors center is about 42 miles, and that was a very enjoyable drive through Kaibab National Forest, predominantly poderosa pine. Parking at the visitors center was a mess and I opted out  of the concomitant chaos that reigned in that sector, driving instead to the eastern cliffs of the Kaibab and Walhalla Plateaux. I expected a limited number of overlooks/photo ops, so I took my time and enjoyed the drive from one to the next: Point Imperial, Vista Encantada, Roosevelt Point, Walhalla Overlook and, the pièce de résistance, Cape Royal.

Since 1984 thousands of acres of the park's ponderosa pine forest have burned, but only 2% burned hot enough to kill pure ponderosa stands. During the spring of 2000 a fire swept through this area and killed most of the nearby trees. It's clear that, when fully recovered, the pine forest here will have been replaced by an aspen forest.

Everything had been good up to this point except arriving in the very early, very bright, afternoon sunlight. I wasn't mentally prepared for the poor lighting conditions, and it took some of the wind out of my sails. I'd considered shooting the sunset from Cape Royal and even brought my flashlight with me for the walk back to the truck in the dark and my folding garden bench to rest on the way. The overlook is .4 miles from the parking lot. I'm not sure of the elevation change, but it was clearly downhill. The hike back was likely to be uphill, but with the light and the bench I could handle it. . . he said, wheezing. What I couldn't deal with was how high the sun was. It was going to take forever for the Golden Hour to arrive. . . then the slow walk back to the truck. . . then 230 miles to the hotel in Flagstaff. What time did I leave Panguitch this morning? Six o'clock, maybe? No, the planning was haphazard. No viable backup. I needed to accept what I'd already gleaned from the fine day and head for the barn.

I have additional images in my Grand Canyon Album in Flickr. You can access them by clicking here.

Zion National Park

Getting to Zion first thing in the morning was a good decision, I think. It certainly seems to me to be the best time of the day (just in general, for pretty much everything), with both deep shadows and warm sunlight. Everything seems fresh. The feeling is like Spring, irrespective of the actual season.

This will be an easy post for me. I took lots more pictures here than in the other parks, so there are more to choose from. The road from the eastern park entrance to the visitors center near the western entrance is relatively short. That the images appeared one after another, around each bend, means I can't pinpoint most of them on the map, just that they were in one section of the route or another. So, for the most part, I'm going to let the images speak for themselves and provide limited commentary. . . perhaps. . . we'll see if I'm capable of that.

I was so surprised to see these Bighorn Sheep on the hillside after days with so little wildlife in evidence. I'd pulled off to take the picture, and only saw the sheep when I put my eye to the viewfinder. About half an hour later it happened again. I pulled off to take a few shots but, when I looked to see if it was safe to open my door (always mindful of traffic), I saw another bighorn directly across the road, 25 feet away. I put the window down and struggled with my camera, trying to make the best of the opportunity. The term "buck fever" comes to mind. Some of the pics are included in today's Flickr album. We can only hope I get better with practice.

The drive in from the east was beautiful, wonderfully quiet, the traffic very light, the temperature cool. From the park boundary to the long tunnel is six miles (there's a short tunnel a mile or so before the long one), and it's my favorite part of the park.  A mile into the park, the road (Utah 9) joins Pine Creek, a small tributary of the Virgin River, just before Checkerboard Mesa, and they follow each other to the tunnel entrance.

The tunnel seems really long; it is in fact 1.3 miles but seems longer perhaps because of the slow speed. I think there were two wide "windows" for ventilation but, even at slow speed, those views were just glimpses.

The first five pictures (above) were taken east of the long tunnel. The third section (next two images) is a series of six switchbacks or reversals in direction to lose 800 feet between the tunnel and the floor of the valley at the mouth of Pine Creek. On my first visit to Zion in 2008 I remember the great view from a pull-off immediately east of the tunnel, but I didn't see it this trip for whatever reason (traffic?, road repair?). What I did see that surprised me were blooming prickly pear on several of the hairpin turns. I filed that for future reference and managed to stop for pictures at a couple of the sites on my way back out of the park.

The fourth section of the drive was from the mouth of Pine Creek, along the Virgin River to Zion's west entrance, where the visitors center is (last image). There's a fifth section that's not included here: Zion Canyon itself. The Floor of the Canyon Road follows the Virgin River up the canyon for 6.2 miles and, judging from Google Maps, it's fantastic. Until a few moments ago, I would have said I remember driving upstream in 2008, and I fully expected to do so this trip.

However, (1) I found access up the road limited to park buses (which I didn't use in 2008), (2) all of the pictures I still have from 2008 (remember, I lost a lot to hard drive crashes) may well have been taken from Utah 9 as far as I can tell, and (3) in 2008 I visited enroute to California and the drive on the day I visited Zion was from Page AZ to Baker CA - I may not have had time to drive upstream like I thought I had. At this point, I'm willing to stipulate that, although Zion is my favorite National Park, I may have only seen a small part of it. That boggles my mind.

Trying to determine whether or not I went up Floor of the Valley Road, I studied the topographic map of the canyon and was thoroughly impressed. Google Maps apparently sent hikers into the canyon with the backpack version of their Street View camera. The few pictures I looked at on Street View confirm my impression that the canyon is a "target rich environment" for a photographer. I suspect that the park buses are operated like shuttle buses and you can get on and off as you wish on the drive up and back. If I was able to walk for any extended length of time, I'd already be planning my trip back. As it is, I've probably seen all I'm likely to see of Zion in person. That won't keep me from Zion image searches online. And I'll sing (metaphorically speaking) Zion's praises evermore. If you get the opportunity, don't pass it up.

My Zion Album on Flickr, with a lot more pictures, is HERE.

Bryce Canyon National Park

It's beautiful! But is it beautiful in the absolute sense, or is it the novelty of a landscape so different from our normal stomping ground that makes Bryce Canyon the national treasure it is? Of course, I can't really answer that - absolutely. Since it's a unique, or nearly unique  landscape (Cedar Breaks National Monument - about 35 miles west - is a somewhat smaller collection of concentrated hoodoos often described as "a mini Bryce Canyon"), I guess you'd have to ask someone whose normal stomping ground is Bryce Canyon. Oh, well. it's probably not important. . .

View looking south into the Bryce Amphitheater from the Rim Trail near Sunset Point. The concentration of fins, windows, and hoodoos is simply incredible, as is the number of tourists standing around with open mouths.

The park was a lot busier this day (Wednesday) than I remember from my 2008 visit (it was a few weeks earlier in the season that year). The pics start out from Sunset Point because I couldn't get near Sunrise Point for all the RVs. Stragglers and dawdlers helped that over the course of the afternoon as the traffic thinned out.

View looking down into the amphitheater from Inspiration Point.

Mid-afternoon is not the ideal time to be taking pictures in Bryce. It's such a long drive to get here, one really ought to shoot as close to sunrise and sunset as possible to take advantage of the Pink Cliffs and the color variations of the formations.

View looking NE over the amphitheater from the Bryce Point Overlook.

Lighting is so important here when shooting down into the canyons filled with fins and hoodoos, because of all reflected light. When the angle is right, the glow of the whole concentration of red and white sandstone pillars is simply magnificent.

View looking East from the Bryce Point Overlook.

I guess I could move to Utah so I'd be able to spend the hours watching the light change and shooting. You might suggest it would be less trouble to just plan better, with a little more slack in the schedule. For example, I could go to the motel (about 15 miles away) and take a nap, then come back to shoot the last couple of hours of daylight. Then, get up early and come back again to shoot a couple of hours in the early morning. That had crossed my mind. I'll tell you later.

I was leaning on one of the stone fence posts to steady the camera while shooting frames for a panorama of the long view. I'd seen the chipmunk on the ground, and I guess it's fair to say I was startled when she appeared out of nowhere in front of my camera. The f-stop was small, but not small enough for her to pop up in focus - more's the pity.

It seems like I saw some bison somewhere on the first day's drive to Cortez, I think back in west Texas. I saw lots of ravens in Canyonlands and a few in Arches and on the way to The View, but not much else in the way of critters. I know there's wildlife all over the place, but it's not showing itself. I've been using the 28-135mm zoom but I've got the 70-300mm zoom standing by in case the critters decide to show themselves. Perhaps later in the trip.

View looking North from Natural Bridge Overlook, about tangent to the face of the cliff. The Pansaugunt Plateau runs basically north and south and the eastern edge of the plateau overlooks Bryce Canyon. So, most of the vistas from the park's overlooks face east, rendering the backgrounds from picture to picture very similar. For a little variety, I love the two old dead trees and shot this for composition.

I'd planned to finish up here in Bryce early enough to get to the motel and shoot the Sevier River valley to the east of the motel, with the sunset (and some 1000' hills) to my back. The idea was to include the full moon which would be rising before sunset. The timing was good for such a plan. The only trouble was, I lay down for a quick rest before getting the tripod and other gear set up. I didn't have a chance. I woke shortly after midnight, thought for a minute about where the full moon might be, and went back to sleep. See, sunset then sunrise at Bryce wouldn't have worked either.

This shot's from Water Canyon, the Mossy Cave trail head, back on Utah 12. Looking up for a change at the fins and hoodoos makes a big difference.

Of course, getting to bed early meant I was bound to wake early as well. I thought about returning to Bryce for the sunrise, but decided I'd rather leave before dawn and burn up the 50 miles between the motel and Zion NP instead. Any delays in the schedule now would be non-starters.

There are more pictures from the day's run HERE in the Bryce Canyon album on Flickr.

Capitol Reef National Park

From Green River (where I spent the night) to Capitol Reef NP you take Utah 24 SSW to Hanksville, just over half way, where the highway turns due west. No surprises in the initial route; the view is similar to that between I-70 and The View, save the sun position and the substitution of the Herny Mountains for the LaSals. However, there's a relatively short section of the road starting from the western fringes of Hanksville that's similar to some other rocky areas in Utah which would make great gravel pits, except without any of the charm. I couldn't bring myself to take pictures there lest they wreck my camera. There was absolutely nothing of interest beyond the curious effect of despair the place engenders. I'd hate to spend any more time there than what's required to exit, stage left. Think Mars and take the color out. (It's not just me, the Mars Desert Research Station is 7 miles NW of Hanksville and it's a well chosen site.) . . . << shudder >>. . .

This is the northern approach to Hanksville. The Henry Mountains have dominated the landscape all morning. What's new in this view is what appears to be sandstone fortress walls protecting Hanksville in the distance. The "gate" in the wall is called The Notch on the area's topo map, and beyond the notch is the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek. The combined waterways become the Dirty Devil River, which makes me laugh and wonder what the story is behind that moniker. Said river then flows SE to its junction with the Colorado (or Lake Powell, I suppose), about 40 miles away as the crow flies.

The Henry Mountains, named by A H Thompson for Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, were the last mountain range to be added to the map of the 48 contiguous states (in 1872). They were formerly referred to as 'the Unknown Mountains' and sometimes as 'First Mountain'. In Navajo, the range is still referred to with a phrase which is translated as "mountain whose name is missing". The Henrys are home to about 500 American bison. The Henry Mountains Bison Herd is believed to be one of only four free-roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America.

Once through The Notch, this bucolic scene is the only one I thought I could photograph in Hanksville that someone might want to see. Having the Dirty Devil River and being watched over by The Henry Mountains are the only two redeeming values I could find here.
(My apologies to anyone who is offended by my comments.)

The main peak of the Henrys is Mount Ellen Thompson, or simply Mt Ellen. The referenced Ellen was Mrs A H Thompson, the sister of soldier, geologist and explorer John Wesley Powell, and the botonist on the second of his four Colorado expeditions. Mr Thompson climbed to the summit in June 1872 and named the mountain after his wife.

These rocks and some others just around the previous bend are the first things I sighted since Hanksville that said, "Get the camera. Shoot me." I thought of two things when I saw them: (1) that they'd somehow been tie-dyed, and (2) that they were likely associated with "agate". I'm pretty sure they weren't tie-died and all the references I've been able to find on agate suggest much smaller formations, more akin to geodes. . . but I'll keep looking.

The landscapes eventually returned to what I'd more or less expected of south central Utah. The color returned to the rocks and the surface between mesas and buttes was covered with a mix of grass and sage. What had been tie-died rocks grew in size till the highway had to weave though more heroic sized formations along the Fremont River. When the flora became more dense and included tree-size specimens, I figured I missed the sign that said I'd entered Capitol Reef NP.

This is still on Utah 24,  east of the Capitol Reef NP visitor center. The view is looking back the way I had come and suggested that my choice of route to Bryce Canyon might have been reasonable after all.

This was more like it. In fact, this particular section seemed more like Newspaper Rock vicinity in Canyonlands or what I remembered the scenic drive into Zion Canyon to be like. That it appeared so soon after passing the surface of Mars made it just that much more impressive. In a few minutes, I'd find another pull-off with its own cliff face petroglyphs, then the visitor center. Feeling the need to streamline my itinerary again (or distance myself from Mars?) I dropped the short scenic drive south from the visitor center and hurried on through northern Capitol Reef, anxious to be on my way to Bryce Canyon. The route, south through the Grand Staircase - Escalante, was thoroughly enjoyable. Utah 12 peaked out at 9600 feet due west of Mt Ellen. A beautiful panorama of the view will be among those presented at the end of this series of posts.

This is the view looking SW from the Utah 12 bridge over the crystal clear Escalante River. This was the last unknown river of its size in the US, discovered by the Powell party during the 1871-72 expedition. During spring runoff and summer monsoons the "crystal clear" doesn't apply and the river's flow may be as much as 100 times larger. I planned this photo op in Austin during my pre-trip research. Google Maps "street view" may be crude, but it's often helpful in trip planning to give the traveler a feel for the countryside he'll be driving through. Once you trust it, it can provide some of the discriminating factors that will actually determine which route you choose.

The rest of the drive to the Bryce Canyon - Panguitch area (the day's destination) was interesting, if not particularly photo-worthy. One part of the drive, near an area that included a place known as "the Devil's Backbone", had what appeared to be 1000 ft drop-offs on both sides of the highway which seemed very interesting and fairly unusual at the time. I found a good 5 minute VIDEO online of the drive in question; I didn't care for the soundtrack, but it didn't make me turn it off. I may have to invest in a Hero3 camera from GoPro for these road trips. It may be overkill since I don't skydive, surf, or do mountain bikes, but they really take great video.

The last part of the drive, approaching Bryce from the east, offered a different point of view - from below the hoodoos - that I felt might add to the appreciation of Bryce Canyon since I don't get to shoot from the trails. So, after spending the afternoon in the park, I returned to to this section and shot additional pictures to include in the Bryce folder. Bryce Canyon in tomorrow's post. More images from this section of the trip are found HERE in my Capitol Reef folder in Flickr.

"The View" Revisited

I planned this excursion to The View to follow my Canyonlands and Arches visits and push the time on target more or less towards the end of the day, thinking the colors and shadows would be interesting features of any pictures I stopped for. On my previous trip here (2010) I drove this road (Utah 128) in the opposite direction, from I-70 to Moab, about mid-day. I didn't remember there being a lot of pull-offs so I started off taking advantage of them as I came upon them.

This shot is looking upriver from just 3 miles or so out of town, entering Moab Canyon. The water looks pretty muddy, but here at least it's open enough to reflect the blue sky.

A little farther on, where the canyon was in deep shadow, I stopped for a bit to relax and eat the second half of my sub from lunch. Sunset was still a long way off, so I was in no hurry and the shady canyon was probably 10 degrees cooler than out in the sun on the sandstone griddle.

This pull-off is just west of Castle Valley, home of the Moab - Castle Creek Winery. Here, looking straight across the river, which is lined by steep mesas, there's little chance of reflecting any blue sky. When you see this much sediment in the water and know it's picking up more every foot downstream, it's a little easier to believe the Colorado really did carve the Grand Canyon.

I actually didn't remember Castle Valley from my last trip. I was hot to trot, looking forward to the highlight of that trip, the exploration of The Island in the Sky and not paying close attention to what I was cruising past. After all, I had already taken my first shots of The View.

This shot is from the same pull-off as the previous one. I didn't notice whether the conglomeration of building next to the  river are part of the winery or not. It appears to be cabins, but they're awfully close together. The main winery buildings are beyond the trees, and Castle Vally proper is beyond the red volcano I discovered and off to the right. In the background on the left is Parriot Mesa.

You can just see the snow on the LaSals past the right slope of the volcano; that means I'm getting closer to The View and I'm getting excited.

We're not quite there, but this is close. The lineup of rocks in the foreground,  the river, the Fisher Towers, Fisher Mesa, and the LaSal Mountains is right on. No clouds obscuring the LaSals helps too. They were partially obscured when I blew through here in 2010.

It's still too early to get excited about the light changing towards sunset, and I'm running out of steam (again) so, as usual, I'll shoot what I've got. I'd like to stay and see what happens in "the golden hour", but it ain't gonna happen. I may dawdle a little on the way, but the proper viewpoint for The View is only another 2 1/2 miles upstream. Ready?

Heh, heh. . . yeah, I'm still dawdling. After all these years, I still take pictures of airplanes when I see them - even when they're too high to identify. Can't help it.

On my first trip through here I stopped and took shots - versions of The View - every time all the elements I was looking for lined up - probably about five times in this 2 1/2 mile stretch. This time, I already knew the geometry I was looking for.

Well, this is it. All the elements I mentioned before are here. But, while the azimuth angle is the same as before, the 2 1/2 miles extra distance and 60 ft more elevation changed the geometry. Now the Fisher Towers appear shorter in relation to Fisher Mesa and both the towers and the mesa don't hide quite so much of the LaSals, making them look larger even though they're farther away. And finally, the narrow valley, especially when in shadow, focuses the viewer's attention like a telescope or a soda straw.

It might have been better if the sun was lower, turning the mesa wall on the left golden and the Fisher Towers blood red. Maybe some high cirrus catching color and adding another element. But you'll make yourself crazy fretting about that kind of stuff. In fact, I'm pleased to have the composition right, with all the elements from the foreground to the horizon in focus. I wonder how far I could get starting with this shot and applying some judicious Photoshop lighting manipulation...

You'll find a few more pictures of this drive up the Colorado River if you click HERE and look in my Flickr album.