Introduce Myself

"Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste. I've been around for a long, long year."

Mick Jagger said it, but you should definitely take out the wealth part and maybe some of the taste part, but for sure leave in the long, long year part. You can even give me some sympathy if you want to.

It just dawned on me that some of you don't know me or the mystical Denise that I often mention.

Here we are. This is us. Faces to go with the names.



An Exit Plan




 Les Chenaux Coastline
Michigan UP

Most of the time when I'm off looking for interesting places and things to photograph I'm alone. If you've read the last few blogs, you know that this is my favorite time; all alone with the rocks and the trees.



But sometimes it's probably not smart to do that. Often I'm in areas frequented by bears; often I'm off on a trail into the wilderness; often I tend to do things I shouldn't. The solitude is what I'm after, but I know I shouldn't be there by myself.

This image's location doesn't look that bad, but right after it was taken I fell going up the rocky bank on the way back to the truck and jammed my shoulder (I like to say I broke it for dramatic effect). It scared me enough that I immediately cut short my trip and drove the eight hours directly home.

But that's not the weird part. Ever since that fall, I've begun doing something on my trips that Denise thinks is crazy. While walking, I come up with an "exit plan". A "what if" plan. A kind of "Hansel and Gretel" plan.

But not for me, for my equipment.

I always figure I can crawl out if I have to, but not necessarily with my camera in tow. My exit plan always includes what rock I would hide the camera under; what tree I could hang my backpack in; and how would I tell someone where to find it.

I haven't figured out a good way yet. Maybe bread crumbs weren't such a bad idea after all.



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My Limit

I found out a couple of things about myself at Zion a couple of weeks ago.

Halfway to Angel's Landing

I took a hike to somewhere I've wanted to go the past two times I've been there, a hike to Angel's Landing. If you don't know the place, it's a two and a half mile hike each way that goes up almost 2,000 feet; winding it's way up and over rocks and trails that at times you can't believe they would let normal people use. They're not much into handrails in this part of the world.

Sounds bad, but that's the easy part. The real troubling part doesn't even start until the last half mile. Then it's over very narrow ledges of rock with only a chain to hang onto and that 2,000 feet on each side to the bottom.

But back to what I found......Two things.

One, that I'm getting old.
Or at least my knees are. I felt this one for more than a few days afterwards.

And two, my limit.

That last half mile was too much for me. I sat, had my lunch with the chipmunks, looked it over, but I couldn't talk myself into it. Ever since then I've had mixed feelings about it. Been kicking myself  for not trying, but been proud of myself for giving up.

Maybe that takes me back to found thing number one. I am getting older...and smarter.


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Where's the scenery?

Bryce Canyon Sunrise

Bryce Canyon.

Not much to say about Bryce. You drive up to the canyon edge and there it is. Nothing else like it.  Not anywhere.

The colors are like nowhere else I've been, and are just about impossible to portray in a picture. The light bounces around and seemingly goes right through the hoodoos.

Magic light.







And here's this pictures little side story---  
    
 On a hike into the canyon just after this image was taken, I had the dumbest question asked to me of any I've ever heard. Often people will see the tripod over my shoulder and think I'm some kind of tour guide, but this one beat them all.
A husband and wife, walking into the canyon in their Sunday best clothes and dress shoes stopped me and asked "where's the scenery?".

Honestly, some people just don't get it.

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Zion Canyon and It's Two Little Sisters

East Side Zion National Park

There are essentially three "sides" of Zion National Park. The main Zion Canyon that everybody knows and two others, the East Side and Kolob Canyon.

Everyone who visits Zion goes to the Canyon. It's the only place the shuttle buses go and it gets all of the attention. Hardly anyone goes to Kolob Canyon since it's about an hour drive to the north side of the park, and very few go to the East Side unless you're coming into the park from that direction.

On previous trips I was like that too. I honestly never heard of Kolob Canyon before this trip and had only spent a little time in the East.

This time we had more time to explore the two others and found them fascinating. They both are different worlds altogether from the main Canyon and both offer views like none other.

It's a shame they don't get more attention. They deserve it.


As a little side story, Denise and I have this little running debate on this thought---
I like to think that all things in nature have feelings; the rocks and trees and mountains and rivers and everything else. I always think of how they feel, what they are thinking. In this instance with the three parts of Zion, do the two left out sides of the Park feel jealous of their big sister, the Canyon? Or are they happy to be left alone like I am when I'm with them?
By-the-way, Denise thinks I'm crazy.

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Fought for this one

The Watchaman Over the Virgin River
Zion National Park



 Here's the one from the first night on the bridge at Zion.

The one where we were tripod-to-tripod.

The one where it wasn't that much fun to be crammed onto that one spot with all of the others.

The one where the park ranger yelled at us "if you're not touching the bridge railing, then you're blocking traffic".



But you know what...I still like it.

Special Times

We just got back from Zion National Park and it was everything I hoped for.

The weather was perfect, the crowds were small, and it was Zion.

This is the view of the Watchman, the mountain in the background, and the Virgin River from a small bridge.

It's one of the most iconic images of Zion and the one that everyone takes. I visited this spot twice on this trip, once the very first time I set up my tripod and once the very last time I set it up when this image was taken.

The first time was in the evening at sunset and there were so many tripods fighting for a spot that it spoiled the night. That's just the opposite of what I want on these trips, people instead of solitude. The absolute best times are when it's just me, alone without anyone else around, roaming the rocks and canyons, feeling like I'm the only one in the world. It happens rarely, but when it does it's the best feeling I can imagine.

Me, the rocks, an occasional beaver.
Special.

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