The Canyonlands

I drive north along Highway 191. There is a big green splotch on my map that says ‘Canyonlands National Park’

 

I pull into the first convenient area that doesn’t look like it requires too far of a drive. It’s the Needles overlook. I pull into an empty parking lot in the late morning, and am greeted by this lovely view:

 

Standing alone in the cold wind, I am in awe by the intricate landscape stretching out before me:

 

I leave the Needles overlook and head farther north towards the ‘Island in the Sky’ section of the park, but the sun is setting fast. I stop into Moab to grab a coffee and spend some time on the internet, but the cafe closes 15 minutes later, and so I head out to the hills to look for a campground. I pull into one off of highway 313, but it’s closed. I pull into another… same story. Finally a third campground is not barricaded shut, but I am the only person parked there. A theme to be repeated throughout day.

 

I wake up before the sun, and head into the ‘Island in the Sky’ section of the park. I am greeted, as I enter, with this:

 

I proceed down the road to the ‘grand viewpoint’, stopping at any overlook that I find. I walk around the Shafer Trail overlook, and am reminded of the Grand Canyon, further downstream:

 

I stop at Buck Canyon overlook, and grab what turns out to be my favorite shot of the morning:

 

From there the next stop was the ‘Grand Point overlook’, which was gorgeous. There was a 2 mile round trip rim walk which I decided to do, offering amazing vistas looking down into the canyon (the panoramic shot I posted earlier this week):

 

One final overlook, of the Green River as it snakes through the canyon, scenic mountain sin the background:

 

I drove out of the park at mid-day, stopping at the Visitor’s Center to pick up a few post cards, and then it was off again… to very nearby Arches National Park.

Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii

also known as: Monument Valley. I drive through the rest of the reservation and start seeing big rocks:

 

I enter the monument valley tribal park, but there is an entrance fee, more than I want to pay to see some rock, so I continue driving, stopping along the highway as I go to take random pictures:

 

The sights are beautiful, if a bit far away:

 

Again, hard to complain about this scenery and light:

 

From Monument Valley, I proceeded through Mexican Hat in Utah,  where there was this goofy balanced rock sitting out in the desert (apparently it looks like an inverted sombrero)":

 

Where I turned off randomly at a sign proclaiming “Valley of the Gods”, with an introductory view of ‘the seven sailors’:

 

I drove until the ground got soupy and the truck started fishtailing. Turned around once I got to a random tree stump standing up:

 

From Valley of the Gods it was north again towards Canyonlands National Park and Moab.

The first stop

I leave home heading North. I make a quick lunch stop in Flagstaff to see my buddy Ben. We shoot the breeze for an hour or two, have a sandwich and a coffee. Good times, and a nice farewell before I drive through the indian reservation. The goal is to get to Canyon de Chelly by nightfall. It’s a few hours of easy driving through fairly empty highways and into the more ‘southwestern’ desert area of the state.

 

I arrive to the Canyon and start down the ‘South Rim’ drive just as the sun makes it’s way to the horizon.

 

Fairly soon the colors start to hit the sky, they light up the canyon below me as I pop to different overlooks:

 

Ah yes, this traveling life does have it’s perks:

 

Pretty soon rocks disappear with the light, and I make a treacherous hike back to the truck to catch one last shot of the swirling clouds of dusk:

 

I make my way to the free campground in the park, and setup the truck for the first time in a month for sleeping. A little cold, but only compared to the warm beds I’ve gotten used to. I toss and turn, reacquainting myself with the ‘cozy’ quarters. Sunrise comes eventually, and we head to the ‘North Rim of the canyon for some early morning shots.

 

There seem to be fewer pullouts along the north road, so not as many pictures. Or maybe my numb fingers just made it seem like there were fewer opportunities to shoot?

 

 

I did get a glimpse of some ancient home ruins down in the valley, which was neat:

 

And then, one last shot before heading north and a bit west.

 

Destination: Monument Valley.

I’ll just leave this here

until I can form a real post with pictures from the last few days.

And before I left, I had a few more folks to say goodbye to.

Namely – My best friend Chris (and his darling wife Shayla):

 

My favorite gal Courtney:

 

And mom. 

 

Then I hit the road, headed North.

Catchup part three

So after my sweet helicopter ride, I had a weekend planned in Jerome with my sister. This is her:

 

We went on a hike around the hills of Jerome, on ‘ancient pathways’. They looked like pig trails to me, but whatever. We saw some cool nightshades:

 

We saw a brokedown vehicle:

 

It had sand in the back, with a little clover sticking out:

 

We saw some remnants of an old mining town:

 

After a few hours we ended up on a mining road, and headed back to sister’s house:

 

There we made a logo for her new company, made some awesome food, woke up made some more food, worked on a logo some more, read cards, and just generally had good times.  Love my sis!

Catchup part two.

Mom asked me if I wanted to go up for a helicopter ride. Since I’d never been I, of course, said HECK YEAH! So we popped over to the Guidance Helicopter training school (who partners with Yavapai College, where mom works) and got a freebie ride. It was awesome.

 

We rode in one of these:

Here’s mom, posing next to another machine:

 

Here’s what it looked like once we were up:

 

And here is what Mom looked like:

 

It was a ton of fun, and I’m super glad mom got me in on it.

Catching up – Part one

I took a drive down Highway 87 to Phoenix to see a friend from high school. We had a grand time catching up once I got down there, had a great meal and a few drinks. And I also got a few photos along a highway I’ve always wanted to take:

Here we go… on the road again.

I’ve got lots of pictures to post from the last week or two. Lots of things to think about, and a few things to say. But not now. Now it’s time to pack the truck up again, time to do one last load of laundry, throw some food in the cooler, and start rolling down the highway again.

 

The idea right now is to head north. Visit a friend in flagstaff, see canyon de chelley, monument valley. Visit utah and the canyon lands. See a friend in Telluride, and a cousin in Durango. Maybe head to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, go to Texas, see when the money runs out.

 

The adventure begins again.

A few images of winter

as the snow melts, I like to keep the wintery feeling here on the blog.

 

The Hassayampa river:

 

Snowy fence rail out on a hiking trail:

 

Icicles on my favorite coffee shop:

And then the Nikon took a tumble

Sorry to say it, but the camera took a bit of a tumble the other day. Thankfully the body came away undamaged (I believe), but the 18-55mm lens is now hit-or-miss. A bit of plastic near the aperture adjustment arm of the lens broke off and is causing some intermittent jamming, keeping the lens from opening up. Looks like I will have to adjust to the 50mm prime or my 55-200mm until I can afford to get a replacement. Le Sigh.

 

I don’t suppose anybody out in the blogosphere has a wide-angle lens to fit a Nikon DX sensor they would be willing to sell for cheap?

 

Beyond all that, life is good in Prescott. I’ll be hanging out here for about another week. There will be some time in Phoenix, Wickenberg, and Jerome mixed in this week as well. Should be lots of good times.

Prescott Ponderosa Pine Picture

lots of P’s:

A few things I must try to remember as I go through life.

- Slow down, look around, and enjoy.

- Have real conversations with anybody you can. They will make you feel human.

- Leave your comfort zone behind, but always have a place to retreat to when it becomes too much.

- Accept that bad days happen. Also accept that they stay around only as long as you make them stay around.

- The camera is a tool, that is all. It helps you remember, but it does not make memories.

- If you are bitter, that bitterness will infect every relationship you have. Make yourself the top priority, everything else will get better.

- Convenience is easy, but it is also blinding. Do hard things for the simple reason that they are hard. You will enjoy these things in retrospect, but more importantly: you will remember them far more vividly.

- Don’t hurt anybody you don’t have to.

- Be okay with being alone – truly alone. Turn off the cell phone, get your nose out of a book, and pull the ear buds out of your head. Sit and just be with yourself sometimes. You will probably go a little crazy.

- Be still sometimes. Go outside and wait for all the wildlife to come around. This is a good time to be with yourself.

- Work towards being happy. Happy is not a destination – it is a journey. This is not only cliché, but very true.

- Friends are family. Family are friends. They are the ones who keep you sane.

A video of scrappy

This is my goofy dog
Originally uploaded by tombothetominator

this is what hiking with the dog is like.

One of those catchup posts

So, since I’ve gotten home it has been a whirlwind.

Christmas eve was spent in Jerome with my sister, her boyfriend Michael, and my mom. It was good food, good folks and lots of laughs:

 

 

Christmas day was spent with Courtney and friends – sans camera. Lots of drinking and conversation, some food. Not a bad way to spend a holiday.

The following day we went rock climbing in the granite dells. It was my first time, and it was a total blast.

 

Mid-week I met up with Catalyst, of Oddball Observations, for lunch. We had some great conversation and some decent food in downtown Prescott. It was a real joy to get to see him and catch up in person. He’s one of those folks who I always enjoy talking to.

 

About this time there was also snow, lots of snow, falling in Prescott. Courtney and I threw her cats out into the white fluffy stuff. Cruel and unusual? Yep!:

 

 

All told, we got about six inches that night/morning. More than I’ve seen in a while:

 

I also got to have a few cups of coffee with my good friend Daryn throughout the week. He’s in town from Pennsylvania, and we had a ton of fun chatting, joking, and philosophizing:

 

New years eve found me hiking out in the snow with the dog in the morning:

 

And spending the evening with friends at Chris’ house. We counted down to midnight, and then I promptly went to bed.

 

Welcome to 2011!!