Southwest, 2005

[Roanoker]

Capital Reef is a wonderful seldom visited national park.  Was the deer picture from the orchard?  We saw a lot wildlife during our stay there.  We had terrible weather when we were there, mostly rain, looks like you also had overcast days.  We were thinking about heading that direction this summer but so little time.

I don't know where the orchard is. (Son isn't here right now, so I can't ask him.) I'm pretty sure the deer was very close to the Visitor Center. As I recall, the Center was a great place to be for views. Here is a picture of the sign.


I took a lot of pictures from the car as we drove through the park, although none of them seemed worthy of posting. However, just driving through the park is a good enough reason to go there. I hope you can fit it  in this summer.

I glanced through upcoming pictures and see that we visited the Tanks. If you have never been on that trail, you simply must go. They are truly amazing. A geologist's dream, I'd think.

For perspective, we ate breakfast at Hanksville on that day (May 4, 2005), drove through Capitol Reef, walked through Capitol Gorge, drove through the Escalante area and stopped at the town Escalante for the night. My notes say we ate dinner at Cowboy Blues restaurant. Had wine, great steak, and cheesecake. At the motel, we watched Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, which seems appropriate, given our location. 

[Highlander]

I don't know where the orchard is. (Son isn't here right now, so I can't ask him.) I'm pretty sure the deer was very close to the Visitor Center. As I recall, the Center was a great place to be for views. Here is a picture of the sign.


I took a lot of pictures from the car as we drove through the park, although none of them seemed worthy of posting. However, just driving through the park is a good enough reason to go there. I hope you can fit it  in this summer.

I glanced through upcoming pictures and see that we visited the Tanks. If you have never been on that trail, you simply must go. They are truly amazing. A geologist's dream, I'd think.

For perspective, we ate breakfast at Hanksville on that day (May 4, 2005), drove through Capitol Reef, walked through Capitol Gorge, drove through the Escalante area and stopped at the town Escalante for the night. My notes say we ate dinner at Cowboy Blues restaurant. Had wine, great steak, and cheesecake. At the motel, we watched Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, which seems appropriate, given our location. 

Good to keep a note log.  The orchard is in the old Fuita area near the campground and visitor center.  We camped at the campground in the rain and were surprised to see that the orchard was just that, an apple orchard with fruit bearing trees and it was a haven for wildlife to say the least (at least thirty deer were there when we arrived).  We hiked many trails in the park.  A great place and we had the entire place to ourselves as it was just after Labor day.

On the attached map, I think the orchard is just next to the campground..
http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/ma ... nal%20Park

[GRID]

Thank you. Yes, same trip. It was the first time I had used my new-at-the-time Nikon D70. I typically take over 1000 pictures a week when on vacation. You are not seeing all of them here. I made a DVD with nearly all of them, along with some of my son's pictures, set to music. It is almost three hours long.

There will be more.

This reminds me of how much I used to spend at one hour photo places after vacations.

[Roanoker]

This reminds me of how much I used to spend at one hour photo places after vacations.

Yes. Digital is better. Not so much for film developers, I guess.

Anyway, we're on the Capitol Gorge Trail in Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, headed for the wonderful Tanks. Other hikers are ahead of us.


You can hardly see husband, dressed in black.


Is this natural?


Looks like swiss cheese to me.


Backing off a bit...


Continuing on the path.


Along big walls.


This looks like a car backing over a cliff.


At least, you can "squeeze through" this gorge.


See son on the trail to the Tanks, taking a picture.


You can still see him, slightly left of center, in this broader view of the same spot.


You can see both husband and son, as they climb up the trail to see the Tanks. I'm right behind them. Duh.

[Roanoker]

We are on the trail that will allow us to view The Tanks in Utah. You can see the "Tanks" sign below. It was in the picture where we began the ascent (last picture).


A shot of the surrounding scenery on the trail.


It takes all kinds--of rock.


Son is up ahead.


First glimpse of The Tanks.


Another view of The Tanks.


Closer shot.


And another.


You can see how big The Tanks are now that my son is standing there.


Here he is again, from a different perspective. This picture (the middle third) is actually a portrait-oriented one within itself. I feathered the edges to hide the sharp edges.


Husband is "tanked."


Another view of the surroundings.

[Roanoker]

We are still at The Tanks, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Here is a fellow hiker.


Nice lighting on the scene across the way.


Natural steps. (Picture within itself.)


Son, looking at the Tanks from another perspective.


Here is another, portrait-oriented shot of the Tanks, embedded within itself with edges feathered.


Close-up of one or two tanks.


I'm sure this rock has a name. I just call it "rock stuff." It looks burned.


Husband stands on the trail below.


Holy rock, Batman!


I wonder how all this came to be. It looks planned.


Another view of same, with decoration. 


We are done with The Tanks. Hiking back to the car.

[Roanoker]

We're hiking back to our car.

Son, taking a rest.


The real picture is on the left half. The right half is a larger section of itself. I blurred the hard edges.


These are hikers I don't know. They are good for scale and perspective.


Even the walls along this trail were interesting.




Concretions are strange things. They rise up out of the rock and eventually drop off. It would be fun to see a time exposure. But it would have to be a long, long time period. Notice the pits where others have fallen out.


I can see why my son likes geology.


Flowers at last! They must be very hardy.


Nice views.


We're back on the road.


Had to chop off the pretty topknot on the right. It's still a nice view.


I like tree frames.

[Roanoker]

We've moved on, stopping along the road to take pictures and just enjoy the views. Hope you like red rock and dirt.












This is as close as I could get to anything that might resemble flowers.

[Roanoker]

Almost done with this day, we're on the road, stopping occasionally to snap pictures.






Notice the Goosenecks sign. Very short hike to get a glimpse.


On the trail...


What a scene.


Hard to capture it all.


Son is enjoying the view.


Life is not easy for these trees. They add to the charm.


This image is surreal.


Hard to believe it is May.


We didn't see a lot of wildlife. It was fun when we did.

[Roanoker]

Done with Capitol Reef, we drove through the Escalante area. I snapped this picture from a speeding vehicle and chopped off the blurred, roadside bushes at the bottom.


Imagine living in this place. Maybe the house belongs to a ranger.


Lots to see en route.


The Henry Mountains always seemed to be visible.


This tapestry was hanging on the wall where we ate that night.


It is finally the next day, May 5, 2005. We woke up to marvelous views.


Taken from the car.


Notice the great variety of rock.






Look where we are!


We're on foot now. Just wait a week and see what we saw just over the hill.

[Roanoker]

Bryce Canyon.












Notice the hikers.






See the horses or mules. Not sure which.

[Highlander]

Is there anywhere in the SW you did not go on this trip?

[Roanoker]

Is there anywhere in the SW you did not go on this trip?

I asked my son your question. He emphatically said, "Yes!" He said it would take several lifetimes to do so.

[Roanoker]

Still trying to take in the glory that is Bryce Canyon.

[Roanoker]

More Bryce Canyon.

[Roanoker]

This will be the last of the Bryce pictures.








A nearby sign called these structures The Grottos.


I'm sure my son doesn't like this picture. I do.












I took this one from a speeding vehicle. It's almost as if Bryce stops and the rest of the world begins.

[Roanoker]

Last glimpse of Bryce as we sped away.


Other kinds of rock. And plants.


We have arrived at Zion National Park.




Famous checkerboard structure.


Snapping pics driving through.

[Roanoker]

It is end of day, May 5, 2005.


Son, contemplating a picture.


Notice the road at the bottom.


Rising up from the valley.


Maybe my background experimentation has gone too far. Son again, taking a picture.


Classy visitor center.


I heard a loud crash in the visitor center and turned around to see my son picking up the results of his untoward movement. My apologies to him for posting this one.




We stayed in this hotel. It was a very nice one.


Hotel grounds.


More experimentation, this time with a real image of roses. I used a "Poster Edges" filter in Photoshop. It looks like a cartoon.


This is part of a mural on a restaurant wall. I like the bright colors.

[Roanoker]

It is the next day, May 6, 2005, and we are on our way to Las Vegas!


We're there!




The facade is not quite finished on this one.




On the outskirts of Las Vegas is a chocolate factory. Right behind it is a delightful, free-to-visitors cactus garden.


The chocolate factory is Ethel M, in honor of Mars founder's mother.


Continuing our stroll through the garden...

[Highlander]

Zion is the Yosemite of the desert.  It's my favorite SW US park and Angel's Landing is my favorite trek in the SW US.  I put some photos out there a while back on my hike to Angel's Landing (which turned resulted in participation in a rescue operation of an Australian lady with a broken leg). 

I loathe Vegas though.  Not only do I find it tacky and senseless, it brings a large permanent population into an otherwise deserted part of the US to clutter up the beautiful places in the SW and exploit the already stressed resources of the area (e.g. water).  I noticed recently it was the most uneductated city in the US with fewest college degrees per capita.