Bryce Canyon... Land of the Hoodoos a spiritual place

I have been putting off writing about Bryce Canyon until I finished processing all the 600 photographs I shot while walking the canyon. The difficult process of choosing which images to use on this blog is what has taken so long. So I hope you will enjoy the images and get a feeling for this amazing canyon.

My first impression of Bryce is that it is a classic old lodge set in a nice block of woods that one reaches from SR 12 to SR 63. There is only forest and snow as I drive the road. Spring thaw has had no effect on the grip of Winters cold in this place. I am wondering what sets this place apart from the many other nice looking woods I have seen on my travels? After a few minutes I reach what appears to be a parking lot framing a classic old log building and a group of cabins set in a snowy wood, a Christmas card setting if ever there was one.

Checking in as evening is setting, I go to my cozy room up on the second floor of the rustic lodge main building. The room is really two rooms, one for sitting, reading or just looking out of the perfectly placed window and the other part for sleeping. There is a small no frills bathroom off the bedroom. I am grateful for the second floor location and a warm comfortable bed. I check my photo gear for the next day of exploration before going down for dinner.

Dawn brings the light of day in my window, waking me from a restful night sleep. The smells of coffee and eggs waif their way up the stairs as I go down to the lodge dinning hall for a hardy breakfast, a welcome way to start my day.

Soon I am loaded up with food and gear and ready to experience Bryce Canyon. I walk from the lodge through the woods on a small path in the snow. Then without a hint of warning I am standing at the top precipice of a massive and deep open space full of colorful towers reaching up to meet me. The first experience is shocking and unexpected, even if you have seen pictures of Bryce before. A large gust of wind blows up the walls hitting me in the face with a cold blast of air as if to say wake up and take notice of where you are. My eyes begin to water. After a long pause to take in all that is before me I decide to walk the rim trail above to see the view from all angles. The light is beautiful in the morning, creating deep shadows of reflected red shades. The sunlight adds warm yellows to the towers. The first day passes fast as I return to my room to recharge both my own batteries and that of the camera. I couldn't wait to see how my shots came out. Tomorrow I will walk the steep lower trails.

Day two is met with eager anticipation. A quick breakfast and I am off to the edge and the trails that lead to the canyon floor. As I walk the canyon's up and down trails I can't help but think how time and weather must have diminished the still overwhelming scale of the towers looming above me.

 It is hard to explain the feeling I had the first time I looked out over the rim of Bryce Canyon it was as if it belonged to another planet or to a science fiction film set. Not quite real yet there it is a sight to behold.The red rock of this place is so unreal that you may think that I have adjusted the color of the photos, let me assure you that it is the real color. The consistent rushing wind of the upper rim is clearly missing in the relative quiet calm of the descending trail. I become aware of my breathing and the rising Hoodoo Towers around me. Hoodoos... that's what they call them. They have personalities you know, distinctive features that make me feel they are watching and wondering why I have come among them.

It is a long and winding walk of many hours down as I stop to take pictures. It will be much more difficult on the uphill climb out of the canyon as I will be tired from the long hike. I am grateful for the forethought of a packed lunch and several bottles of water I brought along with me. Turkey jerky never tasted so good.

At the bottom, the Hoodoos of red rock reach to the sky as if standing guard over some unseen treasure. The treasure though is the beauty of the spires themselves. The towers are like nothing else I have yet experienced on this journey through the Parks of the Western United States. Now the land flattens out a bit in front of me and the trees take hold as the forest starts to regain a foothold. Small animals scurry around. An incredibly bright blue bird lands on a branch near me, my wife tells me (she is a bird watcher) that the bird is a Western Bluebird. It is a fabulous bird that is disappearing from many ranges that it once inhabited.

Noon passes and the day wares on as I cross the canyon floor, Soon I start the long slow climb back out of the canyon. I am glad I took my time getting to this point, my back pack and camera begin to feel like lead weights as the trail steepens. I am now using my tripod as a walking stick and have to rest at each turn of the switchback trail.

The shadows begin to grow longer and the temperature starts to fall marking the need to start the long climb up. There are many climbers marching up the trail, I am passed by several young folks that seem to not even realize the steepness of the path they are walking. I feel my age as they go by me with a big "Hello".

Undaunted I press on shooting and climbing the steep trail. An hour passes, and then another, now I can see the top of the path. This has to be one of the most strenuous hikes of my trip, but I will do it again the next time I return to Bryce it is too good to miss. As darkness falls I am back at the lodge, a shower, a rest and a well deserved dinner with friends ends the perfect day that I will long remember.

The Long Road to Zion

Leaving the South Rim of the Grand Canyon behind, I headed northwest toward Las Vegas. There I would meet my wife and some friends for the next part of the journey. It wasn't long before I was back in civilization. There is a lot of road work being done all over the area and I was caught in the grip of this road development with many other unfortunate travelers. It would be slow going for several hours.

I can't say that Las Vegas is an ideal stopover after the tranquility of the open desert. It's more like a dunk into ice cold water after baking in the Sun. On one level it is revitalizing and on another just shocking to the system. Thankfully this would be a short layover.
 
I picked up my wife and the next morning we were off on route 15 to the open spaces of the Colorado Plateau and the next major location of Zion National Park. Along the way it is worth stopping at St. George, for gas and food before the route 9 cutoff as there is not much between there and the small town of Springdale which marks the entrance to the Park.

I'd herd a lot about Zion and how beautiful it is and was looking forward to the experience. The bad news is that we arrived at the gate late in the evening and the road into the park was very dark. All we could see in the darkness as we drove the winding road for the several miles to the Lodge were the trees lit by my headlights. Also, just a word of advise at this point, you need a reservation at the Zion Lodge to drive your car into the park. All others must use the shuttle buses that run during open hours. 

Night hid any chance of seeing the grandeur of anything but a few rodents caught in the headlights as we drove to the lodge. Soon a sign announced that we have arrived. We checked in quickly and were so tired we went directly to our room to get some sleep. The lodge is rustic and the rooms are nice and without frills, but the bed was soft and soon I was fast asleep... Zion will have to wait for morning.

The morning sunlight brought the first view of the valley and it did not disappoint.  The red cliffs formed bands of strata layers revealing  the history of 225 million years of erosion from the Virgin River, earthquakes and volcanic activity. I strained my neck to look to the top as the peaks rose to meet the blue sky.  

Over the next days as I walked the trails and photographed this valley I could not help but be awed by the majestic scale and color of this spiritual place. It is clear why and how Zoin got it’s name one feels the energy of a higher power here it is a vortex of energy, a place of contemplation and self awakening.

It’s at this point that I become lost for words. Yes... you heard me right... I became speechless. I have been sitting here thinking what I could say that would add to the images that follow but the story is in the images so I think I will let the images speak for me. I hope the pictures that follow do justice to the experience of Zion National Park. 

My first view of the Canyon.

Emerald Pools Trail "The Falls"

Emerald Pools Trail the path along the pools.

Emerald Pools Trail water etched rock face

Trees along the edge.

Towers of the Virgin

Looking south over the Virgin River

The wide view looking south

Traveling the South Side of the Grand Canyon

I know I said the next post would be Zion but that will have to wait just a bit longer my fellow travelers. I have decided to take a small detour to the lesser visited south rim of the Grand Canyon. Many of us have been to the highly viewed and crowded North Rim. It is the most familiar of the Canyon views and is the most photographed. So with this in mind and because I am free to do just anything I want, when I want, I thought I would detour to explore the road less traveled. Taking to the back roads going east on route 40 to Cameron then North on 64 to the Grand Canyon Village.

Once at the village I was surprised to find a bumper to bumper traffic jam. Now I must warn you that once at the village you will be asked to park your car and travel by bus if you want to go to the rim. There are long lines and a high fees as you spend hours in one line after another, herded through what felt to me like a processing mill. There are also planes and helicopters that for even higher fees (shorter lines) will fly you into the canyon. Needless to say I soon realized that this was a bad idea. I was overwhelmed by the sea of humanity and the high prices for everything from food to rides and  memorabilia. I hurried back to my car and left what felt like a waste of time. Sadly, I did not get to the glass viewing site that extends over the rim.

So to recover my sense of balance I looked for a back way to see the canyon and surrounding area. I took an unmarked dirt road on to the Havasupai Indian reservation (My GPS said Indian road.) and headed west into the hills. This felt better and more like the experience I was looking for. It was my hope that sooner or later this road would bring me to some views of the South rim.

Driving over long stretches of winding road filled with rocks and potholes that threatened to damage the car if not avoid was stressful. An hour went by and I did not see another car or person anywhere, I was truly out in the wild and on my own. Another hour of turns dips and bumps on a road that seemed to go in every direction, my GPS said no road indicated, I was driving on nothing! But now I was committed and had used half of a tank of gas going back was out of the question, I began to wonder if I would spend the night out here?

Rounding a turn to my surprise, I saw on the side of the road a reservation police SUV. I stopped and walked over to the car. Sitting in the drivers seat was a large dark impressive figure, his face etched with the lines of life in the elements, his black and silver hair wrapped with a bandana. Sitting straight up behind the wheel half dressed in police uniform and half in his Indian garb. He looked at me with calm clear eyes and said "What are you doing way out here, are you lost?" I said I was looking for the south rim of the canyon that was not in the village tourist trap. I wanted to see the places where the locals go. He grunted an understanding gesture and said the reservation roads are not for outsiders, but since you have come this far you can go through. I asked will this road take me back to the highway and could I reach it on half a tank of gas?  He said "Keep on going and be careful the road is very bad and there is no help for you if you break down. You will be on your own. Eventually you will come out at the highway if you are a good driver." I thanked him for his advice and went on.

I now knew that I could make it back, that the road did go through and not take me to a dead end that would leave me stranded. A renewed feeling of confidence gave me energy and it was early enough in the day to stop at many of the vistas that I felt were never photographed. I almost didn't care that a close view of the canyon would elude me on this trip. I was fortunate to be shooting images across two reservations now that I had passed from the Havasupai to the Hualapai Reservation. Slowy progressing over one hill after another the vistas promised an ever closer view of the south rim. Would it still be possible to get a good look?

The land here is vast desert and scrub with variations of subtle to strong colors that are hard to believe. Distance is compressed and the illusion of scale confuses the mind. That which is large appears small and that which is far seems close.  Another hour passed as one photo-op to the next moved me down the road. Time stopped for me, the spirit of the landscape revealed itself to me. In my solitude of visual meditation I found the images I was looking for.
I was glad to be alone out here and feel the vast bigness of it all reveal how small I really am.

I noticed a cloud of dust approaching me over a distant hill. It was another car going the other way. I flagged him down he told me the road was at least an hour back. I was amazed to see he was driving a Cady and warned him of the road conditions and that he had over 4 hours if he was going to reach the village as it was beginning to become dusk and night travel on this road would be very hazerdous. That's OK we are going to camp in an hour. I wished him good luck as we parted going in opposite directions.

Needless to say that I was glad to be in my Suburu all wheel drive and soon reached the highway as my tank was riding on the empty mark. Gassing up and a motel for a shower and sleep marked the end of a day of rewarding excitment and adventure. Life is good when you come out without a scratch. Tomorrow I will be on the road to Vegas to meet my wife and friends then off to Zion.

 Oh, and by the way I did get that big shot of the south rim, amazing!

Hoover Dam

Leaving Joshua Tree National Park I set my sites on Hoover Dam. Driving northeast I was soon back in civilization and after the mind expanding experience of the last park the invasive explosion of humanity was more then obvious. I don't mean this to be in a negative context, just an observation of fact. Driving between wilderness and cities is a real eye opener about how we live. The narrow roads of wide open spaces give way to the 5 to 8 lanes of superhighway and cloverleaf junctions filled with traffic congestion. Everywhere one looks there is signage informing us of our needs to consume everything from A to Z. All of this is of course is a necessary part of the economy and we all need to participate at some level right? It is just that much more noticeable after coming out of a place like Joshua Tree. Wind farms (a good thing) dot the hillsides where they can do the most good.

 It wasn't long before I arrived at Las Vegas, Nevada. I would spend the night there to clean up and have a hot meal. Can't tell you how good it feels to sleep in a real bed after camping so many nights in the car. Soon my wife will arrive and we will travel together for a while. The next day I pick her up and meet some friends... then we get on the road to Hoover Dam. There is a great deal of construction being done on the infrastructure of the roads all over the southwest. Hoover Dam is no exception. The traffic began to back up miles from the dam and it took hours of bumper to bumper driving to reach the dam. As I crested the hill that provided my first gimps of the dam it all felt worth all the trouble.

If you look carefully you will see how the road winds a zig zag now the hill and out over the dam then up the opposite side of the ravine. A grand view overlooking it all. There are many places to pull out and park but you will pay at least 7 dollars for the privilege. Do it... it 's worth it so you can spend some time walking around and taking in the spectacle of this place. It is a beautiful thing to behold. What follows are just a few of the images I captured at Hoover Dam. Enjoy!

If you look carefully you can see all the power lines running from the Dam to the poles on the left this is to distribute the power generated by the dam. I hope you enjoyed these images as much as I enjoyed being at Hoover Dam. Notice the bridge bypass that they are now constructing. Soon You won't have to stop at all if you don't want to. This construction was the reason for the long lines of car waiting to cross. Next Park on my list is Zion National Park don't miss that one coming soon.

Mystical Joshua Tree

Getting to Joshua Tree takes me through many towns in Southern California, the drive is mostly freeway and civilization is sprawling with strip malls, factories and fast food joints along the way. There is no sign of wilderness for a great many miles. Eventually it all starts to give way to open desert and there is now a sense that I am escaping the congestion. As I climb into the foothills the Cactus becomes more noticeable and I begin to feel that I am close. I arrive late in the evening the sun is setting and I must find a camp site many are full as I drive from one location to another. Then I luck out and find a spot, must have been the last one in the park. Sun setting as  I bed down. Tomorrow morning I will get up early with the sunrise.

The light is cool and the scene is mystical as I get the first shot of the day. I am  captivated by the rocks and trees the landscape draws me in, but I need coffee and something to eat so my eagerness to explore will have to wait... Soon I am fueled up and grab my equipment for what will be a long hike into this wonderland.

Balanced rock caught my eye, How did that rock get there? It's too large to have been placed? Sitting up as though waiting and watching for something to happen I watch too.

The Joshua tree stands out in this landscape, a local resident of the desert. Each with it's own personality, accented by gesture of shape and a crown of spiky leaves they seem to be communicating with one another. This is a place without much water yet vegetation abounds amidst the large out of place rock formations and fields of sandy soil. It all feels so alien yet right.

As the day draws on, I wander through the landscape the rocks reveal their mineral content with blasts of color. Quartz rocks sparkle like gemstones. I need to know more about Geology to be able to tell you what I am shooting. I do know that red rock has iron content and oxidation causing the rusty color. Yellow could be sulpher, but i'm guessing here? I notice this chromatic formation crested with a cactus plume. Now the day is growing long and I start back to the camp... as I walk, I notice the openness of the sky... the quiet of the space. I stop to sit and take it in, an hour passes... and this is what I saw.
How long would you sit in this place? As I write this I miss it already.

Journey South to Joshua Tree National Park.

As I drove up the steep slope that marked the exit of Death Valley I had mixed feelings. On one hand I was glad to be leaving the dry intense heat of the desert floor and the constant thirst that my body called for, but on the other hand I was a bit saddened to leave this place of intense beauty, filled with a plethora of wonders that had moved me so deeply. I was glad that I took the time to photograph it's marvelous splendor. Now I was looking forward to the next destination, it would be Joshua Tree National Park.

Once over the hill that led from the valley, even though it was still desert it was noticeably different. There was moisture in the air and the light seemed more chromatic. I guess to most people this might go unnoticed but on this journey of solitude with a meditative quiet mind, my senses seem heightened.

Now that I have left the below sea level depths and peaceful quiet of Death Valley I can not help but notice the intrusion of the modern world. Telephone poles, billboards and cell towers marked the long ribbon of highway breaking the horizontals of the hills with the intrusive verticals of man made things. 

Wind power generators ever spinning as they catch the never ending wind gusts that make the desert what it is, a dust bowl. Nature is being harnessed we are getting the message of our oil dependency, even if it is in small amounts. It is not an easy thing to turn a ship the size of our economy.

Night was now falling and tomorrow I will be entering the Mojave Range and then Joshua Tree. I think I'll sleep in a real bed tonight even if it is a cheap motel it's better then the car. Besides I need a shower.

The next morning I wake with the dawn a habit one forms when sleeping under the stars. Go to sleep when it gets dark, get up with the first light. Early morning is when the light presents photographic opportunities that can only be revealed in the half light of dawn. Here are a couple of shots I got this morning.

So as the sun rose in the sky the land became flat and less interesting. Much of it looked like the outskirts of small towns with one gas station, a restaurant and a small motel. Who lives in these places? I often wonder what makes some of us so reclusive. I don't think I would last long in such a remote place. Driving back roads or super highways in this area is much the same, there is not much to see and the highway is faster. Lunch came and went as the hours of driving pass the road under my wheels, and the day wore on.

It wasn't until late afternoon that the landscape started to change and reveal the promise of once again becoming immersed in nature. The desert was reclaiming the land. There were no more man-made objects aside from the road itself that I could see. The dust bowl was now behind me. The distant hills were gaining in scale and the cactus seemed to be everywhere. I am getting close to Joshua Tree.  As I pulled into my camp site the light was fading. I am excited to be here and to feel the energy of what I know will be another great experience waiting for me in the morning. I will rise with the dawn tomorrow and see what I can see. One last shot... then sleep...

Into the Valley of Death

If you have never been to Death Valley you will not be able to comprehend the scale and extreme qualities that this place exudes. Most often the heat is unbearable for long periods of time (I am thankful for my Subaru's air conditioner). Being there in springtime when temperatures are somewhat less (from 100 to 109) was still an experience I do not want to repeat. Mid-day was spent parked in whatever shade I could find. So most images were taken in morning or evening. In the above image we are looking down into the great basin and can see for 100 miles to the distant peaks. Evenings are a relief from the heat as temperatures drop by as much as 60 degrees and the night sky is not to be believed as the heavens reveal the infinity of space. Try to spend one night in a sleeping bag under the stars and you won't be disappointed as it all seems to reach down through the atmosphere, you can reach out and almost touch a meteor.

Depending on the direction you enter the Valley you will either see the basin or the Sand dunes (entering from the north). From a distance they appear small but look close and you can see the size of people walking toward the peak of the highest dune. Few reach the top as the heat takes it's toll.
I decided that I would forgo the hike and focus on the compositions from below the peaks.

As I walked in the lower sands the compositions unfolded for my camera. The scale of the vegetation, the colors of the distant hills all effortlessly fell into perfectly designed formations, a symphony for my eyes.

Soon after leaving the dunes the valley opened before me. The pastel colors of far off Inyo Mountains and the Panamint Range seemed to be faded by the sun. The Death Valley floor cracked from the ever present heat. I was beginning to understand how this valley got it's name. I could not imagine how the early pioneers survived it's crossing on horseback and wagon, brave and more then slightly crazy souls they must have been.  One is struck by silence of this place, it's as if it was holding it's breath waiting for you to burn up or get out. It looks like no life could exist here. The gates to Hades might seem an appropriate name if it were not for the contradicting beauty beckoning me ever deeper into it's heart. What would I find around the next bend? The stereotype of the cow skull comes to mind, bleached white by the beating sun... I drove on and soon I would be surprised by what I found at my next stop.


"LIFE" in the Death Valley. At Furnace Creek, water amidst the dry parched land came as a real surprise to me. I am so amazed how even in the worst of situations life finds a way. As I walked the path following the creek I discovered that there were small fish living in the water (Stickel Backs). In the Town of Furnace Creek I was told by the Ranger that there was Desert Iguana, Mule Deer, Bobcat, kit fox and Desert Bighorn Sheep in the full range of the park but all I saw were the little fish. I guess one has to be here a long time to take it all in . I was grateful for the fish.

If you want to stay at the hotel in town you will need to make a reservation and the same is true if you are going to tent camp. If you are not prepared (like me) you will be relegated to the RV park. I don't recommend it as there are no showers and you can't use the hotel pool.

One of the most memorable moments in the journey was my stop at the Artist's Palette the colors of this place are not believable even when you are looking right at them. The energy of the colors in the rocks is so exciting. (click any image to see it larger) The drive through the small valley road is a thrill to drive but you must be careful, you will not want to keep your eyes on the road... so much to see, I must have stopped at least 50 times along this drive. All to soon I found myself back on the main road wondering what could top that! Truth is I am spending most of my Sabbatical saying that to myself and wondering how we seem to settle for the city life and small loops of predictable travel our lives take every day when so much awaits discovery just outside our door!

Twenty Mules and the story of Borax is told in the remnants of the exhibit of wagons that still remain in the valley to remind us of the past industry of Death Valley.

In total it took four days for me to reach the southern end of the valley, I am treated to the profits of the earlier rains that came in winter. Fields of yellow and purple flowers blanket the sides of the road and the adjacent hillsides, as if to say thanks for coming and have a safe journey. I have a moment of sadness as I drive up the mountain and leave. One more glance in the rear view mirror and I am off to my next location.