9/21/2003 – Departure from Reality

 

I left Phoenix about 7:30 am and was in Flagstaff by 9:30.  There I did some chores before moving on the Page/Lake Powell area.  I arrived at the horse shoe bend of the Colorado around 2:00 pm and loaded up the camera gear for the short hike over the hill.  I struggled to get the whole scene in with my wide angle lens and was shocked to find out that you practically need to shoot strait down over a cliff to get the shot.  I think the right lens would be a 8 – 10 mm fisheye if you are shooting digital.  I may stop on the way back and shoot the film body to make sure I get it. 

I’m sitting on a cliff that must be 2000 feet above Lake Powell watching the sun set over my shoulder and lighting afire the canyon walls before me.  This was a nice surprise with today’s flat skies.  Water is extremely low exposing much of the low level shoreline. It’s pretty clear that we are suffering from a wide scale drought.    My lookout is known as Alstrom Point and proved a difficult find even with the modern technology of GPS.  I learned really fast that none of the trails are marked, blowing 40 minutes past the turn towards my eventual camp.  The trail twisted up and over the crest of the badlands in the Escalante Staircase making for a spectacular vista and the first opportunity to use the four wheel drive. 

It’s dark now and the stars are waking up to overpower the glow from the laptop.  The milky-way is straight overhead and paints a path from horizon to horizon.  Tonight, I will sleep under this blanket of stars and rise early to make the two plus hour off-road trip to the Paria Canyon ranger station in efforts to be chosen for a permit to the Coyote Buttes area for the following day.  My plan is to hike Paria Canyon and the intersecting Buckskin Wash which is said to have ample photo ops.   

I count six houseboats beneath me and their glow is the only reference to the lake now.  Temperatures peaked in the mid 80’s today and now it’s cooling off nicely with a slight breeze.  It’s 8:45 pm mountain time.  Good thing the ranger at the BLM station pointed out that they were an hour ahead or I would have missed the permit process tomorrow.   

Tonight’s chores consist of load the 4×5 film backs because I forgot to do this last night before I left.  Could be worse, I could have forgot the film.  Tomorrow night I hope to capture some long exposures, or who knows, maybe I’ll do some tonight.

9/22/2003

Today started early.  Got up before the sun and stopped the star trail shot that I began around 9 pm the night before after loading the film backs.  Looks like the moon rose straight up in the middle of the picture which will cause a big white stripe along its path.   

Loading went faster than expected, but the static under the sleeping bag looked like a small electrical storm.  I hope that I didn’t expose the film.  I will try the star trails again tonight, this time facing away from the moon, which is rising at about 1 in the morning. 

Got lost four wheeling in the dark on the edge of Alstrom Point in route to the ranger station for my lucky permit.  I figured as long as I kept left, I would stay out of Lake Powell. 

Made the Paria station in time for the permit lottery, but as it would turn out, roughly 25 people showed up and I did not get a permit.  Should have been here yesterday they said.  Oh well, I’m on vacation and have the time to try again, so tomorrow we’ll do it all over.  I think I will set camp a little closer this time.

I could have picked up a permit to Coyote Buttes south, but the ranger at the BLM strongly recommended a place called Buckskin Wash since I had never been.  Wow!  The pictures should speak for themselves.  The slot was so tight in spots that you had to turn sideways to pass.  The

stone layers and formations in the slot did not disappoint.  I even took the 4×5 in a pack and shot a couple frames, wasted one (I think the film was loaded wrong).  The hike was around 4 miles each direction and for the most part flat.  The 90 degree temperatures dipped into the 70 within the slot and made for a nice 5 hour excursion.  My shoulders are killing me from lugging that 4×5 camera that far.  Let’s hope the pictures turn out. 

So my new plan is to wait out a permit for the Coyote Buttes area, or at least give it one more try.  If I get the permit tomorrow, I will probably do the south Coyote Buttes area just to stay close.  Maybe a little Paria Canyon too.  The choices in this area seem endless, so I won’t be bored.

So where am I now?  Well I drove about 70 miles east to pick up a cell signal and upload this report. I figured that I could connect in Kanab, but no dice so I drove on.  It’s really incredible country; red rock mesas parallel the road all the way to where I sit now.  It’s 6:30 pm Utah time and the sun is still reasonably high in the sky, maybe leaving me enough time to catch some shots of sunset. 

9/23/2003

So I guess I need to catch you up.  I’ve been in the back country for the past couple days.  Yesterday I attended the second drawing for the Coyote Buttes permit.  Having to be at the rangers office at 9:00 just kills the morning light, but I woke up late anyway.  After driving back from the St George area where I uploaded the last post, I four wheeled up above the ranger station off the Cottonwood Canyon road.  It was close, but remote due to the trail I took to get there.  No Import trucks on this road:)

I arrived at the ranger’s office around 8:45 and they started the drawing at 9:00.  The first winner was a solo hiker and then there were nine left.  The second name drawn was for a party of four, followed by another party of four.  That only leaves one!!  I think I was getting a lesson in faith.  The good news is that parties who had two or more hikers pulled out since they could only get one permit.  The next name drawn was not me and my stomach sank.  But wait, he was not there, so they drew another name and it was very familiar.  I was going to Coyote Buttes on Wednesday. Woo hoo!!

After reveling in my little victory, I decided to head for Harris Wash for a long day hike to the Zebra slot canyon and the tunnel.  I drove north on the cottonwood road two hours to Cannonville and on to Escalante where I stopped in at the BLM office to get any tips for the area.  The ranger suggested that both Zebra and the tunnel were flooded from the last rain storm.  So I changed plans and went to lower Calf Creek falls.  The hike was 3 miles each way and a lot of it in sand which I’m getting use to hiking through (most of the trails are through sand at one point or another.)  the picture will give you an idea of the falls.

 I smoked the return trip of the Calf canyon hike to get back to a lookout West of Escalante for sunset.  I drove, I set up the camera, I waited, and waited, then this haze rolled in with the wind and my picture would have been crap – so I loaded back up and set a land speed record back to Cannonville and into Kodachrome Basin where I enjoyed the luxury of a campground with running water, showers, and someplace to throw away the trash.  Is this what being homeless feels like?  I opened the cooler only to find that the film for the 4×5 camera had a leak in the ziplock and the bag and the film cases were soaked.  It was the unused film and the shots that I took when I backpacked the camera down Buckskin wash.  I guess it wasn’t meant to be.  I had my star trail shots in my camera bag, so they were safe, and I had three film backs that may or may not have taken on water.  I guess I’ll only know in processing.

 9/24/2003

 

 

 

 

9/26/2003

 

 

 

 I figured that there was no way I could get a 30 second exposure without someone walking into the frame, so I threw my gear over my shoulder and left Antelope Canyon for another day. 

Off to Monument Valley.  This was roughly an hour and a half trip from Antelope and through some barren and lonely desert.  I arrived in Monument and scoped out the camp sites, which were meager at best, but came equipped with great views.  I then took the drive down through the valley which is a dirt road full of tour jeeps and rented RVs.  Not as bad as Antelope, but I would not be surprised if one day, the only way to see monument is in a guided tour.  The money’s not in the entrance fee, it’s in the shuttle and the guide.  I tried to acquire a private guide to take me to a couple of places off the beaten path, but the only guides were the jeep tours where you and 20 of your closest strangers can rid along and ooh and ahh at the same things.  No thanks.   

I did the loop at about 4 pm or two hours before sunset.  I was amazed by how these monuments to time stood tall amidst the clear remnants of their fallen brothers.  The formations were similar to what I had seen all week, but in their own way, different – independent.   There is no doubt that Monument Valley has the kings of buttes and mesas which is highlighted by there isolation from one another.  I shot 60 – 70 frames and returned to the camp site to begin setting up the 4×5 to capture the two mittens at sunset.  I selected the camp site for this purpose and labored over the camera to get both buttes in focus, which is quite a challenge with a 4×5 camera.  Now all I had to do is wait for sunset… and wait… and wait.  Finally it’s getting to be just about time to shoot my picture, and a group of 20 or so people pile out of a van in began to set up camp right in the way.  There was a couple that walked out onto a point and into my scene, so I walked over and asked if I could get them to move for a second.  They did and I started to set up the shot.  They walked over and we started talking, and before we knew it, the rest of the group had pitched tents in the way.  Oh well, not my shot I guess.  Nice couple from Germany.  I’m not sure, but I think the whole country gets the month of September off to tour the Southwest.  I met one couple the whole trip that did not speak with a German accent.  Must be some fascination with the southwest.  They were all having a blast so more power to them.   

I shot stars that night and got up early to shoot sunrise over the Mittens before doing a morning light circuit of the valley.  The road through the valley runs west to east, so the evening light is opposite of the morning.  For this reason, I would recommend two trips through the valley; one in the evening and again the next morning. 

 After the morning loop, I packed up camp and began the four hour trip to Sedona where I was suppose to meet some friends for a weekend campout.  (read with guilt – you know who you are   Arrived in Flagstaff around 11 and checked voicemail which indicated that the camping was off.  After 6 days on the road, I didn’t shed a tear to come home and sleep in my bed.  I would have been nice to stay in Flagstaff for the night since the leaves are beginning to change colors, but I made the two hour trip south to Phoenix. 

It’s probably a good thing that I have the weekend to recover as I’ve been running pretty hard this past week.  I’ve watched the sun rise and set each of the past five days hoping to capture the perfect image. I don’t know if that exists, but to try is most of the fun.  I’ve logged 1,377 miles which is roughly the distance from Phoenix to Seattle or half way to Boston – All while staying in Arizona and Utah.  Many of the miles were off road, and some I ran like I was racing in the Baja.  Ever heard of a controlled four wheel slide?  I’m still amazed that I didn’t flat on some these roads and the Ford took everything I threw at her.  I even got airborne a couple times.  No I mean airborne – going back and picking up your stuff airborne.  Running 50 mph into that whoop that you didn’t see and watching all of your gear defy the laws of gravity is priceless.  I just turned 30,000 miles on this trip so I guess it’s time for a little warranty work.  Hmm, I think I hear a knock in the chassis and I’m not sure, but the alignment may be off…