I don't have a lot of time right now, but I'm going to post links to the sets of each of these hikes. Some of these pictures are dated from previous trips. The pictures at the beginning are from this trip.
Straight Wash - This is where we camped
Goblin Valley - The first 18 pictures are from this trip
Eardley Canyon
Black Dragon Canyon - Just the pictures from inside the cave are from this trip
Also did some light painting along the I-70 and Hwy 24 junction while waiting for Russ
Jun 16, 2009
May 25, 2009
San Rafael Swell: Day 3
We did not sleep as well as we did that first night because of both the rain and because of Bailey waking up quite a bit. We woke up to more sounds of rain and hard rain. We were feeling horrible with the thought that we would have to consider leaving and leaving James here, who drove the whole 4 hrs the day before to get there. We quickly ate breakfast and decided to go see Goblin Valley, as James had never been there before.
The place was a mud-soaked mess and the rain continued, but we walked through it anyway.
The chocolate river that ran through the park
Caiden with his poncho on
Bailey just waking up from her nap. Alene was carrying her under her nursing blanket most of the time.
Me and my kids
The rain stopped on our walk back to the cars, so the ground quickly became more stable
Caiden's shoes
The trail going up to the parking lot was dangerous
When we left, it started to rain again. We got to camp to talk about our situation a bit more and decided we needed to leave. James too decided he was going to leave. We felt horrible for him because the last time we went camping with him we had to leave under critical circumstances :-).
My climbing ropes were still tied up, so after loading the truck, the last thing I had to do was climb up some sandstone rock to release them and wrap them back up. That took quite a while, but I was relieved that it didn't end up too dangerous.
My brother's and I are going to go back on the weekend of June. 12th. I hope for much better weather then. We had a great time with two excellent hikes and it was fun hanging out with the Bergeners and getting to know the Grabers some more.
The place was a mud-soaked mess and the rain continued, but we walked through it anyway.
The chocolate river that ran through the park
Caiden with his poncho on
Bailey just waking up from her nap. Alene was carrying her under her nursing blanket most of the time.
Me and my kids
The rain stopped on our walk back to the cars, so the ground quickly became more stable
Caiden's shoes
The trail going up to the parking lot was dangerous
When we left, it started to rain again. We got to camp to talk about our situation a bit more and decided we needed to leave. James too decided he was going to leave. We felt horrible for him because the last time we went camping with him we had to leave under critical circumstances :-).
My climbing ropes were still tied up, so after loading the truck, the last thing I had to do was climb up some sandstone rock to release them and wrap them back up. That took quite a while, but I was relieved that it didn't end up too dangerous.
My brother's and I are going to go back on the weekend of June. 12th. I hope for much better weather then. We had a great time with two excellent hikes and it was fun hanging out with the Bergeners and getting to know the Grabers some more.
May 24, 2009
San Rafael Swell: Day 2
On the second day we awoke to the surprise that Bailey slept through the whole night. We were shocked. Still, when she was up, she was UP. I somehow fell asleep in the tent for another 2 hrs while Alene played with Bailey and Caiden and the kids ran around on the sandstone around the campsite.
It took a while to get going, but it had been raining a little that morning, so we were trying to figure out the best thing to do. We headed to Goblin Valley, but noticed by the time we arrived, that it was raining even harder. We, as a group, decided to take our chances and go try something else and hope that Goblin Valley would be better to hike the next day (as you will see, we were wrong).
We decided to hike up to Skylight Arch, which was actually quite close to our campsite. We had previously known this hike as "San Rafael Window", or "Wild Horse Window", or "that cave thing you can see from the road". We did it about 2.5 years ago with my parents and I really enjoyed it, but Alene didn't remember it much. By the time we arrived at the trail head, the rain had stopped and the clouds actually disappeared. It was a very nice hike up and back.
This hike is cool because you get to be directly on sandstone most of the way up. When you're not, you're treking through soft sand. When you get to the Arch, you're amazed at the size. Some other cool things there are all the people that have carved their names into the ground in the area. You'll also find some fake pictographs.
Here are some pictures/video of the hike:
At the trailhead, waiting to head up
Looking back at our trucks
A water soaked cactus flower
Looking south toward Wild Horse Butte
Bailey hanging onto a flower
The group heading up
Getting closer
Some pools just before getting to the arch. This one had a bunch of tadpoles in it.
Bailey clapping
Jared, John, Kevin, and I hiked up to the top of the arch. It was SCARY being close to that drop as it is definitely a life-taker. Would be cool to rappel into it though.
I laid on my belly to get close enough to the edge to take this picture
A few more pictures of the arch from our previous trip (I never actually took pictures of the arch while we were there this time)
(older picture)
(older picture)
Thumbs down to the fake pictographs (older picture)
On our way back
After our hike, we decided to part ways for a bit with the rest of the group. They were up for a scenic drive, and we were almost out of ice, so we decided to see what Hanksville, UT was like. We knew it was the closest town to the Swell, but we didn't know it was less than 20 minutes away. It was great to get there, see the small town, and get some stuff we needed. Good to know in general that it's not too far away in the future for a REAL emergency.
Alene snapped a picture of this old church in town.
Bailey got some serious cookie face on the way back
When we got back to camp, the rest of the group had not returned from their drive yet, so I went and set up a rappel, in hopes we could all have a good time doing that. I was able to hit it once (no pictures/video), then the rain came POURING down. I quickly ran back to camp to get dinner ready, in hopes the rain would stop. It never stopped the rest of our time there.
The rest of our group returned a bit later, explaining how they ended up taking some pretty hairy roads and had to find their way back. I'm hoping they post video on their blog.
We were mostly worried, however, for our friend James, who was coming down with his girlfriend. Not only were we in a different campsite than he expected (I was able to email him earlier, but I wasn't sure if he received it), but the rain got heavier and heavier. As the evening rolled around, we sat in the truck while bailey slept. Around 9:30pm we got nervous and I decided to go driving to look for him. Within 10 minutes I had found him and guided him to our site. It must have been so horrible for him to arrive to these conditions. We quickly helped him set up his tent, then all went to bed for the night.
It took a while to get going, but it had been raining a little that morning, so we were trying to figure out the best thing to do. We headed to Goblin Valley, but noticed by the time we arrived, that it was raining even harder. We, as a group, decided to take our chances and go try something else and hope that Goblin Valley would be better to hike the next day (as you will see, we were wrong).
We decided to hike up to Skylight Arch, which was actually quite close to our campsite. We had previously known this hike as "San Rafael Window", or "Wild Horse Window", or "that cave thing you can see from the road". We did it about 2.5 years ago with my parents and I really enjoyed it, but Alene didn't remember it much. By the time we arrived at the trail head, the rain had stopped and the clouds actually disappeared. It was a very nice hike up and back.
This hike is cool because you get to be directly on sandstone most of the way up. When you're not, you're treking through soft sand. When you get to the Arch, you're amazed at the size. Some other cool things there are all the people that have carved their names into the ground in the area. You'll also find some fake pictographs.
Here are some pictures/video of the hike:
At the trailhead, waiting to head up
Looking back at our trucks
A water soaked cactus flower
Looking south toward Wild Horse Butte
Bailey hanging onto a flower
The group heading up
Getting closer
Some pools just before getting to the arch. This one had a bunch of tadpoles in it.
Bailey clapping
Jared, John, Kevin, and I hiked up to the top of the arch. It was SCARY being close to that drop as it is definitely a life-taker. Would be cool to rappel into it though.
I laid on my belly to get close enough to the edge to take this picture
A few more pictures of the arch from our previous trip (I never actually took pictures of the arch while we were there this time)
(older picture)
(older picture)
Thumbs down to the fake pictographs (older picture)
On our way back
After our hike, we decided to part ways for a bit with the rest of the group. They were up for a scenic drive, and we were almost out of ice, so we decided to see what Hanksville, UT was like. We knew it was the closest town to the Swell, but we didn't know it was less than 20 minutes away. It was great to get there, see the small town, and get some stuff we needed. Good to know in general that it's not too far away in the future for a REAL emergency.
Alene snapped a picture of this old church in town.
Bailey got some serious cookie face on the way back
When we got back to camp, the rest of the group had not returned from their drive yet, so I went and set up a rappel, in hopes we could all have a good time doing that. I was able to hit it once (no pictures/video), then the rain came POURING down. I quickly ran back to camp to get dinner ready, in hopes the rain would stop. It never stopped the rest of our time there.
The rest of our group returned a bit later, explaining how they ended up taking some pretty hairy roads and had to find their way back. I'm hoping they post video on their blog.
We were mostly worried, however, for our friend James, who was coming down with his girlfriend. Not only were we in a different campsite than he expected (I was able to email him earlier, but I wasn't sure if he received it), but the rain got heavier and heavier. As the evening rolled around, we sat in the truck while bailey slept. Around 9:30pm we got nervous and I decided to go driving to look for him. Within 10 minutes I had found him and guided him to our site. It must have been so horrible for him to arrive to these conditions. We quickly helped him set up his tent, then all went to bed for the night.
San Rafael Swell: Day 1
Well, our original plan for our 5 days of no work was to go to Capital Reef National Park, but we kind of chickened out. Our biggest worry was for Bailey and having her sleep well. We figured we would rather go somewhere we're familiar with to lessen the stress a bit. Plus, our friends the Bergeners were going to be there with their neighbors the Grabers, so we figured we would invite ourselves and join them. We had a great time (as usual) despite us leaving a day earlier due to rain.
For all of the pictures/videos of this trip, feel free to check out our flicker sets here:
Crack Canyon
Skylight Arch
A few random pictures
Note that some of these sets are combined with previous visits to these areas. You can tell where they change by keeping an eye on the "date taken on" on the right hand side of the picture. As usual, you can enlarge each photo by clicking on "all sizes" at the top of the picture.
We got up at 4:30am on Thursday morning in order to get down to the Swell at a decent time. We were able to leave the house by 5:30am and got to the campsite around 9:30am. We ended up camping in South Temple wash, which is off the main road that runs through the Temple Mtn. Road. We quickly set up camp, made our lunches and got out there to go hike Crack Canyon. I had never done Crack Canyon, but Bill has kept telling me that Crack is an amazing canyon and he wasn't lieing. It could be one of my favorites in the swell so far.
It's fun because the drive into it was an adventure itself with a little 4x4 trail you take to the entrance (or you could hike the whole trail). The canyon has tall walls (as expected), lot's of greenery, some great narrows, an awesome "subway" of sorts, and a few drop-offs that make it challenging. I'd love to get to the end of this canyon someday. We hiked as far back as we could, until about the 4th drop-off, where we decided to not drop our kids down because it was a bit longer than the other drops.
All in all, we had a great hike. Here are some pictures from the hike below:
The opening of the canyon
Caiden and Madison climbing on the rocks
Subway looking area
Us in the subway area
The group hiking in the canyon
Greenery in the canyon
Log stuck in the canyon
Bailey getting her mineral in-take
Madison, Caiden, and Parker leading the way
Lifting and dropping kids packs down to each other
Alene waiting for us to come back up the canyon
Hiking back out
The trail going out was a little rough
Graber's truck
Jared's low-rider
When we got back we let the kids play while Jared, John, and I went shooting in North Temple wash. We set up our targets about 30' away:
John
Jared
Compilation of our shots:
For all of the pictures/videos of this trip, feel free to check out our flicker sets here:
Crack Canyon
Skylight Arch
A few random pictures
Note that some of these sets are combined with previous visits to these areas. You can tell where they change by keeping an eye on the "date taken on" on the right hand side of the picture. As usual, you can enlarge each photo by clicking on "all sizes" at the top of the picture.
We got up at 4:30am on Thursday morning in order to get down to the Swell at a decent time. We were able to leave the house by 5:30am and got to the campsite around 9:30am. We ended up camping in South Temple wash, which is off the main road that runs through the Temple Mtn. Road. We quickly set up camp, made our lunches and got out there to go hike Crack Canyon. I had never done Crack Canyon, but Bill has kept telling me that Crack is an amazing canyon and he wasn't lieing. It could be one of my favorites in the swell so far.
It's fun because the drive into it was an adventure itself with a little 4x4 trail you take to the entrance (or you could hike the whole trail). The canyon has tall walls (as expected), lot's of greenery, some great narrows, an awesome "subway" of sorts, and a few drop-offs that make it challenging. I'd love to get to the end of this canyon someday. We hiked as far back as we could, until about the 4th drop-off, where we decided to not drop our kids down because it was a bit longer than the other drops.
All in all, we had a great hike. Here are some pictures from the hike below:
The opening of the canyon
Caiden and Madison climbing on the rocks
Subway looking area
Us in the subway area
The group hiking in the canyon
Greenery in the canyon
Log stuck in the canyon
Bailey getting her mineral in-take
Madison, Caiden, and Parker leading the way
Lifting and dropping kids packs down to each other
Alene waiting for us to come back up the canyon
Hiking back out
The trail going out was a little rough
Graber's truck
Jared's low-rider
When we got back we let the kids play while Jared, John, and I went shooting in North Temple wash. We set up our targets about 30' away:
John
Jared
Compilation of our shots:
Mar 30, 2009
San Rafael Swell: Day 3
I actually slept better than I've slept in a LONG time. I woke up a few times out of habit from Bailey waking up, but man, it felt great. I noticed during the night the breeze was picking up and by morning it was really blowing hard. We made our breakfast (which took a long time to burn since the wind was really blowing our burner around), packed up our stuff and did some more rappelling before leaving our campsite.
Here are more rappels from this day. This section of the cliff was much more vertical and easier to do since you didn't have to navigate your feet over a crack.
My first attempt of this section
Jeff's rappel
Billy's rappel
Caiden's last rappel of the day as I gathered the longer rope
After breaking down our ropes, it was getting really dusty/windy, but I wanted to show my brothers more of the swell, so we drove up North Temple wash close to Temple mountain to show them some old miners cabins and and old abandoned chevy.
Inside the miners cabin
The old Chevy
On our way back out of the wash, you can see how bad the dust storm is (this is looking East, through the reef)
We decided to do a little target practice too
On our way out the dust was REALLY bad east of the reef. This is looking eastward from the mouth of North Temple wash
This is looking North at the reef
From the temple mtn road, this is looking south toward goblin valley
A group of cows huddled together. I'm sure they were thinking the cow gods were not looking on them fondly that day
It really was a fun trip. I'm bummed we didn't do Crack Canyon, but you never know with clouds and dust, what kind of weather you're going to get, so we high-tailed it out of there. I wish I lived closer to the swell and we could get there easier.
Here are more rappels from this day. This section of the cliff was much more vertical and easier to do since you didn't have to navigate your feet over a crack.
My first attempt of this section
Jeff's rappel
Billy's rappel
Caiden's last rappel of the day as I gathered the longer rope
After breaking down our ropes, it was getting really dusty/windy, but I wanted to show my brothers more of the swell, so we drove up North Temple wash close to Temple mountain to show them some old miners cabins and and old abandoned chevy.
Inside the miners cabin
The old Chevy
On our way back out of the wash, you can see how bad the dust storm is (this is looking East, through the reef)
We decided to do a little target practice too
On our way out the dust was REALLY bad east of the reef. This is looking eastward from the mouth of North Temple wash
This is looking North at the reef
From the temple mtn road, this is looking south toward goblin valley
A group of cows huddled together. I'm sure they were thinking the cow gods were not looking on them fondly that day
It really was a fun trip. I'm bummed we didn't do Crack Canyon, but you never know with clouds and dust, what kind of weather you're going to get, so we high-tailed it out of there. I wish I lived closer to the swell and we could get there easier.
San Rafael Swell: Day 2
So, after a horrible nights sleep (well, mine wasn't as bad, plus whenever I was sleeping I was snoring so loud it would wake up my brothers in their tent 40' away from us), we got up and found it to be pretty cold. That gave us motivation to scale the reef behind our campsite to see if there was a viable anchor on top to tie off my climbing rope to do some rappelling later in the day after our hikes.
Alene stayed in the tent to stay warm with Bailey. Jeff, Billy, Caiden, and I headed up to the top of the reef to inspect. We found a GREAT group of LARGE rocks to anchor off of. We worked our day back down the reef, made breakfast, then dinged around teaching Billy how to rappel off a smaller wall (about 15'-20' tall). Caiden did really well again.
We then headed out for our two hikes. We first stopped by Goblin Valley state park. That place gets more and more packed with visitors every year. It didn't help that we were there on a Saturday.
I'm not going to list all of the pictures we took, but here is a link to them (along with past times we've gone). The first 13 of them were from this trip.
Goblin Valley
The brotha's
Me and Bailey
Alene and Caiden riding the camel
Russ, riding what I like to call "turtle rock"
Flexing my toothpicks
Jeff aka "the karate kid"
After Goblin Valley, we headed on over to Little Wild Horse canyon, which is probably the most famous slot canyon to visit for the "average" person. The hike was great, but I'll say this: NEVER GO TO THIS CANYON ON A SATURDAY. We used to be able to go here on a saturday and maybe run into a dozen people, if we were lucky. This day we easily passed over 100 people in the canyon. LOT'S of Boy Scouts too.
Again, I won't post all of these pictures (I took most of my pictures here), so I'll post the link to the photos and a few of my favorites. Again, the first 40 pictures in this set were from this trip, the others beyond that were from previous trips
Little Wild Horse Canyon
Me and my brothers on the trail into LWH
Alene and Bailey made it through a pretty tight squeeze
Footage of walking through a slot
Posing at the large choke stone in the slot
Inside the ribs of the beast
We stopped a couple of miles in to each lunch, then turned around and went back out.
Me and Alene
Bailey was so happy to be leaving
We got back to the campsite and by then Alene and I had to decide if we could go through another night with Bailey. We decided it was best that Alene go to Green River, get a hotel and hopefully she and Bailey can get a good nights sleep. I was sad to see her go because I know Alene wanted to be here. However, it was probably best (I'll explain why on Day 3).
For the rest of the day we ended up anchoring my 90m rope to a couple of large rocks that were big enough for me, Russ, and Jeff to hang from the rope, so we figured we would be safe. We're not experts, but it was fun rappelling this large cliff behind us. It wasn't 100% vertical in all places, but still fun to do.
Here are is the link to our rappelling and some of the pictures and video clips:
Rappelling
Alene waiting her turn while Bailey hams it up for the camera
Russ' first attempt
Jeff's first attempt
Billy's first attempt
Alene's attempt (she bolted after this for Green River)
My first attempt. This section was easier compared to what we did the next day (a little more vertical)
Caiden did a few rappel's later that night too
Later that night we just ate dinner and chilled around the fire until it was time to doze off. Jeff and I attempted to take some night time pictures. Jeff's were much better.
My shot of the moon (too shaky, even on a tripod, but I think it has to do with the focus)
Jeff's shot of the moon through his telescope
Jeff's tent with the stars behind it (I'm posting the large version to show the details)
Alene stayed in the tent to stay warm with Bailey. Jeff, Billy, Caiden, and I headed up to the top of the reef to inspect. We found a GREAT group of LARGE rocks to anchor off of. We worked our day back down the reef, made breakfast, then dinged around teaching Billy how to rappel off a smaller wall (about 15'-20' tall). Caiden did really well again.
We then headed out for our two hikes. We first stopped by Goblin Valley state park. That place gets more and more packed with visitors every year. It didn't help that we were there on a Saturday.
I'm not going to list all of the pictures we took, but here is a link to them (along with past times we've gone). The first 13 of them were from this trip.
Goblin Valley
The brotha's
Me and Bailey
Alene and Caiden riding the camel
Russ, riding what I like to call "turtle rock"
Flexing my toothpicks
Jeff aka "the karate kid"
After Goblin Valley, we headed on over to Little Wild Horse canyon, which is probably the most famous slot canyon to visit for the "average" person. The hike was great, but I'll say this: NEVER GO TO THIS CANYON ON A SATURDAY. We used to be able to go here on a saturday and maybe run into a dozen people, if we were lucky. This day we easily passed over 100 people in the canyon. LOT'S of Boy Scouts too.
Again, I won't post all of these pictures (I took most of my pictures here), so I'll post the link to the photos and a few of my favorites. Again, the first 40 pictures in this set were from this trip, the others beyond that were from previous trips
Little Wild Horse Canyon
Me and my brothers on the trail into LWH
Alene and Bailey made it through a pretty tight squeeze
Footage of walking through a slot
Posing at the large choke stone in the slot
Inside the ribs of the beast
We stopped a couple of miles in to each lunch, then turned around and went back out.
Me and Alene
Bailey was so happy to be leaving
We got back to the campsite and by then Alene and I had to decide if we could go through another night with Bailey. We decided it was best that Alene go to Green River, get a hotel and hopefully she and Bailey can get a good nights sleep. I was sad to see her go because I know Alene wanted to be here. However, it was probably best (I'll explain why on Day 3).
For the rest of the day we ended up anchoring my 90m rope to a couple of large rocks that were big enough for me, Russ, and Jeff to hang from the rope, so we figured we would be safe. We're not experts, but it was fun rappelling this large cliff behind us. It wasn't 100% vertical in all places, but still fun to do.
Here are is the link to our rappelling and some of the pictures and video clips:
Rappelling
Alene waiting her turn while Bailey hams it up for the camera
Russ' first attempt
Jeff's first attempt
Billy's first attempt
Alene's attempt (she bolted after this for Green River)
My first attempt. This section was easier compared to what we did the next day (a little more vertical)
Caiden did a few rappel's later that night too
Later that night we just ate dinner and chilled around the fire until it was time to doze off. Jeff and I attempted to take some night time pictures. Jeff's were much better.
My shot of the moon (too shaky, even on a tripod, but I think it has to do with the focus)
Jeff's shot of the moon through his telescope
Jeff's tent with the stars behind it (I'm posting the large version to show the details)
San Rafael Swell: Day 1
So, this was to be our first official camping trip of the year. We typically get out camping around Bill's birthday, but this was our own trip and we could not coordinate our schedules to be there when Bill was going (which is the following weekend). We brought my brother's Russ, Jeff, and Billy. We had planned to do some hikes that we thought they would enjoy (Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse Canyon) and hoped to get in a hike of something we had never done (Crack Canyon) but our plans were altered by an un-happy baby and the worst sand storm I've ever seen at the Swell.
All in all we had a great time. We got to do some rapelling and my brothers got to see a part of Utah that we really love.
We left SLC around 2:30pm, meeting up with Jeff and Billy in Springville and leaving there around 3:30pm. We had a few stops along the way because Bailey was NOT happy sitting in the car that long. Also, Jeff was the un-lucky sucker to get pulled over along the infamous Wellington town along Hwy 6. He and I were both doing 60 coming into town and slowing down when we saw the 40 mph sign, but the cop decided to pull him over anyway. Pretty lame if you ask me, but that hole in the wall has to get some money in their budget somehow.
We arrived to the Temple Mtn junction around 7pm and drove to the campsite we love in the North Temple wash. Low and behold it was empty (we've lucked out the last 3 times we've tried to camp there with it being empty). I think it's one of the best campsites in the Swell because you're tucked right up against the reef with easy reef-scrambling right out of your campsite to get some great views of the area. Plus it's pretty central to both the southern and northern parts of the reef.
We set up camp and set up a small little rappel for Caiden to test out. The incline was not fully vertical, so it was a good one for him to practice on:
It was close to dinner time, so Bailey was first to eat
We had a little breezy night around the campfire, but dinner was good and we just kind of chilled for a bit.
Bailey was so cute, hanging out with her Uncle Russ
She was really good around the campfire. Just stared at the fire and chilled and eventually fell asleep in my arms
She looked as if she was going to sleep "like a baby", but that didn't go so well...
Bailey was up literally every 30 minutes, with Alene rocking her back to sleep. Very hard to "rock" a baby back to sleep in a tent. I felt so bad for her.
All in all we had a great time. We got to do some rapelling and my brothers got to see a part of Utah that we really love.
We left SLC around 2:30pm, meeting up with Jeff and Billy in Springville and leaving there around 3:30pm. We had a few stops along the way because Bailey was NOT happy sitting in the car that long. Also, Jeff was the un-lucky sucker to get pulled over along the infamous Wellington town along Hwy 6. He and I were both doing 60 coming into town and slowing down when we saw the 40 mph sign, but the cop decided to pull him over anyway. Pretty lame if you ask me, but that hole in the wall has to get some money in their budget somehow.
We arrived to the Temple Mtn junction around 7pm and drove to the campsite we love in the North Temple wash. Low and behold it was empty (we've lucked out the last 3 times we've tried to camp there with it being empty). I think it's one of the best campsites in the Swell because you're tucked right up against the reef with easy reef-scrambling right out of your campsite to get some great views of the area. Plus it's pretty central to both the southern and northern parts of the reef.
We set up camp and set up a small little rappel for Caiden to test out. The incline was not fully vertical, so it was a good one for him to practice on:
It was close to dinner time, so Bailey was first to eat
We had a little breezy night around the campfire, but dinner was good and we just kind of chilled for a bit.
Bailey was so cute, hanging out with her Uncle Russ
She was really good around the campfire. Just stared at the fire and chilled and eventually fell asleep in my arms
She looked as if she was going to sleep "like a baby", but that didn't go so well...
Bailey was up literally every 30 minutes, with Alene rocking her back to sleep. Very hard to "rock" a baby back to sleep in a tent. I felt so bad for her.
Mar 22, 2009
Bill's photos
Bill is allowing me to post a couple of photos here. I'm only posting them because they have "Me" in them. Bill takes great photos and I subscribe to his flickr photos. He get's a TON of people admiring what he does. Here is his main flickr page
Bill
Click on the photos to see the larger versions.
This is where we stopped in Hunters Canyon. Bill took a picture of me taking a picture and Alene and Bill's wife and kids behind me.
This is the light painting that Bill does. This was at the North Window arch in Arches NP. I'm in the center with my arms out. Bill is running around with the hoola-hoop
Bill
Click on the photos to see the larger versions.
This is where we stopped in Hunters Canyon. Bill took a picture of me taking a picture and Alene and Bill's wife and kids behind me.
This is the light painting that Bill does. This was at the North Window arch in Arches NP. I'm in the center with my arms out. Bill is running around with the hoola-hoop
Arches: Day 2
On our last day in Moab we were a little beat (OK, well Alene had more right to complain as she was the one that ran 5 miles the day before; but I am out of shape) so we met up with April and Bill at Arches National park. We decided to hike the famous “Delicate Arch”, despite how much we dislike the crowds. Doing this 3 mile RT hike reminded me why I am not fond on the “easy-to-reach” national parks. This place was PACKED with people (as it was when we did it 3 years ago; I guess I just forgot how many people would be up there).
Still, the landscape is beautiful and I was actually able to get a shot of Delicate Arch with nobody standing under or near it. When we first arrived to the arch a girl dropped her digital camera, which slowly (and I’m sure painfully) worked it’s way down the bowl just below delicate arch. It was retrievable, but I’m assuming ruined. The entire crowd there all did the painful (awe) as it tumbled down the bowl. It was kind of funny because it seemed to have taken FOREVER to get down to the bottom, slowly rolling, then picking up speed, the slowly rolling again.
This was our second time to this arch and the last time we went it was REALLY windy. This time was no different. I wondered if it was always windy up there or if we just had bad luck on picking a day to do it? On our way home, the whole way, we were faced with serious dust storms and wind gusts, so I’m assuming we picked a bad day (twice). Anyone else have the same experience?
Here are pictures from the hike up (and one video):
Daddy and Bailey are ready to go
Going up. Click on the picture and enlarge it to see the tiny ant-like dots on the sandstone mountain. The ant-like dots are people going up in hoards.
Closer shot of all the people going up
Getting closer
Finally there! I was surprised to snap this quick picture with nobody under or near it. An older dude had just barely stepped out of frame when I snapped it (another group of people were getting ready to go stand under it)
Daddy and Bailey. Bailey just woke up, so she was confused. That bowl in front of me is where that girl's camera went tumbling down.
Bailey and Mommy
Bailey's solo shot in front of Delicate Arch
Video up at Delicate Arch. I was NOT trying to film the dude in front of the camera, even though it looks like I was
Time to head back down. I tried my best to keep Bailey entertained by feeding her half a banana on the way down
When your arms are pasty white, never pull your long sleeve shirt up halfway when hiking
Still, the landscape is beautiful and I was actually able to get a shot of Delicate Arch with nobody standing under or near it. When we first arrived to the arch a girl dropped her digital camera, which slowly (and I’m sure painfully) worked it’s way down the bowl just below delicate arch. It was retrievable, but I’m assuming ruined. The entire crowd there all did the painful (awe) as it tumbled down the bowl. It was kind of funny because it seemed to have taken FOREVER to get down to the bottom, slowly rolling, then picking up speed, the slowly rolling again.
This was our second time to this arch and the last time we went it was REALLY windy. This time was no different. I wondered if it was always windy up there or if we just had bad luck on picking a day to do it? On our way home, the whole way, we were faced with serious dust storms and wind gusts, so I’m assuming we picked a bad day (twice). Anyone else have the same experience?
Here are pictures from the hike up (and one video):
Daddy and Bailey are ready to go
Going up. Click on the picture and enlarge it to see the tiny ant-like dots on the sandstone mountain. The ant-like dots are people going up in hoards.
Closer shot of all the people going up
Getting closer
Finally there! I was surprised to snap this quick picture with nobody under or near it. An older dude had just barely stepped out of frame when I snapped it (another group of people were getting ready to go stand under it)
Daddy and Bailey. Bailey just woke up, so she was confused. That bowl in front of me is where that girl's camera went tumbling down.
Bailey and Mommy
Bailey's solo shot in front of Delicate Arch
Video up at Delicate Arch. I was NOT trying to film the dude in front of the camera, even though it looks like I was
Time to head back down. I tried my best to keep Bailey entertained by feeding her half a banana on the way down
When your arms are pasty white, never pull your long sleeve shirt up halfway when hiking
Arches: Day 1
Bill and I took off to arches yesterday afternoon. Our plan was to try to see some arches off the beaten path. It's quite refreshing to visit an arches in "Arches" national park that isn't over-crowded with people.
Bill's Montereo is a good 4x4 vehicle, so we took a rough track out to find football arch and Eye of the Whale arch. We were unsuccessful in finding football arch, but we did find Eye of the Whale arch:
Then we thought it would be fun to try Delicate arch, but then saw all the people and backed out of that idea. We kept driving until we saw Skyline arch.
This arch is on a fin, so we thought it would be cool to scramble up behind it, little did we know there were park campgrounds not far behind it (so, "people")
\
Arch with the La Sal mountains in the background
A closer shot of the La Sals with the fin that Skyline arch is on in the foreground
Bill in his element
Skyline arch B&W
Caught the sunset, however SOMETHING is on my lense!
Lastly we drove up to the Windows section to do some light painting. These are crap and I can't wait to see Bill's pictures (I'll post them later). His camera picks up more light and you can keep the shutter opened pretty much the whole time. Plus, Bill was able to light up the arch and it looked DOPE on just his tiny screen on his camera. We did the pictures in front of the North Window.
Bill's Montereo is a good 4x4 vehicle, so we took a rough track out to find football arch and Eye of the Whale arch. We were unsuccessful in finding football arch, but we did find Eye of the Whale arch:
Then we thought it would be fun to try Delicate arch, but then saw all the people and backed out of that idea. We kept driving until we saw Skyline arch.
This arch is on a fin, so we thought it would be cool to scramble up behind it, little did we know there were park campgrounds not far behind it (so, "people")
\
Arch with the La Sal mountains in the background
A closer shot of the La Sals with the fin that Skyline arch is on in the foreground
Bill in his element
Skyline arch B&W
Caught the sunset, however SOMETHING is on my lense!
Lastly we drove up to the Windows section to do some light painting. These are crap and I can't wait to see Bill's pictures (I'll post them later). His camera picks up more light and you can keep the shutter opened pretty much the whole time. Plus, Bill was able to light up the arch and it looked DOPE on just his tiny screen on his camera. We did the pictures in front of the North Window.
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