A sudden snowstorm rolled in nearly whiting out the view across Sloan Lake of Denver. Took a couple of pictures and experimented with some high contrast black & white editing. Then when I got home, there were some massive water drops falling from the trees above into the street, I couldn't resist capturing.
Photography Date: 5-18-17
Writing Date: 7-23-18
While relaxing during our late last morning, I was looking at the map trying to find a more scenic drive back to Denver that didn't have us backtracking the same roads. To my delight, I learned that Colorado had a fourth National Park I didn't know about and how it could be "on our way." At this point, I still did not know much about the National Parks other than I wanted to see them. The Park was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and it was only a few hours out of the way. We made a plan to see it, packed up and were on our way.
The drive up to the Park concealed the grand nature of the canyon quite well; you have a hard time believing there is a 2,000 foot deep canyon in front of you until you nearly fall over the edge. It was incredible, roughly half a mile deep. We drove through a little more rushed than we would have preferred, but since we had the Park nearly to our selves, it was quite easy to see all the main vistas and even completed a short hike. I would love to go back and make the trek down to the bottom of the canyon and camp for a few days.
We continued to drive as many back roads as we could taking a few breaks here and there to stretch our legs, but eventually, we made ended up on the main highway home. There was one stop I wanted to prioritize to make a stop. There is a rest stop memorial overlooking a grand valley that has a viewpoint of a small washout below that has been filled with old debris or a what looks like a house collapsed. I never figured out what it was, but after hiking down to it, what it seemed to resemble most was a long-abandoned dumping site of some sort. Quite mysterious.
Photography Date: 5-15-17
Writing Date: 3-24-18
We started off the day as early as we could muster considering we had a two-hour drive into Arches ahead of us. The day was overcast, which was needed relief from the sun on our faces from the day before, but I was a little worried about the conditions for photography. We made our way into the park and quickly found ourselves stuck behind a large tour bus and many cyclists. Rather than fighting the crowds and getting frustrated, we slowed ourselves way down letting them all get ahead of us.
As the clouds let go of the sky and the sun poked through, we made our way deeper into the park to our first real experience with these beautiful arches. This place was crazy busy, I tried to use the restroom but got yelled at because I missed the hour-long line and everyone thought I was trying to cut. Like all the parks, if you work hard enough, you can always find a place to have a moment alone. We found our spot around the backside.
When on trips such as this, I always try to fit in a hike to stretch the legs from all the driving. We decided to hike into Delicate Arch rather than seeing it from a mile away at the viewpoint. It was around now that we wished the sky was still shrouded in clouds, it was hot. The heat made the hike feel twice as long with hot air. To our great relief, the wind picked up quite a bit cooling us off once we got to the arch. Again I ran around taking pictures while Brittany soaked up all she could in a quiet moment.
After checking out the petroglyphs on the way back, we headed out towards our last destination while blasting the AC. We got out of the truck and started walking towards Sand Dune Arch, and my legs felt like jelly, but once we saw what we were getting into, a new excitement came over us. We were in a thin narrow slot canyon that eroded through these massive sandstone rocks above ground. The air was very cool inside and beautiful.
On the way back to Palisade, we decided to take the slower road along the Colorado home. The drive was stunning as we weaved back and forth between giant rock walls and the slowly meandering river. We stopped a few times to stretch our legs as Brittany dipped her feet in the river and at one stop we stumbled upon more petroglyphs just mere feet off the road.
Photography Date: 5-14-17
Writing Date: 5-24-18
Not sure what the day had in store for us, we headed west towards the Moab area. I wasn't confident what to do or where to go, but I knew there were a few national parks so we couldn't go wrong. We stopped at a few vista points along the way and eventually made our way around mid-morning. For whatever reason, we decided that seeing Canyonlands would be the best way to spend our first day.
Our first experience with Canyonlands was an hour wait to get into the park. I'm not sure why there was such a delay, because once we got inside the park, it wasn't too busy. The first thing we did was heading straight to the visitors center to get some sunscreen; we didn't plan for the beautiful weather in store for us. As we made our way, we stopped at the many viewpoints soaking up the grandeur before us.
Our first hike of the day would be to Mesa Arch. It was a short hike, but the sun made it feel much longer than it was. Once there, we were pleased by how few people were around and how easy it was to get the shots we wanted without too many "tourist." There was a guy shouting "GoPro, take a photo" a little more than I preferred, but it was ok. I tried not to make Brittany too nervous by getting close to the edge where all the good photos hide.
Next, we made our way to the end of the Grand View Point Road, and we were not disappointed. Brittany took a short break to soak in the surroundings while I scurried around taking pictures. This area was a bit busier, but with not too much effort we were able to get to a place for some alone time.
After swinging by and hiking to Upheaval dome, we started to make our way back, but we had one more adventure in store for the day. Instead of taking the main road to Moab for dinner, we decided to make the 2,000 foot decent via the old dirt road down the canyon wall known as the Schafer Trail. The trail was super exciting and full of fantastic views, but not for the faint of heart. There were many sections where hitting the gas instead of the breaks could get you a oneway ticket to the bottom. Once we were off the cliff side, the trail was much more enjoyable.
Photography Date: 5-13-17
Writing Date: 5-24-18
Before we moved back to Oregon, Brittany and I wanted to visit Moab area. We've heard so much about it and thought it would be a fun weekend getaway for Brittany's birthday. Though it was a bit far away from Moab, I found a beautiful Airbnb in Palisade, CO on a historical Therapy Horse Farm. The farm was over a hundred years old, and this lovely lady ran the farm where she would take disabled children and let them experience mobility by horseback. But more on the farm later.
As we made our way from Denver, we decided to swing by Hanging lake and check it out. We thought it was more of a roadside attraction, but turned into a 3-mile hike with decent elevation gains. This felt pretty good to get out and stretch our legs. You essentially hike straight up this mountain and find yourself at a cliffside lake. If it weren't for the underbrush and trees, the lake would feel as if it was floating from the right angle. There was also this impressive waterfall that you can walk behind, which was nice to cool off.
We made it into Palisade a few hours before sunset and were blown away by the Airbnb. It was this cute little loft building built under this massive tree. We were right against this hillside with nothing but farmland around us. For sunset, I hiked up the hill, which was steeper than it looked, and watched the golden light bath over the town and the surrounding mesas.
Later that evening I went out for a little fun with some astrophotography. This isn't something I do that often, but its always a lot of fun. Unfortunately, but also, fortunately, a nearly full moon rose over the horizon blasting the landscape with light. This made shooting the stars a little tricky, but it gave me my first chance at capturing a moonrise!
Photography Date: 5-12-17
Writing Date: 5-24-18
