Phoenix, Monkey Pants, New Sponsor!

Posted on by August 4, 2013

(Originally Published 3.25.13)

It has been a seriously busy week! I made it Phoenix Safe and sound the day before St. Patrick’s day, taking a bus from Las Vegas. It was a long trip, about 6 hours, with only one stop. The company is one that primary markets to Spanish speaking patrons so the TV’s inside the depots were tuned into Spanish stations, but at least the movies on the bus’s small screen DVD players were in English with Spanish subtitles. We made good time, arriving an hour ahead of schedule, though it was still nice to get out and stretch my legs.

After a short wait, my friend from high school came and picked me up. We headed to his house and I met his roommates and a few of his friends. Later that evening we went to one of his favorite local hang out spots called Monkey Pants. You read that correctly, Monkey Pants. It’s a fun pub atmosphere and has good food as well. We ate there and had a few drinks with some people we met while there from various places and had a very good time. The new friends we made decided I needed a few tokens from them on my journey so I ended up with a 2 dollar bill (Never to be spent, as it is a lucky charm) and an expired pass to a museum in the area. Random things, yes, but memorable things to put on a wall some day when I have walls again.

The next day was St. Patrick’s day, so we donned a wee bit o’ green and headed into the old part of Phoenix to meet a few more friends my host had made since moving here to Phoenix. From there we all headed to a small pub called Rose and Crown where there was live music and outdoor seating. It was a warm day with a slight breeze that made for a pretty fun day listening and talking with even more new friends.

Since then I’ve been exploring the area a bit. I’m technically in Tempe, and its a lovely area. Monkey Pants is open all day, and it’s a pretty relaxed place to hang out as it turns out with good food and very nice staff. The weather has been very nice, not too hot and not cold. From talking to other people who live here it will be getting quite a bit hotter soon so I managed to pick the perfect time to come!

On another cool note, my new sponsor, Scottevest, had sent a jacket to me ahead of me, and I finally got to try it on! It’s the Scottevest Expedition Jacket (See link) in Safari. It has an incredible network of pockets for every purpose, and integrated technology features such as the Personal Area Network and touch through screens on some pockets. The Personal Area Network lets you run your headphones and other cords from the pockets to the collar then has flaps and bungee holders to keep your headphones in place. The touch through pocket material allows you to operate your touch screen device while it still is with in the pocket. Two very nice features when you are on the go. Be sure to check out Scottevests website here and see their full lineup of jackets for men and women as well as other travel clothing and gear. I will be taking some pictures of me sporting the jacket soon, and will also be doing a video of all the pockets also. There are so many that I am still exploring all the uses and what not for them !

I also should mention that I am doing a complete remodel of the website and will be switching over soon. The new Layout is cleaner and a bit easier to maintain, plus adds the feature of being fully compatible with the Iphone and other mobile devices. Not sure on the final release date, but it should be soon! Thanks for checking in, be sure to like the page and share using facebook! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to fire me an email here!

Zion National Park

Posted on by August 4, 2013

(Originally Published 28 Feb 2013)

I decided it was time to go see Zion National Park while I was still in Southern Utah. I’d heard some great things about it, and figured I better do it before I moved on to my next adventure. After doing the morning chores, I grabbed my Aarn backpack, camera, ipad and notebook and headed out. I wasn’t sure how long I would be there for, but I knew I could get lunch in the small town of Springdale and that there were several interesting things to check out in the park itself.

The road inside the park was twisty and wound its way in and out of bright sun and shadow areas.  There were several hairpin curves and two tunnels, one being over a mile long.  Out on the road, the towering rock formations were layered with reds and browns, tans and greys and seemed to be topped by  random spires and plateaus. I worked my way along, stopping now and then to take a shot from the road, as there were not enough places to pull off the road.  It was chilly out, but the sun was beaming do took take some sweeping shots of the massive rock formations.

After a few hours trekking around the first leg of the park, I decided it was time for lunch.  I found A small diner in Springdale called Blondie’s, which was one of the few restaurants open at this time of the year. I had a wonderful chicken sandwich and spoke with the server about my adventures.  After dessert, (Turtle Pie – cookie crumb base, cream cheese and ice cream filling with caramel inside, drizzled with chocolate and caramel and topped  with almonds), I set out for the Emerald Pools.

I parked and started up the trail, one side of which was closed due to ice.  I continued up the second, snapping shots here and there.  After about 20 minutes of lazily walking along, I heard something in the brush to the right of the trail, the downhill side of the trail.   I slowed down, just in time to see a large dark shape bristle back into the brush.  My first thought was a big dog by someone further up the trail, coming back down.  Then I thought it could be a wild animal.  For a fleeting second my thoughts turned to visions of a large wolf emerging from the thicket.  I shook that away and began whistling.  The last thing I wanted was to startle and animal, no matter what it was.  That’s a sure fire way to get yourself hurt.  I slowly, while focusing on the area to my right, made my way up the trail.  I rounded the thicket and noticed movement in the brush.  It was dimmer here, much more so than I’d realized, until I wanted to peer down into these bushes.

I heard the sound of brush being moved, branches shuffling and twigs being snapped.  It was coming from three separate locations, though all generally down to my right.  After a moment I realized what was making the sounds and let out a short sigh of relief. It was three deer!  Smaller does, all walking along, stopping to nibble on leaves.  I tried a few shots, but the light was failing fast in these canyons.  I talked softly to them, trying not to spook them.  After a few minutes of watching them, I headed back up the trail.  I ran into a couple that was returning from their hike.  They let me know that the trail was closed off further up because of falling ice.  I let them know, in return, that there were some deer back on the side of the trail.  We parted ways and I continued up to the trail closure.  There were icicles hanging down as the trail took a steep turn up, along a cliff wall that was also a waterfall during the summer, when there was more water flowing.

After a few minutes I continued back down towards the car. The sun was starting to lower now, and the canyon was bathed in a dim shadow.  As I got to the same area as the deer had been before I heard them down in the brush a bit further down.  I made my way quietly down the trail and found the original 3 deer I had seen plus at least 3 more, including a couple of young ones, half the size and staying near the mothers.  I took a few more pictures, then a short video or two then made my down the trail.  As I walked, the deer came up on the cement trail behind me.  I took a few pictures then continued, signalling two people coming up the trail to be quiet, and pointing out the deer for them.  I left them standing there in awe at these two deer standing 15 feet away from them.

I made my way back to the car, letting three more groups of people know about the deer ahead and the trail closure.  I got in the car and began the drive back home. As I was driving towards the park exit, I was thinking to myself that I would need to spend another day in the park to really see some more of it.  As I was making a turn on to the main park road I noticed a large animal on the right hand side, standing on a big boulder next to the road.  I stopped to get a better look at it. It was a big horn ram sheep! Large and majestic in the fading sun and perched there posing for me!  I grabbed the camera out of the passenger seat and rolled the window down and started snapping away.  He looked at me a few times then posed again.  I adjusted the exposure a bit more and snapped a few more images.

I pulled off the road really quick a few feet ahead and jumped out. I wanted to be careful in this case, as rams have been known to charge people and that’s not something I wanted to have to write about.  I cautiously made my way near where he had been and heard a scuffling sound to my left.  I looked down the gulley a ways and saw two rams! No, four!  I snapped a few pictures, then a fifth one walked into frame, leading the others away from me.  I snapped a few more pictures but they were leaving the area now, climbing up the jagged rock ledges on the other side of the gulley.  I wanted to follow, but the sun was starting to fade and I had chores to get to back in Kanab, so I headed back to my car and continued on the road towards town.

I really could have spent several days exploring the park, but timing would have it that I didn’t think to get over there till I was nearing the end of my trip.  I learned a valuable lesson in this outing, and that is to take advantage of things sooner than you think to.  You never can know what a place will hold, and it’s usually better to go and experience it sooner, while time is available than wait till the last minute and be rushed.  Lesson learned, now to put that lesson to work on the rest of my adventure.

Horseshoe Bend, Page Arizona

Posted on by August 4, 2013

(Originally Published 23 Feb 2013)

I’ve wanted to visit Horseshoe Bend for a long time. It’s a section of the Colorado River that does a 270 degree turn, forming the shape of a horseshoe in the rock.  There is a 1000 foot drop to the river bed below the ledge of plateau and the layered canyon walls are basically shear cliffs. It has been photographed many times, and been featured in movies and magazines. While in Kanab, I found out that this natural feature was only about 70 miles away, so I decided to make the trip. I got side tracked a few days, opting out because of bad weather one day and wanting to look around town for a tripod another. Finally I decided to really go and that day I stocked up on snacks and headed out after completing my morning chores. The drive was pleasant, the rolling hills and sand stone cliffs faded from red to tan as I neared Lake Powell.  When I arrived at Page, I turned south on Highway 89 to find the turnoff to Horseshoe bend.  Right outside of town, I found the route blocked by detour signs and officers flagging people to exit the highway and turn back into town.  I pulled over a short ways away and checked my phone to find an alternate route, not knowing why the road was blocked.  There wasn’t one within a hundred miles so it looked like I would have to wait out the detour.

Disappointed, I drove back through town and decided to check out one of the many rest spots on the shores of Lake Powell.  I chose the Glen Canyon Dam, which stops up water to create the reservoir of Lake Powell and provide electricity to the area.  I parked in a gravel parking lot near the lake edge and began to wander around the red and tan rock formations that make up the former lake bed (in times of high water) of Lake Powell.  I could see everywhere people had been carving their initials and names into the rock for many years.  I found the rock formations very interesting.  The sandstone seemed to undulate in waves, just like the blue waters further down the shore.  There were also rounded and smooth rocks that did not belong to the area, most likely carried there by the river over the millennia, or deposited eons ago by some glacier that has long since melted away. Their varied colors and smooth texture served as a nice contrast to the rough gritty sandstone.

There was a cool wind that came through the canyon, chilled by the waters below and by the shadows cast by the high clouds. Through the clouds the sun peaked out, bathing an area in light and warmth.  I spent a couple hours exploring and snapping pictures in the area, finally walking back to my car, fingers frozen. I turned back towards Page and decided to see if the blocks had been removed.  Maybe it was just a temporary detour!  As I rounded the corner of the highway and the stretch of road between Page and Flagstaff became visible, I saw the flashing lights of the police cruisers and sighed.  I decided to try one last time, after lunch.

I stopped at a place called the Dam Bar and Grill.  The inside has tall ceilings stretching up 30 or  more feet, and the far wall is one large cement and sandstone facade replica of the Glen Canyon Dam!  Hanging and sitting in various areas are old wooden boats and other water craft items highlighting the theme of a large water way.  After eating lunch, a tasty chicken sandwich,  I asked my server about the road closure.  She explained, showing me a picture on her phone, that a long section of the road south of town had collapsed during the early morning.  Just sloughed off, ten feet or so by the pictures.  I expressed my disappointment, as I had been wanting to see Horseshoe Bend.  “Oh thats no problem, its well before the road gave out” She said, “Just tell the officers at the roadblock and they should let you through!”

Well this was good news! I headed back to my car and set off towards the detour signs once more.  As I pulled up I rolled a window down and let the officer that approached know where I was heading, and he said that would be fine! Success!  I rounded the barricades and sped off towards the turn out.

I pulled into the parking lot, and started up the trail.  It was a wide sandy trail littered with shoe prints of every size and tread.  A sign at the trailhead had some useful information such as the length of the trail being ¾ of a mile, and uneven in areas. It also informed me that the cliffs around the bend itself were over 1000 ft in some places, and suggested NOT falling off them was the safest bet.  Check.

I have to admit, I was totally unprepared for this trip to the bend.  I had my camera, yes but not the lens I should have had, or a tripod.  I had some food and drinks but that was inconsequential on a short stint between towns as this trip was.  Most of all I wasn’t prepared to have my breath literally taken away.  As I stepped up to the edge of the cliff, and the two river sections met in front and below me in a perfect round horseshoe shape, I let out a long breath and didn’t bother to let in back in for quite some time.  I just sat there staring. I had my hand on the grip of my camera at my side, but didn’t even remember it was there for at least 2 or 3 minutes.  I stood taking in the canyon walls, the water, the quiet.

I have lived in Alaska for over 20 years.  I have seen wild animals closer than I would care in some cases, I have seen more amazing sun rises and sets than you can imagine.  I have developed pictures from all over the world and none of it prepared me for that feeling in my chest as the gorge opened up in front of me. A tightness that told me I would remember this sight till my last day. That something epic was in front of me.

I finally snapped out of it and started surveying the scene.  I raised my camera and discovered that my lens was not wide enough to capture the whole scene as I wanted, just shy of it.  I took several pictures anyway, trying a few angles and iterations, looking at the various areas in front of me.  I also took a series of shots in a row, holding myself perfectly still and level, so that I could digitally stitch them together later.  The result was something that I enjoy, and I hope you do as well (see the facebook page or back on the website>pictures).

After snapping enough pictures, most of which I took as near the edge of the rocks as I could get, I sat down cross legged and just gazed again at the formation. I spent a good half hour sitting there at the cliffs edge, oblivion inches away. I sat listening to the wind and the chatter of the other visitors.  The water below flowed silently, too far away for the rushing sound to reach my ears. The clouds were puffy white cotton swabs in the sky, drifting southward aimlessly in the wind.  After sitting quietly for a spell, I took a few more pictures, including a silly self shot with my phone, to prove I’d been there.  I then turned and headed back towards the parking lot.  I would stop and looked back, then took a picture here and there as I retraced my steps. I almost didn’t want to leave, the cliff seemed to be calling me back.  Once I made it the car, I stood at the open drivers door for a minute debating running back up to have another look.  I decided that I had gotten the shots I’d come for and needed to be moving on.   I thanked the officers at the roadblock and turned onto the north route back towards Kanab.

As I drove the 70 miles back, I thought back to the days before, how I had let small things deter me from making the trip.  The weather wasn’t perfect, I wanted to find a tripod first, how the road closure had nearly made me turn back from the trip. I was reminded of my personal tenant of photography, my number one rule: To be in the right place at the right time.  It’s impossible to know when and where both are going to be, at least in nature photography, as there is an inherent randomness to it, but I was reminded that you have try.  You may fail, but you can’t succeed if you don’t try!  Sometimes it takes forcing yourself out of your comfort zone to be able to see and do amazing things, and that is what I am doing now, in my adventure around the world. It’s that motivation, motivating ourselves that can seem to be the most daunting task, and it’s something I am working on myself. It turns out it’s usually ourselves that need the most work.