USA Road-trip - Canyonlands

After our rather disastrous excursion to witness the lunar eclipse we went back to bed and slept all morning, wasting half the day. The sky had become more overcast in the early morning, though, so it's not as if we'd missed any amazing light. We dragged ourselves out at about midday, had an okay breakfast burrito in a cafe in town, then headed north up to Canyonlands National Park. On my previous trip I'd visited Dead Horse Point State Park (where the otherwise spectacular view is somewhat ruined by the blue potash evaporation tanks) and the southern part of the park - Needles, a long drive from Moab. This time I wanted to see the Island in the Sky, and in particular Mesa Arch. The drive there is also pretty long, a good 20 miles once you've turned off the main road, so it takes almost an hour to drive from Moab. Once inside the park the road is slow and windy, with some sections without a straight bit for miles.

The Island in the Sky isn't exactly an island, but is a large mesa with huge sandstone cliffs that is surrounded by canyons, 1,000 ft below. The Colorado River meanders through the canyon to the east and the Green River meanders through the canyon to the west. It is an easy place to visit, with scenic roads along the various sections of the "island" and a few overlooks close to the road. Our first stop was Mesa Arch, which I wanted to scope out for a sunrise shoot. The light was flat and dull, but there was still a stunning view through the arch to the distant buttes and the canyon floor to the east with the blue La Sal mountains on the horizon. The arch is only a five or ten minute walk from the road, and on the approach it suddenly becomes visible, usually with a few people posing for photos.

When I set up my tripod I was inundated by requests to take peoples' photos, so I spent a few minutes snapping away, handing back cameras before the next couple's turn. Eventually the crowds thinned and I got a chance for a few shots of the unobstructed view, as well as shot of my husband and me taken with the remote control. A helpful passer-by looked at the screen on my camera to check the composition for me and we shuffled over a bit so as not to cut my feet off!

I wandered around the area to work out what might make the best shots of the arch at sunrise, and noted a rock on the ground where I planned to be (if the spot wasn't already taken). There were some other nice views of the canyon below; it wasn't all about the arch.

 

We wandered back to the car and continued on to the Grand Overlook viewpoint, where there's a mile-long trail to the end of the island. Along the way we passed a couple of artists painting, but few other tourists ventured past the initial overlook point, so it was lovely and peaceful. The cloud was getting a little contrast, but I longed for some dramatic stormy skies instead.

As we'd set out quite late we were in good time to be there for sunset, although there wasn't likely to be much of one, given the almost solid cloud cover. I hoped for a little colour on the clouds as we'd caught a glimpse of the previous evening. We drove to the west side of the island to Upheaval Dome, a hugely eroded remnant of an impact crater. It's a short hike up to the crater rim, with the option to walk all the way around. We walked to the second viewpoint, across some slickrock, and plonked ourselves down to watch the sunset. The clouds became more dramatic and there was some colour after all. Behind us the crater rim glowed orange. There were many buttes and mesas and winding canyons off to the west, and all around higher mountains glowed blue in the fading light. Hubby played around on his phone while I played around with my camera.

 

We headed down just after the sun had set, knowing that it would be dark within 10 or 15 minutes, and we had a twenty minute walk back down to the car.

We drove back to Moab and lazily ate at the brewery again, only this time we were disappointed by the food and service and were too tired to try the good beers. The weather forecast was for another dull day the next day, so we didn't bother planning a sunrise expedition, but instead enjoyed a nice long sleep.

Next stop: Arches

US Road-trip - Zion, Utah

On my visit to Utah in 2005 I spent about 2 hours at Zion National Park - nipping in on my way from Kanab to Las Vegas. I'd hiked to the Emerald Pools and loved it, but needed a lot more time to do the enormous park justice (no sh*t!). This time round I booked for us to stay 2 nights in Springdale, a small town that lies at the edge of the park, so that we had a full day and the afternoon of our arrival to explore.

We drove from Page, without stopping along the way at a few spots I'd previously hoped to visit (Buckskin Gulch Trail, for example) as it was another clear and hot day and we didn't feel like a 3-hour hike in the open desert. Sadly the Wave was out of the question (I'll have to book 4 months in advance next time or try my luck with the daily lottery in Kanab). Instead we thought that we might try renting ATV off-road vehicles at Coral Pink Sand Dune state park. I'd googled it before we set out from Page, but couldn't quite work out how to book anything, or where from. We drove close to the turn-off to the dunes, but decided that it was unlikely that we'd be able to just rock up and find an operator. We stopped in a hotel at the turn-off from the 89 to the Mount Carmel Highway road to Zion (part of the Route 9), who suggested we try at a place called the Ponderosa Lodge. We followed their instructions and headed up the pretty North Fork Road. When we got there we were disappointed - but not very surprised given that we were miles away from the dunes now - that they only ran ATV trips on the nearby land, and not down at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. It was a bit of a wasted journey, but the drive was pretty, passing some fields full of beautiful soft grasses blowing gently in the wind.

We went back to the route 9 and continued on to Zion. Although I'd driven that route in 2005 none of it seemed familiar at all; I had no recollection of the impressive tunnel and huge switchbacks below it. The scenery before the tunnel was spectacular, with huge stripey white and orange cliffs, checkered white hillsides and river valleys. There were many trees and shrubs; it was a lot less deserty than where we'd come from.

We stopped a few times to admire the views, bumped into our German neighbours from the cabins at Monument Valley, and headed through the tunnel without having to wait (it can sometimes take half an hour or more). From time to time there were windows, cut out of the side of the tunnel, giving a view down into the canyon below - quite an impressive engineering feat for 1927! Once out of the tunnel there were steep cliffs above us and a series of long, steep switchbacks below us. On the cliffs we could just make out a few rock-climbers and abseilers. I remembered seeing some on my previous visit too.

Not far from the foot of the switchbacks we reached the turn-off that led north into Zion Canyon (the "good" bits of the park), where only those staying at the lodge can drive; otherwise one must use the park shuttle services. We continued on and headed out of the park to our hotel on the outskirts of Springdale down the main street, which was crammed full of gear shops, restaurants, gift shops and lodges. I chose our hotel, the Driftwood Lodge, for the promise of a decent view of the mountains from our balcony - and wasn't disappointed! Sometimes it's worth paying just a little extra.



We had a coffee on the balcony and noticed the distinctive smell of marijuana - the people in the room below us were serious smokers - they must have been lighting one joint after another! We wanted to do a quick sunset hike, so headed back up to the park, left the car at the visitor centre car-park and set off up the Watchman trail. It was a pleasant walk up a small canyon, a couple of switchbacks, before winding round into the shade, coming out at a small outcrop, with the Watchman mountain towering above us. We'd left it a little late, but got there just in time to catch the sun set behind the mountains opposite us.

 

We hiked back down as the sun illuminated the peaks, the dark shadows rising up the hills fast. Dead trees abound - great for silhouettes. 

When we got back to Springdale we popped in to the Zion Canyon Brewing Company pub, hoping to try some of the local brews. The woman on the door explained that they were full, there was a 20-minute wait for a table, and that under Utah law you can't drink without having food, so we'd have to wait 20 minutes even to get a drink. Seemed a bit useless, given that it was supposed to be a brew pub. Not wanting to wait we headed home and then back out for dinner later to Wildcat Willies, where we tried a flight of the local beers. Draft beer in Utah can be no stronger than 4%, although bottled stuff can be. We stuck to the draft, which was rather tasteless and watery, especially having recently drunk the delicious 8% Crank Yankee IPA! We'd bought some beers by the Sleepy Dog Brewing based in Tempe, Arizona in a supermarket in Kanab so headed home and enjoyed a couple of those on the balcony under the stars. The neighbours downstairs were still smoking dope, and the smell continued to waft up, together with their giggles.

When it got a bit chilly we headed in, but I set my tripod up with the intervalometer on to take a series of star trail shots. I programmed it to take 30 shots, each lasting 2 minutes, remembering again to take the black shot at the end to get rid of the noise. Intermittently I'd check outside to see if it was still working. I quite liked the result, except for a couple of annoying aeroplane trails across the stars. The software let me take out the frames containing the planes, which left some breaks in the trails, but I think it looks better without them.

The following morning we set off to do a hike in the Narrows - a long, narrow, windy canyon at the end of the Zion Canyon road, which involves wading through the Virgin River. The choice was between that and Angel's Landing, which would have had fantastic views, but it was way too hot and that hike involved walking along an exposed ridge with little shade. The Narrows hike sounded unique (and was in the shade, mostly) so we plumped for that. We stopped off in one of the outdoor gear shops and rented special shoes, neoprene socks and a stick - all necessities for hiking through a river, which can be thigh-deep. We took the shuttle bus from the visitor centre, on which there was a recording of information about the park, its geology, history, etc. We got out at the furthest-away stop, Temple of Sinawava, and started up the Virgin River trail - there's an easy, flat paved trail to the Narrows trailhead, along which the less adventurous walk before returning to the bus.

The atmosphere in the Narrows was fantastic. It wasn't packed, but we were rarely alone. People hiked with their kids, some kitted out in full waterproof suits. It was such good fun, which is not something I usually think about hikes. We walked along sandy or rocky beaches, then waded through sections of the river to reach other banks. On the way up the canyon we stepped carefully, trying not to get water over our knees (I was wearing hiking trousers rolled up over my knee). On the way back we couldn't care less and swished right through deeper bits - the material dried off quickly. We took a little detour up the Orderville Canyon to the east, but soon the water became deeper (boys were swimming), so we turned round and headed back up into the main canyon. Most of the hike was in the shade, but from time to time the sunlight would reach the ground giving us a warm break. Some of the rocks at the edge of the river were illuminated by reflected sun and glowed gold. Photography was challenging, with a huge dynamic range of light conditions, although mainly just pretty dark! Occasionally I'd stop and take a few shots on the lightweight tripod I was carrying, but mainly I just pushed up the ISO and hoped for the best.

 

 

We got to the end of a section that is called "Wall Street" and turned around. In the last section the water was so deep that even our underwear got wet! At that point others said that it only got deeper, so it seemed like a good place to head back. It was one of the most enjoyable hikes I've ever done, but it was nice to get out of the water, take off the dripping socks and shoes, dry off and put on flipflops for the pleasant walk alongside the river under the cottonwood trees. Annoyingly I left a Snickers bar on the wall when I changed my shoes - would've been a nice reward for our hard work!

We got back to the bus stop at about 4pm - we'd been hiking for about 5 and a half hours. The sun was still high in the sky as we passed the Court of the Patriarchs and the Great White Throne, one of the largest monoliths (free-standing rocks) in the world.

We stopped off at the Zion Canyon Brewpub and managed to get a table outside immediately this time. We tried a few of their beers, but again were disappointed with the lack of oomph with the 4%ers. We only had to order one item of food between us in order to get beer, so we had some disappointing fries. The waiter told us that they were licensed to sell stronger beer in bottles, but just chose not too, which again seemed strange for a brew pub. It was all a bit disappointing! We headed home to watch sunset from the balcony instead, accompanied by a couple of Wasatch Beer's Polygamy Porters we'd picked up in Kanab (just love the name and the slogans - "Why have just one?" and "Bring some home to the wives" - and in spite of being only 4% they still have a bit of flavour to them). The rocks glowed an incredible orangey-red, just like the Totem Pole and Mittens had in Monument Valley.

We wandered up to the Zion Pizza & Noodle Co, located in an old church, where we sampled some much more agreeable strong Utah bottled beers (from Epic Brewing) and ate some reasonably tasty pasta and pizza, the remains of which would be our packed lunch the following day. We had a long drive ahead of us (to Moab), so we had an early night - I didn't have the energy to try out any more star shots.

Zion is definitely a park to return to; I can see why many people say that it's their favourite national park in Utah, or even the US. We only touched the surface - there's other sections accessible from the east too. Next time I'll have to try the Angel's Landing hike, but I'll have to revisit the Narrows as it's such fun, so at least 3 days will be necessary!

Next stop: Moab

US Road-trip - Drive to Telluride

After my early morning trip to the Black Canyon we headed off south and then west towards Telluride. I'd read about a few good autumn leaf-spotting spots along the way - the Dallas Divide and Last Dollar Road the main ones on our route. The beautiful weather I'd had on my return from the canyon had been replaced by a combination of washed-out and dark fast-moving clouds as we approached the mountains. We hadn't had much luck with the weather since we left Rocky Mountain National Park days earlier. The clouds hung over the peaks and the sun only occasionally made an appearance with a tantalising glimpse of blue sky behind.

We stopped at what I assume was the Dallas Divide, where photographers stood with their tripods dotted along a fence to try and get a good shot of the autumnal trees in the foreground and the now-snowy peaks in the distance. The sun illuminated patches of aspens and peaks to the east sporadically. I wandered up the road a little and found a picturesque area of turning leaves.

We continued onwards and eventually found a left-hand turn into the Last Dollar Road; everyone on the main road seemed to be going this way too.  It is a seasonal road that is closed between January and May, and winds its way across the mountains before eventually coming down in Telluride (I didn't know this at the time). We stopped when I spotted some pretty aspens - there were patches of red and peach leaves, not just the usual yellow. Still the sun was mainly hidden.

The road continued for a long way, winding around hillsides, copses of turning aspens just visible on private land from time to time, and the odd barn. Grand gateways to ranches appeared every once in a while.

 

We drove on until we reached a junction, at which we took the right hand fork; we had time on our hands, so decided to explore. We could see the road winding across the ranch-land in the distance, patches of yellow trees inviting us to continue. We passed some grand developments, and eventually found ourselves at the top of a red-sided canyon, which I suddenly realised we had to go down into. I felt quite nervous as my husband wove his way down the switchbacks, asking him to slow down all the time. We could see the main road down on the valley floor - it seemed a long way down. We eventually neared the bottom, where a small community of houses was built. As we'd cut off the corner of the main road we decided to head back up north to see if we'd missed anything along the way. We ended up turning east again, back to the beginning of the Last Dollar Road (having done a complete circle!). The weather hadn't improved since our first loop, so we didn't stop along the way. When we reached the fork again we took the left turn, continuing on the Last Dollar Road.

We drove across a few cattle grids and passed docile bulls standing at the side of the road. The road surface began to worsen, with large potholes and some standing pools of muddy water. We got to a point where it clearly wasn't suitable for our car (a low saloon car) so turned around and headed back, passing a sign we'd missed on the way in explaining that the road was only suitable for 4WD cars from that point on. It was a shame, as it would have been a fun road to explore and would have taken us right down into the outskirts of Telluride, apparently with stunning views of Mt Sneffels in the distance (although it was probably hidden by cloud anyway). As it was it gave us a chance to go down the steep windy road through the red canyon again - this time I felt a bit more relaxed, but still nagged the hubby to drive no faster than 20 mph. I checked online to see if the road had a name - it appears to be called the 58P.

The final approach to Telluride is stunning, heading up into the box canyon past meadows that thankfully haven't been built upon (yet), the sides of the hills lined with firs and yellowing aspens. A week or two later and the trees would have looked spectacular.

I'd first heard of Telluride 9 years earlier in northern Chile, where I met a photographer from there - she had raved about how beautiful it was and she wasn't wrong. In spite of the dull skies it still looked spectacular, with a delicate waterfall and huge walls at the end of the canyon; I can only imagine how wonderful it would be with blue skies! The recent dusting of snow made it look very pretty but didn't help with the washed-out brightness for photographs! We checked into out hotel, the New Sheridan, in the centre of town, and quickly headed out for a hike up to Bear Creek Falls, a popular hike starting from the edge of town.

The hike took us gradually uphill through aspens and douglas firs, the paths littered with fallen golden leaves, The sun had come out behind the mountain, throwing stunning light across the hills behind Telluride in the distance, but the dark sides of the canyon coupled with still white cloudy skies made capturing it tricky. We passed a spot where hikers had made dozens of small cairns - I added a stone to the top of one as my small contribution.

We eventually we reached Bear Creek Falls, a veil-like waterfall flowing delicately down a red wall. Murray sat and read while I played around with filters and exposure times. A helpful patch of blue skies helped me capture the mountains behind without that nasty white sky, but we'd missed a patch of direct sunlight on the peaks by about 15 minutes.

We'd set off late and knew that it would start to get dark soon, so we headed back down the trail towards town, the reward of a nice cold IPA beckoning. A light mist was beginning to come down over the peaks behind us. We chatted to a friendly woman from Oregon who came here each year - I could see why it was her favourite spot.

 

We'd passed the Smuggler's Brewpub on our way to the trailhead, so stopped there for a drink and supper on our return. A sad-looking dog was tied up outside, next to a sign saying "Puppy Park" (they don't seem to get "dog-friendly" in the US - allowing you to tie your dog up outside is not exactly my idea of dog-friendly - why not just let them in?!). We ate delicious ribs with mac'n'cheese and a huge pile of reindeer spag bol. We were still suffering from the effects of the altitude (Telluride is at 8,725 ft or 2,659 m) so only managed a couple of beers before returning to our lovely hotel room for some laptop time.

Next stop: Mesa Verde