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Road Trip - Las Vegas to Denver
I had an excelent road trip a few weeks ago across the southwest I thought I'd share. I went from Las Vegas (attending Cisco Live!) to Denver by way of Grand Canyon and Moab. Not enough time spent at any given stop for my tastes, but still one heck of a drive. I need to get back out there!
At Arches I had the privilege of being caught behind a rare flash flood of Salt Wash for 9 hours. Beautiful night skies, better than I have seen at the Grand Canyon Rim in a while.
After the conference ended I got to escape into the desert, stopping at Hoover Dam as I feel compelled to do when in the area. Finally arriving in time for a tour of the powerplant. Seems like I always miss them by that much...
1. Hoover Dam, straight down to the the powerplant.
The power house is actually much quieter than one would think given the amount of water moving around there in. I'm a sucker for old Art Deco structures (like the Queen Mary and this dam).
2. Nevada Side Generators & 3. Art Deco Post
The Winged Figures of the Republic flank a terrazzo plaza with a star map and bas-relief sculptures.
4. & 5.
At Grand Canyon (many, many hours later) I held myself back for a couple of days and only took 150 or so images of select subjects, instead of my normal 1,000s...
6. Scenic Locator at the South Rim of Grand Canyon
7. Dawn near the Grand Canyon Village bus transfer point
On the road again, heading for Moab. All of this is new territory for me so I stopped not infrequently...
8. Agathla Peak in the Navajo Nation. I loved the inconguity of this black volcanic plug sticking up out of a generally flat landscape. Then I saw the trading post and knew where to stop. I hadn't noticed at the time, but I seem to have caught some rays poking through those ribbons of rain, giving it a crosshatched look.
9. All Natural! And near Monument Valley! & 10. Ray over Moab. So close to the hotel after 6.5 hours in the car, but I though the single massive ray was worth stopping for.
The next day, onward into Arches NP.
11. Straight up through the Double Arch. Too many people sitting in the arch, so I did the only reasonable thing and looked up. When I looked down again, they were all gone. Excelent.
South Window Arch "closeup." With the cloud and a little vignetting, it looked to me like the eye of some old world titan.
12. Eye of the Ancients
During the way hot part of the day (4pm-ish I think) we drove down to the Delicate Arch viewing area. On the way back down the trail we were met by a ranger warning of an impending flash flood on one of the two washes that cross the road there. We got back in the car, drove two minutes, and then parked with 40 other people. 'Till 2am. It crested at around 3' or 4' deep, rising for hours before it stabilized. This is the wash that, according the the ranger stuck out there with us, NEVER floods. Not like the one 100ft behind us that floods a couple of times a week (for an hour or two). Overall I enjoyed the experience, particularly after the sun finally went behind the hills. Beautiful sky that night. The NPS even brought us some MREs for dinner.
13. Delicate Arch & 14. Why I had 9 hours to see Delicate Arch
15. The good kind of traffic
The next day we came back for more! I loved this old dead tree. Most of these B&W images have all been iR shots from my GF-1. Met back up one of the two rangers that stayed with us that evening.
16. Not an arch
Next stop was Colorado where I had a wedding to attend. Fortunately I also discovered I was near the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and took a short drive to the north rim.
17.
18. Wood Grain at Black Canyon & 19. Windmill in Colorado (near the wedding)
Then work made me come home. Boo!
At Arches I had the privilege of being caught behind a rare flash flood of Salt Wash for 9 hours. Beautiful night skies, better than I have seen at the Grand Canyon Rim in a while.
After the conference ended I got to escape into the desert, stopping at Hoover Dam as I feel compelled to do when in the area. Finally arriving in time for a tour of the powerplant. Seems like I always miss them by that much...
1. Hoover Dam, straight down to the the powerplant.
The power house is actually much quieter than one would think given the amount of water moving around there in. I'm a sucker for old Art Deco structures (like the Queen Mary and this dam).
2. Nevada Side Generators & 3. Art Deco Post
The Winged Figures of the Republic flank a terrazzo plaza with a star map and bas-relief sculptures.
4. & 5.
At Grand Canyon (many, many hours later) I held myself back for a couple of days and only took 150 or so images of select subjects, instead of my normal 1,000s...
6. Scenic Locator at the South Rim of Grand Canyon
7. Dawn near the Grand Canyon Village bus transfer point
On the road again, heading for Moab. All of this is new territory for me so I stopped not infrequently...
8. Agathla Peak in the Navajo Nation. I loved the inconguity of this black volcanic plug sticking up out of a generally flat landscape. Then I saw the trading post and knew where to stop. I hadn't noticed at the time, but I seem to have caught some rays poking through those ribbons of rain, giving it a crosshatched look.
9. All Natural! And near Monument Valley! & 10. Ray over Moab. So close to the hotel after 6.5 hours in the car, but I though the single massive ray was worth stopping for.
The next day, onward into Arches NP.
11. Straight up through the Double Arch. Too many people sitting in the arch, so I did the only reasonable thing and looked up. When I looked down again, they were all gone. Excelent.
South Window Arch "closeup." With the cloud and a little vignetting, it looked to me like the eye of some old world titan.
12. Eye of the Ancients
During the way hot part of the day (4pm-ish I think) we drove down to the Delicate Arch viewing area. On the way back down the trail we were met by a ranger warning of an impending flash flood on one of the two washes that cross the road there. We got back in the car, drove two minutes, and then parked with 40 other people. 'Till 2am. It crested at around 3' or 4' deep, rising for hours before it stabilized. This is the wash that, according the the ranger stuck out there with us, NEVER floods. Not like the one 100ft behind us that floods a couple of times a week (for an hour or two). Overall I enjoyed the experience, particularly after the sun finally went behind the hills. Beautiful sky that night. The NPS even brought us some MREs for dinner.
13. Delicate Arch & 14. Why I had 9 hours to see Delicate Arch
15. The good kind of traffic
The next day we came back for more! I loved this old dead tree. Most of these B&W images have all been iR shots from my GF-1. Met back up one of the two rangers that stayed with us that evening.
16. Not an arch
Next stop was Colorado where I had a wedding to attend. Fortunately I also discovered I was near the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and took a short drive to the north rim.
17.
18. Wood Grain at Black Canyon & 19. Windmill in Colorado (near the wedding)
Then work made me come home. Boo!
...and the river flows through our souls...
www.chrislindbergphotography.com
www.chrislindbergphotography.com
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twin Mark IV's & a bunch of "L" glass
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