Bryce/Zion Packing List

Ann McRae

Hi all
Can you help a girl from the frozen fronteir prepare for spending these 4 days in the desert?

I've read every thread about what to put into the camera bag, but now need to be prepared in terms of appropriate clothing, extra things like rain gear, sunscreen, food....

Appropriate hiking shoes - are boots necessary - are good sandals appropriate?

What kind of temps will we see - will there be a large variety over the day or will the temp be constant?

Tips on how to be best prepared will save me from packing four suitcases and consuming all the room in dragon's rental van!!!!

ann

Bob Bell

Ann McRae wrote:

Hi all
Can you help a girl from the frozen fronteir prepare for spending these 4 days in the desert?

I've read every thread about what to put into the camera bag, but now need to be prepared in terms of appropriate clothing, extra things like rain gear, sunscreen, food....

Appropriate hiking shoes - are boots necessary - are good sandals appropriate?

What kind of temps will we see - will there be a large variety over the day or will the temp be constant?

Tips on how to be best prepared will save me from packing four suitcases and consuming all the room in dragon's rental van!!!!

ann

Ann,

I recommend good hiking shoes not sandals. We most likely we runn across poisoneous scorpions, spiders, and snakes. A bark scorpion sting on a toe is very painful.

I own Merrell hiking boots. I have the lightweight 3/4 type. I think my last pair cost 80 bux. They also make a normal tennis shoe heigh that is very popular. My boots only like 2 pounds combined so its not like they are very heavy.

If I take my gitzo 1338 apart it fits in a small carry on suitcase, so there most likely will be room in the van for anything since I'm not bringing a road case now

I recommend light colored clothing. A lightweight rain poncho will work. I am bringing 1 or 2 storm jackets for shooting in the rain. If you happen to have shirts and pants that zip from long sleeve to short sleeve, long pants to short pants that might be handy.

For drinks I can carry 2 32oz gatorades. i recommend carrying as much water as possible. I am going to carry cliff bars and gel packs for food.

photocat

I would never wear sandals in a desert area... There are little critters...

Go for boots or hiking booties... You don't want to step on a scorpion with sandals...

davev

I'll be wearing high top leather basketball shoes, size 13. Those little critters
better be looking out for me.

Seeing as you're from the great white north, if the evening temps dip a bit,
it will still seem OK. I'm bringing a insulated flannel shirt as a jacket with a
couple of hooded sweatshirts. I would think that would handle the cooler temps.

For Bryce the site says 66 average high, 31 average low.
No biggie for the northerners.



http://www.nps.gov/brca/weather.html

gluwater

I second the Merrell boots. I have a pair and I love them. They are comfortable and very lightweight. To go with your boots get good socks, they may seem expensive but walking on blisters will really ruin your fun. This maybe obvious but don't forget a hat and sunglasses. Sunscreen is generally greasy so some packages of wetnaps may be a good idea to wipe your hands with so you don't get sunscreen on your camera gear. If you have an REI near you go and check them out. The staff there (at least the one by me) is very knowledgable and can help you pick appropriate gear.

David_S85

3rd the hiking shoes. That same REI Glu just mentioned sold me some low cut North Face hiking shoes a few months ago. Also finally found some orthodic inserts that fit every shoe I wear. I need to get a few pairs of hiking socks to complete the footware.

Had I known the National Park Passes were available from REI, I would have also purchased one of those.

You're going to need a way of carrying water. Normally, I'd suggest a 50 or 70 oz. bladder in a backpack, but most of us will have photo gear weighing our shoulders down. I'll be wearing a fannypack H2O bottle carrier and pouch for my filters and other tiny goodies. I'm also bringing some black cherry Cliff bars to munch on. :eat

Don't forget ziplock bags for gear in case it rains. It's dry country, but we're in the middle of whatever rainy season they have out there.

jwear

layers layers layers and water lots of water but dressing in layers will make your day happy happy --good gloves and tequila no that was another trip D have fun everyone

Bob Bell

REI sells Ultimax socks made by Wigwam. They are really comfy and keep your feet dry. 10bux a pair but they are much better than my gold toe athletic socks so I'm going back for enough for the trip.

I forgot my national parks pass, i'll get it next time.

I have the 2.5 gallon zip lock bags. I am tettering on bringing those or actual storm jackets made for the lenses I have.

The layers thing is trying for me since I don't have much of my colder weather stuff from when I lived in chicago.

will a t-shirt and sweatshirt+heavy windbreaker be enough? I was looking at moisture transfer t-shirts at REI but I don't know much about them.

Bob Bell

I found the temps and rainfall of May:

http://www.zion.national-park.com/weather.htm

http://www.bryce.canyon.national-park.com/weather.htm

Looks like we have a good chance for mild weather

ChrisJ

David_S85 wrote:

Had I known the National Park Passes were available from REI, I would have also purchased one of those.

FYI, you can buy them at the entrance to Bryce or Zion... I guess that me be less convenient when caravaning though.

Ann McRae

Hi all

Well, I have worn Columbia hikers for many years now instead of runners/sneakers. But I've just bought a pair of Nike Air Alberta (hehe) that are all terrain hikers but not real heavy duty off the path hikers. They are much lighter than the Merrils, Columbias or others I looked at when at MEC. SO MEC is Mountain Equipment Coop. What is REI?

So should I actually pick up over the ankle hiking boots?
The sandals I speak of are Nike or Merril or Columbia and they are mostly enclosed with a few air holes, but are really light weight and water proof - good for hiking if you are crossing streams, etc. Any of that or are scorpions more likely?

I've also bought a dry weave shirt. Will pick up convertable pants/shorts/

Hat.
Sunglasses.

I have the whole laptop part of my lowepro backpack free - I think I could put a camelback into it (water storage device with straw).

So a good waterproof windbreaker is necessary then?

And, 31F is still cold to a northerner!!! I'm old enough that 60F is cold! I need to move :

Thanks
Keep the tips coming.

ann

Skippy

Anne.......... 70's cold for me

Ann McRae wrote:

Hi all

Well, I have worn Columbia hikers for many years now instead of runners/sneakers. But I've just bought a pair of Nike Air Alberta (hehe) that are all terrain hikers but not real heavy duty off the path hikers. They are much lighter than the Merrils, Columbias or others I looked at when at MEC. SO MEC is Mountain Equipment Coop. What is REI?

So should I actually pick up over the ankle hiking boots?
The sandals I speak of are Nike or Merril or Columbia and they are mostly enclosed with a few air holes, but are really light weight and water proof - good for hiking if you are crossing streams, etc. Any of that or are scorpions more likely?

I've also bought a dry weave shirt. Will pick up convertable pants/shorts/

Hat.
Sunglasses.

I have the whole laptop part of my lowepro backpack free - I think I could put a camelback into it (water storage device with straw).

So a good waterproof windbreaker is necessary then?

And, 31F is still cold to a northerner!!! I'm old enough that 60F is cold! I need to move :

Thanks
Keep the tips coming.

ann

Hey Ann......... I feel the cold something shocking but figured if your hiking your bound to get warm, good heavens I think its cold in the 70's
I think Im in for a shock............. Skippy (Australia)

wxwax

You're going to be changing lenses in windy, dusty environments. I strongly suggest you bring a brush, a blower and... your sensor cleaning kit.

Better safe, than hours in Photoshop removing the blobs.

Nikolai

What Sid said

wxwax wrote:

You're going to be changing lenses in windy, dusty environments. I strongly suggest you bring a brush, a blower and... your sensor cleaning kit.

Better safe, than hours in Photoshop removing the blobs.

Those dust bunnies woudl get ya... Plan on cleaning sensor at least once a day (if you change lenses).

Another way - bring a supply of the clean trash bags and change the lenses inside a clean one each time - you may get lucky..:-)

DavidTO

wxwax wrote:

You're going to be changing lenses in windy, dusty environments. I strongly suggest you bring a brush, a blower and... your sensor cleaning kit.

Better safe, than hours in Photoshop removing the blobs.

Eh.

Feh.

Meh.

I say better spending hours in photoshop (come on, it's minutes, really) getting rid of the blobs than spending one second in this beautiful location, with a bunch of great people, with all this fun to be had and Cherry Ripes to steal out of Andy's bag, cleaning the friggin' sensor. I, for one, will be cleaning my sensor before I leave, and possibly upon my return. In between I fully intend to have a fully good time. And cleaning my sensor ain't my idea of a good time.

Nikolai

Errh...

DavidTO wrote:

Eh.

Feh.

Meh.

I say better spending hours in photoshop (come on, it's minutes, really) getting rid of the blobs than spending one second in this beautiful location, with a bunch of great people, with all this fun to be had and Cherry Ripes to steal out of Andy's bag, cleaning the friggin' sensor. I, for one, will be cleaning my sensor before I leave, and possibly upon my return. In between I fully intend to have a fully good time. And cleaning my sensor ain't my idea of a good time.

David,

cleaning dust blobs from one shot - no big deal. Cleaning them from hundreds and thousands of shots is a totally different story.

I, too, plan to spend a wonderful time with dgrin crowd. But that does not imply that I gonna purposefully jeopardize the technical quality of my shots, whom I hope to take plenty of. Bringing the kit means just a few extra ounces, and cleaning the sensor means spending two minutes at the end of the day, just before you knock yourself out. Does it really look such a burden?

David_S85

Blasting the sensor with air from a large Giottos blower takes all of 20 seconds tops. No big deal. I will do this as I need to.

Last night, I found the biggest blob of something ever on the sensor after looking at my new pano setup's test shots. Covered several hundred pixels in each direction.

So if I remember, I'll do a test shot every once in a while to take a looksee.

How to check:
Place camera in a very high aperture, like f/29 in AV mode. Focus manually to as close as the lens can go. Use a wide angle lens if you have one. Fire off a shot of the sky.

Look at the result on the LCD in magnify mode, and move around the image. If the blobs are there, you'll easily spot them.

Ann McRae

Well, my sensor has never been cleaned but clearly needs to be. guess I'll try that one night this week, and pack the stuff in case I chicken out and need to do so under supervision. Maybe thats what we can do together in VEgas Tuesday.....

I bought a camel back insert for my camera backpack. The camel back holds 2 litres, and will fit in the laptop compartment. It has a waterproof / punctureproof case over it. I think this is a better choice than trying to figure out where to stow a water bottle.

I will also fill one of the front compartments with first aid basics like antiseptic and bandaids.

I also bought a dorky but functinal wide brimmed hat, and a really lightweight waterproof/wind proof jacket.

ann

Andy

Zappos
If you need new boots, www.zappos.com

Probably the finest shoe / boot / footwear source on the planet. It's the B&H for shoes!

Here's how it works: You shop. You pick what you want. You order two, or even three, sizes of the same shoe/boot. They ship to you, usually you get it within 2 days. You try them on. You keep the ones you want, send back the rest. They have free shipping BOTH ways. http://www.zappos.com/whyshop.zhtml

It's shoe-rvana

Bob Bell

You guyz are insane. I live in a desert and don't clean my sensor everyday. Usually every other week and I shoot 2-3 times a week outside with probably 5-6 lenses changes each day with the camera powered on.

So next saturday is expected to be my last day shooting before my flight on Tuesday, So on Sunday I will clean my sensor, wipe does the body and lenses. Clean filters / lenses. I expect to be fine through the trip but I am bringing pecpads, eclipse, and a lenspen just in case one of you throws dust at me while im changing to prove your point rofl

wxwax

You leave the camera turned on? :eek1 I believe the sensor is an electrically charged little sucker that attracts particles with an opposite charge. i.e. a dust magnet! Sounds like you've gotten away with it, but perhaps not the best advice for others! :uhoh

Bob Bell

wxwax wrote:

You leave the camera turned on? :eek1 I believe the sensor is an electrically charged little sucker that attracts particles with an opposite charge. i.e. a dust magnet! Sounds like you've gotten away with it, but perhaps not the best advice for others! :uhoh

The only time I turn my body is off is when I change CF cards. So thats only 2-3 times in a day with 4 gig cards.

It is an electromagnet and that is probably why my mirror gets so dusty

claudermilk

First of all, I'm jealous. I wanna go back now that I have a proper DSLR (the Coolpix did a good job, but now what I could get...).

Keep in mind that Bryce is over 9,000 feet while Zion is much, much lower (don't recall the elevation, but thousands of feet lower). Bryce will be much cooler, so plan accordingly--as was said earlier, layers. Camelbacks are great. I usually hike with a felt Fedora, my wife has a canvas floppy hat; the full brim is your friend.

Basic hiking boots will suffice. If you happen to get a chance to do the Narrows hike in Zion, hiking sandals & shorts will be better--most of it you are walking IN the river & there is no choice. It's worth the walk, though.

David_S85

I've been checking the weather for SW Utah every day. That area has been in the mid to upper 80's (ºF) and 50's at night.

Update:
Expect upper 60's for a high in Bryce, low in the 40's (ºF)
Zion (lower altitude), about 20º higher.

Andy

Andy wrote:

If you need new boots, www.zappos.com

Probably the finest shoe / boot / footwear source on the planet. It's the B&H for shoes!

Here's how it works: You shop. You pick what you want. You order two, or even three, sizes of the same shoe/boot. They ship to you, usually you get it within 2 days. You try them on. You keep the ones you want, send back the rest. They have free shipping BOTH ways. http://www.zappos.com/whyshop.zhtml

It's shoe-rvana

Ordered evening of May 8th. Delivered to my door today, May 10th. What a great company. So I bought 4 pairs, x2 sizes each. Kept 2pairs. The returns process in their shopping cart is AMAZINGLY easy. Label printed, UPS alerted to pickup tomorrow, how easy is that?

ZAPPO'S is