Black Canyon - Colorado River

anwmn1 · January 21, 2008

Being that I had a three day weekend this weekend I contacted Kdog to see if he was up for a shoot. Being that he is a nature guy (I prefer landscapes) and has done most of the driving on our previous meetups I offered to head up towards his house and try a nature shoot.

I bolted out of work as early as I could Friday afternoon and drove almost 200 miles to get up to that part of the state. Along the way I pulled of the road to try and capture the setting sun in The Joshua Tree Forest.

Made it up to Kingman around 7:30 pm and settled in for the night- knowing I we needed to get up early and get out to our destination. The next morning I go out to the truck to get my tripod and some gear and .... awe SH..!!!!

Yeap- some POS had broken into my truck box and took my tripod and ball head! Weren't the brightest criminals though considering there were tools including 2 drills, my work back including my checkbook, and in the cab on the seat was my 80G Ipod. :dgrin

Luckily I had brought all the other camera gear- bodies & lenses- in the night before. After waiting for the Police to show and get my report we headed out. Wasn't going to let this ruin the trip!

We got out to Willow Beach Marina and rented a boat- Kdog wanted to upgrade so we could ride in a little more style :wink. After all the paperwork , boat operations instructions, and a brief warning that the water level may go UP (remember that) so careful when beaching the boat. Then we were off heading up the 8 miles of river between Willow Beach and the Hoover Dam looking for Eagles, Hawks, and Big Horn Sheep.

I took the wheel so Kdog could scout for animals- it was a balmy 30 degrees in the desert :huh - here he is giving props to our sponsors :rofl

The river begins to narrow ahead

We floated the boat back into a really small chute -only a couple feet on each side and maybe 3 ft deep- to get to a little waterfall. Couldn't quite get the shot due to how dark it was and the movement of the boat. If I had my tripod......

A few more miles I up we beached the boat so we could hike back to some hot springs I saw on the map. We anchored the boat, decided which gear we would take and then shoved the boat back out into the water. The hike was relatively short and beautiful. Hot springs in a slot canyon- gotta love it!

Yeah- this is the trail- remember it only in the 30's- not really wanting to get wet even if the water is warm the air is not.

Venturing on has it's rewards though as a few hundred feet further we came to this. :barb

Up the ladder the canyon really narrow and people have damed up the water with sand bags to create little pools. Pretty cool but time to start heading back

Wow- that looks pretty far down

We made it down and out of the canyon only 45 minutes to an hour after going in and wouldn't you know it- the darn boat is almost completely beached. Touching the bottom from stern to stem :lol4

We tried pushing- we tried pulling- we tried the radio- nothing we were stuck and the water was going down! WTF!!!! Finally I made contact with a raft operator that does tours and he said he would stop to see if he could help or call for help if not. Luckily he pulls up and 4 other men get off as well. I took 7 of us to push the boat back into the water. We made our thanks and continued to head up river.

Approaching the dam we could see the construction of what will be the dam bypass. From the river- that is a long ways up! :huh

The Dam - from the backside

We decided it was time to head back

Kdog doing his best Miami Vice 'Crocket' impersonation :rofl

Scaring all the ducks too!

No eagles- no hawks- no big horn sheep. Just ducks. Oh well it was fun anyways.

I ended up staying another night in the area and Kdog took me up Hualapai Mountain for sunrise and maybe this time some wildlife.

No tripod means you have to get creative for support :wink

And Finally Kdog delivers on some wildlife- in a little community on the mountain no less! :dunno

Cow Elk

THE END

photogmomma · January 21, 2008

Brrr! It's been chilly here in Crested Butte, hope it was warmer there! (looks it as you don't have 5' of snow on the ground.

!)

Gorgeous shots! I've been wanting to get out there, but have had the kids with my every time - so no major hiking.

Sorry about your tripod - that really blows!

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing!

Tango · January 21, 2008

anwmn1 wrote:

Kdog doing his best Miami Vice 'Crocket' impersonation

thats my kind of photog trip!
crocket has a nice side arm there:D

btw, did you guys have IS lenses?

anwmn1 · January 21, 2008

photogmomma wrote:

Brrr! It's been chilly here in Crested Butte, hope it was warmer there! (looks it as you don't have 5' of snow on the ground. !)

Gorgeous shots! I've been wanting to get out there, but have had the kids with my every time - so no major hiking.

Sorry about your tripod - that really blows!

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing!

Nope no 5' of snow in that part of the state. I believe the mountains around Flagstaff and Show Low have about that much as the ski resorts are open and running.

We didn't do any major hiking- any little one that can walk could have made it- would have got a little wet- but they could have made it.

The tripod is replaceable and I got more shots than I thought I was going to - so not to worried about it.

Thanks for the post. When you make it out to the desert look me up. I can give you a ton of places to go - even with the little ones.

anwmn1 · January 21, 2008

AaronNelson wrote:

thats my kind of photog trip!
crocket has a nice side arm there:D

btw, did you guys have IS lenses?

Thanks Aaron- It was a very good trip and we plan to hit that canyon again. It is about the same distance for you as it was for me if I am not mistaken.

'Crocket' was equipped with some nice gear. I believe that is his 40D with the 100-400 with IS. He also had his 20D with the 10-22

I had my Oly E-500 with the 50-200 f2.8 and a E-300 with the 14-54 f2.8 . No IS on my gear other than my hands and knees.

Hopefully he will get on here and post our beached boat. He was taking pictures and I was trying to call for help. Go Figure!!

Sam · January 21, 2008

Nice report, and photos. Sorry about your tripod.

Sam

tisun · January 21, 2008

That's big horn sheep country. Did you see any sheep along the riverbanks?

kdog · January 22, 2008

Kdog checks in...
Yeah, nice parking job, skipper.

Here's Aaron, in hot water again. (About 95F actually.)

Kdog does a landscape.

Diamonds and Ducks (or when a nature shot goes horribly wrong. )

So, great pictures and story, Aaron. It was an pleasure shooting with you, and always an adventure.

Sorry again about the tripod.:cry

-joel

Tango · January 22, 2008

its likely our schedules would not match up, (mine is set a year in advance)but i sure would like to go on a great adventure with you fine gentlemen sometime..
so if at all poss, im in if you need a third wheel:D

Tessa HD · January 22, 2008

nice! esp. loved #'s 2 & 6! unbelievable you were robbed!

Tee Why · January 22, 2008

Duck running on water shot is nice.

summerz · January 22, 2008

Awesome pics, thanks.

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

Sam wrote:

Nice report, and photos. Sorry about your tripod.

Sam

Thanks Sam

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

tisun wrote:

That's big horn sheep country. Did you see any sheep along the riverbanks?

It was the whole reason we went but no- no big horn sheep :cry

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

kdog wrote:

Yeah, nice parking job, skipper.

Maybe if I had taken the professor instead of Gilligan I could have gotten off those rocks a little sooner.

Kdog does a landscape.

I like how this one turned out!

Till next time

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

AaronNelson wrote:

its likely our schedules would not match up, (mine is set a year in advance)but i sure would like to go on a great adventure with you fine gentlemen sometime..
so if at all poss, im in if you need a third wheel:D

Well it is easy then- let us knnow when you are available. If I am available and we come to an agreement on a destination than it is all good.

Considering the boat incident we could use all the wheels we can get!

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

Tessa HD wrote:

nice! esp. loved #'s 2 & 6! unbelievable you were robbed!

Thanks Tessa

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

Tee Why wrote:

Duck running on water shot is nice.

I was just corrected in the Wildlife category that those are not ducks but Coot's.

Sorry for posting any misinformation.

anwmn1 · January 22, 2008

summerz wrote:

Awesome pics, thanks.

Thank you!

BeachBill · January 23, 2008

Hey Aaron, that sucks about your tripod. Kingman used to be such a nice town.

Thanks for posting the trip report and photos. Nice to see the dam from below.

Sorry I couldn't make this trip. Looking forward to hooking up in Page at the end of March.

Black Canyon - Colorado River

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