Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Arches

Sorry I haven't updated much on here lately. I haven't really had Internet connection on either my iPhone or my laptop. Get out in the middle of Utah and the cell phone service is spotty at best. I was trying to talk to my parents while on the road and by 5 miles outside of a town, the phone would drop and I would get a "No Service" until the next small town.

I'm sitting here in a small coffee / bakery located in Moab, UT drinking a cup of coffee and jamming out to some Block Party. It's a nice little place with some atmosphere. Their breakfast burritos are GREAT. Gary headed back home to Oregon yesterday. He wanted to be home by Sunday so that he could get back to work Monday morning. Sucks to be him!

Grand Canyon National Park
While Gary was still hanging out with me we checked out the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Like I said before, it was raining the night we got there, but that morning it was clear with some spotty clouds. My cousin, Robyn, sent me a note on Facebook saying that she wanted to go to the Grand Canyon this year with her kids, but that her twins didn't want to cause it is just a big hole in the ground. Well, they are right, it is a HUGE hole in the ground, but well worth driving to see. I'm not that happy with the sunrise shots I got there so I'm planning to head back later this week after I shoot sunset shots at Monument Valley this evening.

Gary and I got up about 5:00 in the morning to go shoot sunrise shots at the Grand Canyon. It was a bit hazy so the circular polorizer helped out some to get rid of it. Looking towards the east into the sun there were some clouds which were creating some beautiful rays of light against the dark rock formations.



Looking east you see this huge wide depression of rock formations, color and shadows. I put on the widest angle lens I have to get this shot and it doesn't even come close to capturing the entire view. It's something like 10 miles across from the South Rim park to the North Rim park, but takes 240 miles or so to drive since you have to go to the far east, cross the Colorado and then back in.



The above shot is ok, but being this small of a picture it's hard to see everything that is going on, so here's a couple more shots zoomed in.





Like I said before, I'm not that happy with these shots. I think they are "average". When I head back to the Grand Canyon I plan to shoot sunrise shots from the North Rim then drive the 240 miles around to the South Rim to shoot sunset shots. I need to head back towards the west anyways for the next part of my trip.

Bryce Canyon National Park
So after shooting sunrise at the Grand Canyon I headed northeast to Bryce Canyon National Park in southeast Utah. The weather wasn't helping me at all there. It wasn't raining, but during the best part of the sun setting across the rocks, a big ol' cloud decided to park in front of the sun. I still got some interesting shots. I also like how these came out a lot better then my Grand Canyon pics.

For those who haven't heard about Bryce Canyon full of these large spires called "Hoodoos" which are formed by water and ice wearing away the limestone. It makes for some very cool pictures.





I really like how the second shot came out. The big cloud which was parked in front of the sun finally decided to get out of the way and further out on the canyon floor there was some low light just catching the smaller hoodoo in the lower left and the rock formation on the right which had a look of a fort or something.

Arches National Park
Arches was ok, nothing spectacular but worth stopping off to see in an afternoon. I'm glad I have the year long National Park Pass because I would have felt ripped off if I paid 25 bucks to get in.

I did check out a couple of the arches, but the light wasn't that great. There was one called Skyline Arch which had some wonderful light on it. I liked how the dead tree helped out the foreground on this shot of it.



After checking out a few of the Arches I started looking for interesting rock formations to get silhouette shots of with the setting sun behind. I guess this kind of shot is one of my trade marks if you follow my photos on Flickr. So I headed up to a view point of some of the larker rock formations and found these great little pools of water in the rock. It must of rained hard in the morning there cause it was the only water I saw.

This is The Organ with the Devil's Backbone in the far distance.



Another interesting shot I got was of the Petrified Dunes which are spread out under Devil's Backbone. If you look closely there is a arch in that rock formation at the top. I'm not sure which one it is though.



After the sun went down over the horizon, the sky lit up only like it can in the desert.



I think the water puddles really helped make this shot stand out. Otherwise the bottom half would be just black and boring.

Well, that's all for now. It's getting time for me to hit the road for Monument Valley. Right now the plan is to go to Monument Valley, stay the night. Head over to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to see what the sunset looks like, stay the night there and catch hopefully some better sunrise shots then drive over to the South Rim to shoot sunset. After staying the night on the South Rim I'm planning to head to Las Vegas. A buddy of mine who I haven't seen in a few years lives on the north side of town, so I'm going to hang out with him for a couple of days. After that I'll start wondering north towards home.

Raining at the Grand Canyon

I'm camping outside of the Grand Canyon in a nice campground which is
very well priced, 10 bucks a car, and it's raining.... I thought I
was getting away from the Oregon weather! It was raining on and off on
the way here from the Hoover Dam but was just overcast when Gary and I
was walking along the Canyon Rim. But once we got to the camp and
started setting up, it started coming down and hasn't stopped since.

We're hoping that it blows through overnight and clears up some in the
morning. Clouds are good for Landscape shots but rain isn't.... I'm
setting the alarm for 5:00 AM to get out to the rim for some dawn
pictures. But if I wake up and hear the rain coming down on my tent
like it is now, I'm going back to sleep.

As I've been typing this blog entry it's actually started to rain
harder. But no thunder n lightening so far. According to the weather
report there are supposed to be thunder showers the rest of the week.
If the weather doesn't cooporate, I'll just head up to southern Utah
where hopefully the weather will be better. I just can't believe that
I ran into rain in Arizona, isn't this area supposed to be hot and dry?

Greg on the go

Long Drive

I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Boulder City, NV having a real cup of
coffee. Gary and I did a 10 hour drive yesterday from about 10 miles
outside of Yosemite to here in Boulder City. It wasn't that bad of a
drive. We cut through the mohave desert and saw pretty much nothing.
It was hot and dry. We stopped at the town of Mohave, CA for lunch and
I asked Gary, "Who the hell would want to live here?". He didn't have
an answer and neither did I. Driving through places like that really
make me appreciate living in The northwest.

Well, we're getting ready to head out and take the Hoover Dam tour. I
did it a few years ago but Gary hasn't seen it before. Then we're on
the road again heading for the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I'll
post photos of the Grand Canyon when I get a chance.

Greg on the go

Still hanging out in Yosemite

I'm in a little blip on the road called Buck Meadows which is about 9 miles outside of the Yosemite entrance on HW 120. I stopped in for lunch and found out they have wifi! So, I've been sitting in their bar drinking a coke and going through the photos I've taken over the past few days.

So as I was talking about before, I was camping at this outrageously priced campground. Today I found a nice National Forest campground which is only about 8 miles outside of the HW 120 Yosemite entrance and it's a heck of a lot cheaper. Sure, it doesn't have showers or a toilet that flushes, but I'm camping so it doesn't matter.

Yosemite is a big park! I didn't realize just how big it was until I started driving around it. I've put at least 400 miles on the car putting around the major roads. 400 miles at 35 MPH or less is a lot of time in the car. A lot of those miles was running up and down Glacier Point road. I headed up there Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening trying to get the perfect shot of the sun setting on Half Dome. I've been up and down that road so many times in the past few days I think I can drive it in my sleep. :) Sunday was the night though. There wasn't any stinking clouds blocking the sun, the crowds were mostly gone and Half Dome was glowing. It's amazing how solid granite looks so drab at high noon but get some evening light on it and it changes your perseption.



Another shot from Glacier Point. That's Nevada Falls on the right and the Siera Mountains in the back ground. You can hear the roar of the falls from way up there. It's 3000 feet or more down to the falls, so to hear them from up there is something. I can't wait to get to the base of them tomorrow to hear how loud they are up close.



One thing about driving in Yosemite, those California drivers who like to drive 80 MPH on their freeways sure change their driving habits on a high land switch back road... It's like they never have driven in the mountains before. It's funny stuff. Pretty much everywhere in Yosemite is either 25 or 35 MPH which I try my darnest to keep at. These California drivers will haul butt on the straight aways and get right on my tail. Then when we get into some corners I stay at the same speed I was going in the straight aways and they fall way behind. Damn city slickers... :)

Well lets see. I might as well post up a couple more pictures of what I've seen. There are these small little creeks running down the mountains pretty much everywhere you go. It's amazing how these little streams get overlooked by most people. Sure, a big ol' water fall looks cool in all, but you just can't get the details of falling water like a creek cascading down a mountain side.





So there's the small stuff for ya, now here's the big ones. Yosemite Falls is an amazing sight to see.



Another shot of Yosemite Falls from a different angle.



Well, I think I've over stayed my welcome at this joint I'm at, so I better wrap this up. My buddy Gary is driving in today. If everything goes well he should be up here around 9 or 10 tonight. I offered to meet him down in the valley so that he didn't have to drive so stinking far in one day, but he insisted on driving all the way up here. I need to get into a cell phone coverage area to call him.

We're going to stay here in Yosemite for a couple more days then it's off to who knows where. I'm thinking the Grand Canyon, but we'll see what Gary thinks.

Glacier Point

I'm up here at Glacier Point in Yosemite and I have cell phone
service! So here's a quick blurb and hopefully a photo.

I'm up here waiting for the light show of the setting sun on Half
Dome. Below is a pic I took with the crappy iPhone which doesn't do
justice to the view. Anyways, it's a pain typing on this iPhone so I'm
signing off. More to come when I can get wifi for my netbook.

Morning of June 20th

It’s just after 8 AM and I’ve already had my first cup of coffee and finished breakfast.  I didn’t write on my blog last night because I was a bit tired.  But I did take the time to go through my pictures from the morning Crater Lake photo shoot and the photos I took yesterday in Yosemite National Park. 

I’m pretty happy with the photos I got at Crater Lake.  The lake was like a mirror early that morning and there was still some snow on the crater walls which made for a beautiful photo opportunity.

Yesterday after finding my extremely expensive camp ground, which isn’t that great, I headed into Yosemite.  I have to say, it is a beautiful site to see even after the big fire.  I had totally forgot that there had been a fire here, but driving around you see how it swept through the park.  Things are starting to green back up again and there are wild flowers which are starting to come back.

On a side note: I don’t know why, but there is a bell being rung further down in the canyon below my campsite. Breakfast bell? I don’t know…

Well, I don’t want to waste too much of your time, so I’ll get right to what everyone wants to see.  Well at least I hope they do, the pictures. 

I started out the day at the foot of Bridal Veil Falls, but there was soo many people there I didn’t really get any good pictures.  I’m thinking I’ll have to head back there on Monday when the crowds die down.  So I headed up the mountain to to see what was up there and then I was able to see a full frame shot of Bridal Veil without having to fight the crowds.

I like how the spray is creating a rainbow effect at the bottom.

Also from this point you got a peek into Yosemite Valley

Further up was Glacier Point, at least I think that’s what it’s called.  There was some nice views up there also of the valley floor.

And then there is Half Dome Peak:

The second shot of Half Dome was taken from the Valley floor and I was headed back to camp.  I plan to go back up to Glacier Point for sunset shots tonight if the lighting was good.  I was originally planning to stay up there last night for the sunset, but there was a big bank of clouds coming through which was blocking the sun.  Of course by the time I got down to the valley floor the clouds were gone.

Well that’s all for now.  I’m packing up and heading back into Yosemite to take some more pictures. 

Yosemite? Not yet.....

Well, I drove out to Yosemite yesterday and ran into a snag... There are a bunch of National Forest camp grounds outside of Yosemite along CA HW 120, but by the time I got up there on Thursday, every one of them was full. They are all "first come, first serve". Not really surprising since I didn't get up there until late Thursday afternoon.

Since my plans for camping last night were thrown out of the window, I went back down the mountain to Oakdale, CA and spent the night at a Best Western. Kind of a funny story there. I was on my iPhone checking rates for the local hotels and I saw that the Best Western had an "Internet Only" booking rate which was 25 bucks cheaper then a walk-in booking. So I made the reservation from across the street, walked in and got my room. The lady at the front desk was kind of freaked out when I told her the name the reservation was under. She said, "I don't have a reservation under... OH! That wasn't there before!"

Anyways, I did find a camp ground online which is 5 miles outside of Yosemite but the price is ridiculous! I'm not going to put down the price because if I do it might cause someone to have a heart attack... I ended up booking it until Monday when hopefully the National Forest camp grounds will have thinned out so I don't feel I've been violated to camp longer.

I just got off the phone with Gary and he's planning to head my way on Monday which is why I'm going to look for a cheaper camp ground. After he arrives I'm sure he'll want to check out Yosemite, so we'll stay a couple more days.

Well, I'm headed out soon to head back up the mountain. No cell phone or internet out there in the wilderness, so there won't be any updates for a few days.

Morning Coffee in Arcata

It’s about 7:30 in the morning and I’m having a cup of coffee at Mosgo’s coffee shop in Arcata, CA.  The coffee isn’t the greatest cup I’ve ever had but there is free wifi here, so I can’t complain too much.  After a few sips the coffee is starting to taste better, or my taste buds have been desensitized to the point that I can’t taste anything.  Either way it’s better then the crap I’ve been brewing in camp. 

I drove from Crater Lake through the Redwoods to Arcata, CA yesterday.  It wasn’t that long of a drive, something like 7 hours total, but by the end i was dead tired.  I didn’t feel like setting up camp so, I booked a room at the Motel 6 and was sleeping by 8:00.  I plan to head back into the Redwoods today and find a camp site to hang out at for a couple of days. 

It was a great drive.  I went through Medford, back up to Grants Pass and cut across into California on Highway 199 which is also called Redwood Highway.  Once you get into California on 199 the road gets good and curvy which was a blast in the little Honda.  I was also taken aback at how the climate changes so radically coming down the hill into Crescent City.  Up high it is fairly dry with scrub pines, the sun is out and the air temp is in the upper 80’s lower 90’s.  Then you drop down and it gets cooler, the trees get bigger until finally you’re socked in a low level cloud/fog bank and the air temp is in the 50’s.  It’s an amazing change of climate over a 45 minute drive.

Well, the coffee is getting cold and I need to get on the road. 

First Day Wrap Up

It’s been a successful first day on the road.  I didn’t crash the car, it’s not currently raining and I saw Crater Lake.  I even took a couple pictures up there at Crater Lake, but the lighting wasn’t the best. 

On the way down here the weather was great until about 20 miles before where I planned to camp.  It was POURING down rain.  Not )some drizzle, I mean RAIN.  I hadn’t seen it rain that hard since I was in Manaus, Brazil.  I was a tad bit nervous about trying to camp in the what was looking to be miserable weather.   When I reached the camp is was raining, but not cats ‘n dogs.  So, I scoped out the camp ground and it was pretty much empty which meant I had plenty of time to hopefully wait out the rain and go do other stuff before setting up camp.

I stopped off in Prospect, OR to fill up the tank.  It’s a nice sleepy little town that reminded me a lot of my home town, White Salmon, WA.  Well, more like the White Salmon I grew up in. 

Anyways, after filling up the tank I headed up to Crater Lake to see if it was raining up there.  Funny thing was that 5 miles out from the camp it was sunny.  You just can’t get enough of Oregon weather.  Up at the top there was some clouds, but much to my relief no rain.  I hadn’t been to Crater Lake since I was something like 12 or 13.  I remembered it being bigger and a lot higher at the rim then it actually is.  Still a beautiful sight to see though.  Like I said before, the lighting wasn’t great, but here’s a shot that turned out half way good. 

I plan to head back up there bright ‘n early in the morning to catch the sunrise.  As long as the sun is out, you can’t go wrong with that “golden hour” light. Hopefully it won’t be too cloudy or even worse, raining.

After messing around a bit up there at Crater Lake I headed back down the hill.  By the time I got back the rain was gone, so I picked a camp site away from everyone else plus had some trees growing close enough together for rain proofing my camp.  After the torrential down pour I saw earlier, I wasn’t going to take any chances.  I’m actually pretty proud of how my rain proofing turned out, but knowing my luck it won’t even rain tonight.  :\

Maybe it’s a bit overboard, but I hate a wet tent, so this should do the trick.

Ok, it’s getting close to 10:00 and 5 AM comes pretty darn early. 

On the Road

Well, it's only been 4 hours driving and I'm not sick of it yet. :)
I'm in a small Oregon town on HW 97 called Chemult. Stopped at the
first cafe I saw to grab a bite to eat. Since I have some time to kill
before the food arrives I figured I'd add a quick blurb on my blog.

So far nothing really exciting has happened. I did see a burned up van
on the side of the road which had just been put out. The fire
department was gone, but the cops were still there. It still smelled
though.

As for my buddy Gary. He felt terrible for leaving me hanging, but
it's cool. He still might meet up with me somewhere south, just
matters when he gets all his stuff done.

Well, the food should be getting here soon. One more thing, I'm the
youngest person in this cafe by at least 15 years if not more. And
they are all looking at me like I'm crazy typing on this iPhone of
mine. <end>

On the Road in the Morning

So, everyone has probably been wondering, "Where is Greg and what has he been doing?". Well, the short answer is "Not a whole hell of a lot". I had originally planned to leave last Wednesday but I wasn't totally prepared yet. Then the weather here in beautiful Oregon wasn't on my side, so I postponed a few days.

Another reason I was postponing a few days was so that I could take off at the same time as my buddy Gary and his girlfriend Merisa. I just got off the phone with Gary and he's still not finished up with his work that he needs to get done before he goes. I'm going a little crazy sitting around the apartment so I'm heading out solo in the morning. It's going to be me, my camera, and the Little Red Rocket filled to the gills with camping gear.

Over the last few days I've been packing up everything I need and dumping it in the living room. Looking at everything spread out over the floor, I was getting nervous that it wouldn't all fit! For those of you who don't know, I have a '09 Honda Fit which is surprisingly roomy for a sub compact, but it's still a darn small car.



But after some careful packing (actually stuffing) the car I think it's all going to fit. I still need to throw the cooler and my bag full of clothes in, but that should be easy.





Oh yeah, I picked up a new backpack to carry all my camera gear. I'm really liking it! I can carry all my lens, my extra camera body plus all the supporting crap and a laptop in this beast. It's one heavy SOB though with all that gear in there. Should be able to burn off a few pounds while hiking with it, or just die of a heart attack. :)



OK, that's about all for now. I'm on the road in the morning and will be updating on facebook and tweeting if you want to follow along. My facebook profile is on the right along with my Twitter account.

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

As I'm typing this June 5th, 5:00 PM will have passed and I'm officially on sabbatical. Holy crap it feels good! Time to head to the bar with some friends and celebrate!

Running Out of Time!

It's already Thursday and tomorrow's my last day before my sabbatical starts. I'm supposed to get this stinking test put together and shipped off and nothing is working right. I've been working some late hours this week trying to get this thing finished, but I'm running out of time. I can always have my counterpart in Malaysia take care of the work, but I really wanted to get as much done as possible before.

I'm so busy I had to miss my salsa dance lesson last night... Sorry Rachel for leaving you hanging like that!

Next week I'm planning to head out on the road on Wednesday, June 10th. So this weekend it's gathering up my last minute supplies and getting everything ready for the road. First stop is the Crater Lake area for some hopefully beautiful pictures. Then I'll go visit the Oregon Caves and whatever else is interesting in the area. Gary and Merissa aren't planning to take off until the weekend of June 13th, so I'll be meeting up with them somewhere in southwest Oregon. From there we're heading into the northern California Redwoods.

Well, this conference call I'm currently in is about done. Need to head back into the lab to work on some issues. Only 1 day, 5 hours and 30 minutes until 9 Weeks of Freedom!