After my layoff from Thomson on January 9th I traveled to somewhere that I'd never been before - the Grand Canyon. While I was in the area I also stopped off at my father's home in Tubac, Arizona (south of Tuscon) then went to Hoover Dam and Death Valley. I also attemped Bryce canyon as you will see from the diary below.
Tuesday, January
13
The tentative plan is to leave on Janury 26th and head for the Grand
Canyon. While I'm in the area I'll also visit Bryce
Canyon and Zion
National Parks. Also in the 'area' is the Hoover
Dam. I'll try to post updates as I actually head out and depending on the
bandwidth available, I'll try and upload some pictures. I should be returning
home sometime around Febuary 6th unless of course I get a job before then! Looks
like I'll be watching the Colts in the Super Bowl from some sports bar down
there. - Rich
Thursday, January
22
I might be delaying my trip by one day and starting on Tuesday. Our 5th wedding
anniversary is on Monday the 26th! - Update: we've decided to celebrate on Sunday
the 25th so I'll still be leaving on Monday the 26th.
Sunday, January
25
I'm all packed and ready to go in spite of the weather. I think that the roads
should be passable so I'm planning on heading out between 5:30-6:00am tomorrow.
If not, you'll find out right here. Hopefully my next update should be from
somewhere in Missouri or Oklahoma.
Monday, January
26th
I hit the road at about 5:45 this morning and made it as far as Shamrock,
Texas - 960 miles. The roads weren't the best in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri
and eastern Oklahoma - most of the way. It was cloudy and foggy with a light
freezing mist most of the way so I didn't make as good of time as I thought
I could. With any luck (if I don't sleep in too late) I might make it to the
canyon before sunset tomorrow!
Tuesday,
January 27th
I made it! I left the hotel at about 6:30am and arrived at the southern rim
of the Grand Canyon at Mather Point at about 5pm local time. There were some
clouds that blocked the sun for a while shortly after I got there, but then
cleared away for a few more shots. Another very long day and drive but I'm now
about a half day ahead of schedule. I've put up a quick processing of the first
picture I took and a couple of panoramic stitches. I'm not too sure about the
tonal balances since I'm working on my notebook LCD screen but you'll get the
idea I hope. Here they are. I'm staying
at the Bright Angle lodge on the Canyon rim in one of the cabins. It's just
a 2 minute walk to the edge.
Wednesday,
January 28th
A very full day. I think that I managed to hit every observation point on the
South Rim today (14) and many of the pull-over viewing spots. The weather was
cold with lots of wind. I had to wear gloves most of the time while shooting.
Something that I wasn't expecting to see was a wedding
at Moran Point! I managed to get a couple of people to take my picture for me
and I ended up taking lots of pictures of groups with their cameras. The morning
sunrise was a little disappointing as there were some clouds in the way. The
sunset was nice and the colors really changed as the sun went down. There is
still some snow left from last weeks storm, but it disappears about a 1,000'
down into the canyon. I did see a mule
train delivering staples to the Phantom ranch. They have temporarily suspended
using them for people transport but will start again later this year. I've also
included a shot of the Bright Angel Lodge
and the cabin that I'm staying in.
I'll add today's pictures to yesterdays so check there
for the new ones. If I don't oversleep I'm going to try and catch another sunrise,
then it's south through Sedona on my way to visit my father Nick who lives in
southern Arizona. Yesterday's images were run though Photoshop to bring out
the colors and improve the images. Today's are straight out of the camera with
just a bit of sharpening. Right now I'm just too tired to work much with the
images.
I almost forgot something. The Grand Canyon is unbelievably beautiful, large, varied, big, impressive and truely worth the visit. When standing at the south rim and looking across to the north rim you can just barely see the lodge on the other side. Then someone tells you that it's over 5 miles away and the Colorado River at the bottom that you can see is over a mile down. The size of everything gets lost in the repitition of the canyons and formations. It is overwhelming to the point that you get numb to it. I found myself going from point to point looking and trying to decide what picture to take and I realized that they are all wonderful - there is just so much beauty here. I never got below the rim. Someday I'd like to come back when I'm in better shape and hike down into the canyon. That's for the next time!
Thursday,
January 29th
Time to relax. I've been rushing everywhere that I've forgotten to slow down
and relax! I took my time this morning and got all packed before going out to
enjoy the sunset at the lodge. I've taken a series
of pictures over 45 minutes of the sunrise. There are quite a few so feel
free to skip them if you like. I really liked how the colors changed in the
shadows and the sun went deeper into the canyon. There is a Hopi
house at another of the lodges that I could have spent hours with as well.
Next, it was time to head south to Sedona through Oak
Canyon. It was nice but I think that I was still in overload mode from the
canyon. Sedona has gotten very commercial, but the drive through Red
Rock was nice. The moon was out and it made for some very intersting
pictures. I took a series of 21 photos for a 180 degree panoramic of a view
in Red Rock. View if you like but be warned - it's a large
picture.I'll be at my fathers for the next few days relaxing so I'm not
sure if there'll be any updates for a while.
Friday,
January 30th
I'll be at my father Nick's
(and his lovely wife Birdie) for the next few days. Today we took a trip up
to the San
Xavier mission today to take a few pictures.
The interior has recently been restored and is a beautiful place to visit. My
pictures just don't do it justice.
The December issue of Arizona
Highways has San Xavier on its cover. The cemetery
was unlike anything I'd ever seen, very interesting and most of the decorations
had been there since last November.
Sunday,
February 1st
Back on the road again after a couple of relaxing days with Nick 'n Birdie.
North to the Hover Dam with another side stop at San
Xavier for some more pictures. (Thanks
Nick for the ideas!!) Believe it or not, Hoover
Dam is now giving tours and they do allow you to go down to the generating
room - and take all the pictures that you want. There was a moment at the
security check-in where they wanted to know if I had "professional camera
equipment". The went and got a supervisor who clarified it to mean, was
I a professional? Once he was satisfied that I was only taking for my use and
not sneaking in to get some pictures for sale I was in. (And he liked my gear
as well.) After Hoover another bit of driving up to Beatty, Nevada to stay the
night before heading to Death Valley tomorrow. I caught most of the 4th quarter
of the Super Bowl in the bar of the Hotel/Casino/Resturant/Gas Station.
Monday,
February 2nd
Today was Death Valley. I started out
at the north end drove checking out the Devil's Golf Course, Zabrinsky point,
The Artist's Drive, Badwater - the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere and
Dante's view at 5,200'. I've put in a couple of panoramic shots and I'm working
on more but they are large. I'm currently in Cedar City, Utah and will Visit
Bryce Canyon tomorrow. After Bryce I'm heading to Sioux Falls to visit family.
footnote: Since the temperature in the Valley was 72F, the white stuff in
the pictures is salt - not snow.
I ran into a couple of
pro photographers who were taking stock photos of this place with a Toyo View
camera.
Panoramic of Zabriskie
Point (409K):
Tuesday,
February 3rd
Today was supposed to be Bryce Canyon...
but it snowed aaaalll day. The drive from Cedar City went over a 10,000' mountain
pass on a 2 lane road with 6" of snow and more coming. It was an adventure
to say the least. When I finally did make it to Bryce Canyon, I was just the
5th visitor they'd had. I did watch the movie and went to Sunset Point where
I did see a little of the canyon. Then back out and north to see if Arches was
visible. Alas, it wasn't so the day was pretty much a bust. It snowed or drizzled
most of the day and in Colorado it started to get worse. My plans of making
it to the north side of Denver didn't pan out so I'm in Eagle which is just
west of Vail. Tomorrow I'll head north to the Black Hills of South Dakota -
one of my favorite spots. I went to college there for a few years and Iove the
area. On the way to Sioux Falls to visit my folks and sister I'll swing through
the Badlands for (hopefully) some more photo ops. With my luck the snow will
follow and you'll get to see more snow pictures.
Wednesday,
February 4th
Today was another travel day. I made it as far as the Black Hills in South Dakota
and went up to Mount Rushmore for a few shots.
It snowed most of the way again so I didn't see much of Colorado and Wyoming.
I was one of just a handful of visitors at Rushmore and guess what - it started
to snow again. Tomorrow I'm off to Sioux Falls for a few days and then home
to Indy. This will be the last of the pictures that I upload unless I run into
something really outstanding.
Thursday,
February 5th
Ok... I lied. More pictures! Another day
of $*#^%SNOW as I was driving. On the way to the Badlands I saw a lot of signs
for Wall Drug. If you've never driven through South Dakota, then you're missing
one of the great adventures in driving - Wall
Drug Signs. I've put up a few for you to see. As you get closer to Wall
there will be several signs per mile. There are
Badlands pictures even with the fog and snow. I stopped at the visitors
center and I was the only visitor of the day - so far. After the Badlands the
roads were not the best and there was this strange set of horns
next to the highway. I'm told it's from a tourist trap called Buffalo Gap.
Saturday, February
7th
Home! Arrived at about 10pm. Totals: 5,554 miles using 220 gallons of gas covering
15 states in 13 days. The states in order (without repeats): IN, IL, MO, OK,
TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, UT, CO, WY, SD, MN, WI. No new pictures. The weather was
more of the same with some sunshine in Minnesota and Wisconson. Time to drop
off the film to be developed.
last updated 5/3/04 8:24 AM