Repeat Visit to Moab

The bucket list is getting kind of short. Consequently we’re sometimes revisiting places.

Years ago we visited Moab. It was brutally hot even though it was early in June. But this trip was different. My wife wanted to participate in an event near Salt Lake City, I wanted to be a spectator at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival, the timing of the two events was very close together, we decided to combine the events into a single vacation with a stay in Moab during the trip. So I got a second chance at Moab.

Last time, we visited Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park. We repeated those visits this time, but the weather was overcast and rainy. I have no new/improved shots of those places.

Except, I did make the climb to Delicate Arch at sunset. I got about a minute of wonderful light on the arch. 

Delicate Arch at Sunset

During that first trip to Moab, we didn’t have a lot of time. This time we did, so we explored. The scenery along the Colorado River northeast of Moab was very cool. We spent a morning driving Highway 128, aka River Road, through this very scenic canyon.

River Road

Years ago, during a trip to Mesa Verde National Park, I saw Shiprock off in the distance. During my previous trip to Moab/Monument Valley, I saw Shiprock from the road, again off in the distance. During a flight from some trip whose details I no longer remember, our course took us right over the Navajo lands on which Shiprock sits and I saw it through my airplane window. I’ve wanted to get a better look for a while. So, during our drive to Albuquerque from Moab I took a route that gave me the opportunity to get a good look. Here it is. 

Shiprock

After this detour, we went on to Albuquerque, which I describe in another post.

California Condors and Golden Eagles

During a recent trip to Arizona and Utah, I was driving on Highway 89 in Mt. Carmel Junction when I noticed a large bird landing on a mound of dirt near the road. I immediately guessed that it was a Golden Eagle and, much to my family's dismay, I turned the car around to go back get a look. I was in luck. There were two eagles perched on two mounds.

Golden Eagles and a Buzzard

I enlisted my daughter's help to hustle to the trunk to get the camera and swap lenses and I grabbed a couple of shots right away to be sure that I at least got something. After the first few grab shots, I took my time, not approaching them, moving along the road to try to get more favorable light angles. I noticed that the eagles had most of their attention on two buzzards who were feeding on something I never identified.

Another passerby saw me shooting and pulled over to take photos. Several people got out. I commented that I'd never seen such large buzzards before. I got a few flight shots as one eagle departed, and then got back into the car to leave.

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle in Flight

One of the people from the group tapped on the window before I drove away and said that the buzzards were tagged California Condors. Well how dense could I be? No wonder they were so large. I simply wasn't expecting to see any condors so far from the Grand Canyon or Navajo Bridge. I got back out, took a few shots of the condors, and hoped for one with both heads up. In the end, I got one condor keeper.

California Condors Number 37 and 9

What ugly birds! With only a few hundred of these birds left alive, I knew I was fortunate to actually get a shot of them in the wild. And it all happened because I was really interested in the eagles to begin with. I had never seen any Golden Eagles, so I was fortunate that these were checking out the condors' meal. So I wound up getting two new birds photographed, at least new to me. And I didn't even make my family wait all that long.

Canyonlands National Park

While in Moab, we visited Canyonlands' Island in the Sky district and Needles District. It was cool, had plenty of beautiful high desert terrain, and in my mind, didn't compete well with Arches National Park or Dead Horse Point State Park. It struck me as kind of like the Grand Canyon, without the crowds. Here are a few shots from our visits.

Playing with Nik Silver Efex...

Grand View Point Overlook

 Playing with Nik Color Efex...

Grand View Point Overlook

 I was more interested in other places so we always got here after the best light of the morning with washed out lighting...

Grand View Point Overlook

 Zooming way in to see the river in the distance...

Grand View Point Overlook

 Looking over the valley with the Colorado River in the distance...

 

Shafer Canyon Overlook

 Again, in color...

Shafer Canyon Overlook

 More tricks with Nik Software, from the overlook (with cooperative clouds)...

 

Grand View Point Overlook

 Once again, with feeling, er, color...


Grand View Point Overlook

 At the Green River Overlook...






Green River Overlook

With a different Nik effect that didn't bring the clouds out but showed the foreground detail better...

Green River Overlook

 Colors punched up...

Green River Overlook

The preceding photos are from the Island in the Sky district. Here's a shot from the Needles...

Needles District

Actually I think I took this outside the park on the entrance road.

Interesting scenery, but it suffered from us having visited the other nearby parks earlier so this one didn't compare so well.

Monument Valley

Several years ago, I visited Monument Valley as a side trip while visiting Arizona. When visiting southeastern Utah recently, I wanted a second chance at photographing Monument Valley. I have better camera gear: I think I've gotten better at photography. We stayed in the same place, Goulding's Lodge, but this time it was in the heat of summer instead of the cold of winter.

On the way there from Moab, we stopped at Goosenecks State Park in southern Utah. It was mid-day so the light was awful, but here are a few shots anyway.


Goosenecks

Goosenecks

Goosenecks Panorama

The depth of this canyon, and the steepness of the cliffs, were very impressive. If you look closely, on the horizon Monument Valley rock formations are visible.

We proceeded to Monument Valley and checked in to the hotel. After dinner, we went out for a drive to see some of the countryside as the sun descended.


Mitchell Butte
 

Here's Mitchell Butte from another angle, processed with Nik Silver Efex.

Mitchell Butte

As the sun went down, I shot the Eagle Mesa.

Eagle Mesa

After returning to the hotel, I sat on the balcony and shot as the sun went down.

Monument Valley

I kept shooting even as it got dark.

Monument Valley

I woke up early and caught the sunrise.

Sunrise in Monument Valley

Later that morning, we drove the scenic loop.

East Mitten

West Mitten

Totem Pole

Monument Valley

The Mittens

No trip to Monument Valley is complete without the iconic view down the highway, taken at a pull-off near mile marker 13.

Monument Valley

Having made this trip in winter and summer, I prefer winter.

Arches National Park

During a recent trip to Moab, I visited Arches National Park several times. Here are some photographs from that trip.

We arrived at the parking lot in the early evening, trying to time it so that we'd arrive at Delicate Arch as the sun began to set. My son and I set out right away, my wife followed at a slower pace. We quickly got out of breath with the climb in the heat and high altitude. The first part of the walk is a good trail; the last part is very steep with no trail. To find our way, we looked ahead and headed toward the people who were leaving the arch. The climb was over slick rock. Eventually we reached a narrow ledge, walked on it, and came around a large outcropping of rock to suddenly see the arch.

Delicate Arch

There were several dozen people there with the same idea to watch the sunset light. My son and I found a spot to sit and catch our breaths. I grabbed the camera, took some shots handheld, then set up the tripod and cable release. I took quite a few shots as the sun went down and people took turns posing for photos next to the arch. I managed a handful of shots with no people, but I think I like this shot best for the fading sunlight, mountain backdrop, and single person to show the scale. We hiked back down after the last of the sunlight left the arch, making it most of the way back to the parking lot in twilight, with only the last few minutes in darkness. For another view of the arch, here's a shot from earlier in the trip taken from the valley.

Delicate Arch from the Valley

If you look closely, you can see people near the arch.

The arches are the big show in that park, but there are other sights too.

Arches National Park

Another spot that I liked was the area around Skyline Arch.

Skyline Arch

Note the people in the shot to get some sense of scale. We also stopped by Broken Arch and Sandstone Arch. My son did the honors of standing by to show scale.

Broken Arch

Sandstone Arch

Sandstone Arch is in a narrow break in the rocks where the strong wind was a welcome relief on a hot summer day.

But my favorite part of the park is in the area where the Windows and Parade of Elephants is. My son saw Double Arch and immediately wanted to climb, so we did...

Double Arch

Again, note the people in the picture. This formation is enormous. I couldn't resist playing in Lightroom with a shot that I took as the clouds cleared enough to get some direct sunlight.

Double Arch

Here's a shot of the shadow cast by the rock, with a bright spot where the sun shone through an arch.

At the Parade of Elephants

Here's a shot that I like which shows the sunlight bathing the Windows (only one Window is visible).

Windows

Here are a few other shots from this area.

Turret Arch

Windows

Window

Landscape Arch

And no trip to Arches is complete without a stop at Landscape Arch. We almost missed this because the road was closed for repaving the parking lot until the day before we left. We got to see it only because the work finished early. Not a great shot, but I didn't have the option of coming back for morning sunlight.

So overall, I really liked this park; it was full of challenging photography opportunities, and I hope to return sometime, hopefully during any season other than summer. It was HOT.

Dead Horse Point

On a recent trip to Utah, I visited Dead Horse Point State Park. It's a popular spot to view the Colorado River. Here are my favorite shots from the two visits made over two days, in varied lighting, with various experiments in editing with Lightroom.

Dead Horse Point

I was with my family, and it was near the summer solstice, and by the time we got there, the sun had risen quite a lot. Above is the best from the first visit. It shows the Colorado River, with Canyonlands National Park's Needles District in the distance. I had some clouds, but otherwise the light was harsher than I wanted. I went back the next day at dawn, getting the following shots.

Dead Horse Point in Morning Twilight

I found a spot on a rock near the edge of the cliff and waited for the sun to come up, occasionally seeing a family of coyotes hunting. I had my camera on a tripod and never got it around in time to photograph them. One pup eventually wandered by with a dead rabbit in its mouth. Finally the sun's rays started striking the canyon rim, as shown below.

Dead Horse Point: First Rays of Sunlight

I sat around shooting, bracketing to be sure I didn't mess up my only opportunity to get this right. Eventually the sunlight reached the plateau below.

Dead Horse Point at Sunrise

I think I like the shot above the best, with the shadows, golden light on the canyon walls, and reflections in the water. I wish the clouds had cooperated (a few cumulus clouds would have made the scene perfect), but I'll take what I got. I hung around a little longer and it started getting hot. I took the camera off the tripod, took a few shots of the surrounding landscape, and called it a morning.

For any trip to the Moab area, this park is a beautiful, relatively quiet (less crowded) place to see the Utah desert landscape.