Traveling north of Reykjavik.
Well, maybe a bit more than a year… While I would like to put all my pictures here, I think in the interest of brevity I’ll just put up a few. If you would like to see some more check out my Flickr albums. Continue reading
Wotan’s Throne viewed from Cape Royal.
I had intended to get this post up last week, but as sometimes happens life intervened and I got sidetracked. The month of September kept me busy with two trips to the Grand Canyon – a backpacking trip down to the Colorado River from the South Rim followed a couple weeks later with a photo trip to the North Rim.
Looking into the Canyon at Point Imperial just after sunrise. The low clouds softened the light causing the colors to really pop out.
An hour later the fog had rolled in changing the whole perspective of the view. The sun threatened to break through but never quite did.
A small herd of bison grazing near the park entrance. They kept a cautious eye on us, and soon retreated back into the woods.
Morning view from Bright Angel Point, an easy hike from the lodge.
Mule deer grazing off the Transept Trail.
It being autumn the Aspens wore a surprising variety of color counterpointed by the pines and the clear blue of the skies.
Angel’s Window from the Cape Royal Trail.
We just returned from a photo trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Color images and commentary coming soon, but here’s a monochrome set for a start.
Morning fog at Point Imperial.
Navajo Bridge across the Colorado River.
Sunset view into the canyon from Point Imperial.
A dawn view from Bright Angel Point.
Tree on the Bright Angel Point Trail.
Late summer rain over the Grand Canyon as seen from the South Rim
I’ll be honest… When I first stepped up to the scenic overlook at the South Rim my first thought wasn’t of the beauty of the vista, rather it was (Homer Simpson voice) “Holy Cr@p! I’m going to hike to the bottom of that in the morning?!” Continue reading
A hiker enjoys the view at the Grinnell Glacier.
The hike to the Grinnell Glacier (elevation 6500′) is strenuous, but worth it. It was about 710 acres in 1850 at the end of the little ice age and has been retreating ever since. It’s now something less than 200 acres.
Near Swiftcurrent Lake, Montana
Afternoon sun near Black Mountain
We have been wanting to try out a backpacking trip with REI Adventures, and with the Superstition Mountains being local we thought this would be a good opportunity. Since the Phoenix area is already starting to warm up, this was the last scheduled trip till after summer. Being less that two weeks after the Alaska trip, we were prepared for a bit of temperature shock – it turned out to be a record setting week with highs in the 90’s, which is only 120ºF warmer than our coldest outings up north. Fortunately, we had time for a couple of day hikes to get re-acclimated to the desert prior to starting out.
Phoenix from South Mountain
We enjoy our outdoors activities, and one of our major suppliers for gear is Recreation Equipment, Inc. In addition to being a major outdoors sports outlet, REI does travel and arranges local workshops and classes. We saw a four hour Night Photography Hike at South Mountain they were hosting and decided it would be fun to go along.
Phil Ryan Photography 