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.
Mist viewed from upstream of Swiftcurrent Falls
Taken from the same location as “Water Under the Bridge” in my last post. This picture is of the view looking 90 degrees to the left and level with the horizon where the last one was looking down on the water. It was taken about 10 minutes later, same conditions.
Near Swiftcurrent Lake, Montana
Over the water
Each day on the trip we sampled a different aspect of Vancouver Island. The variety of photographic subjects and the beauty of the area makes it impossible to describe in a blog post, so I’ve decided to just post a few sample pictures and descriptions to try and capture a little of the feel of the Island.
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.
Photographers trying not to freeze to their cameras. It was about -25ºF at this point.
I’m something of a desert rat, so while the Alaska trip was not my first experience with extreme cold it’s not something I do on a regular basis. This post is intended to be a summary of what worked and what didn’t.
Phil Ryan Photography 