Tag Archives: Landscape

Grand Canyon – North Rim

Wotan's Throne

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.

Low Clouds

Looking into the Canyon at Point Imperial just after sunrise.  The low clouds softened the light causing the colors to really pop out.

Morning Fog

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.

Bison Grazing

A small herd of bison grazing near the park entrance. They kept a cautious eye on us, and soon retreated back into the woods.

Distant River

Morning view from Bright Angel Point, an easy hike from the lodge.

Grazing Mule Deer

Mule deer grazing off the Transept Trail.

Aspen Colors

It being autumn the Aspens wore a surprising variety of color counterpointed by the pines and the clear blue of the skies.

North Rim Monochrome

Angel's Window Monochrome

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.

Burnt Forest Monochrome

Morning fog at Point Imperial.

Navajo Bridge Monochrome

Navajo Bridge across the Colorado River.

Point Imperial Monochrome

Sunset view into the canyon from Point Imperial.

River Gorge Monochrome

A dawn view from Bright Angel Point.

Tree and Rocks Monochrome

Tree on the Bright Angel Point Trail.

Superstitions

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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.

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Northern Lights

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Northern Lights from the Chena River Recreation Area.

I don’t have a “Bucket List” per se, although there are things that I would like to get around to doing. One of those things has been to see the Aurora Borealis. This month the Missus and I spent a week in Alaska where we had the chance to do just that at a Northern Lights workshop presented by Beth Ruggiero-York along with Arizona Highways Photography Workshops . There is an element of luck involved in viewing the Northern Lights. The closer to the pole you are the better the chance, and of course it needs to be dark enough to see it, which means winter. The weather needs to be clear, and finally the sun has to cooperate by being active.

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Night Hike

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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.

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White Sands Revisited

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White Sands National Monument

Last March we went camping at White Sands National Monument for the first time.  The weather was fairly mild although a bit brisk in the morning.  The winds were impressive.  It turns out that 50 mph gusts are not unusual in the windy season.  We enjoyed the trip, but since we only stayed the one night we didn’t get to do as much hiking as we would have liked, so we decided to return during the off season. With our schedule it turned out the second half of January was a good time, and watched the weather and the launch schedule for the missile range to plan the date. This last week the weather was perfect for photography – cloudy with rain in the forecast and temperatures unseasonably warm with to lows above freezing, and no closures scheduled.  Off we went…

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