2017 Arizona Rambling

From the Grand Canyon I headed south to Sedona where I had a reservation at Cave Spring CG. That is about 7-9 miles north of downtown Sedona in the lovely Oak Creek Canyon. Sedona itself is a bit of a hassle, full of tourists (like me) and a single 2 lane road through it. The rock formations around the town are wonderful but not easy to get to. I did take one road up to a trailhead and got a few images, the rest were taken through the windshield with my trusty Canon P&S.

I grew up in a location much like Sedona and decided after a day or two I needed to get out. I headed west and found a small campground at the top of Mingus Mountain with the unlikely name of Potato Patch CG. At that elevation the aspens were turning, it was quiet and only about 1/3 full so I stayed a few days just relaxing with the dogs. No cell signal at the campground but if I drove further up the mountain on a gravel road I could get a signal and had an awesome view of the sunset, too.

One day when I was walking the dogs we came across what I think was a Tarantula (my first) on the pavement. It was only about 1.5″ across but I kept the dogs away from it and hustled to get my camera before it disappeared into the grass.

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2017 Grand Canyon

From Utah I traveled the Grand Canyon. I got to the Desert View campground(a new one for me) before noon on a Wednesday and was able to get a very nice site. This campground is small, 50 sites, all paved with a nice bathroom and plenty of water spigots. It’s also quiet and sort of out of the way compared to the much larger campgrounds in the park. I’ve spent time at the Grand Canyon before, so I didn’t take a lot of images here. Tried to get some night images, though. When I first got here the moon was full and lit up the canyon.

One of the great things about this campground is that it is away from the central/busy part of the park. I can stand outside my trailer after dark and see the Milky Way from one end to the other in the sky above me, a fantastic sight.

As time went on the moon came up later and I was able to get a few images with the Milky Way over the canyon. Needless to say the canyon doesn’t make much of a foreground, being a big black hole so one night I took my high power spotlight with me and tried lighting up the nearby canyon walls at a couple of overlooks.

I did take a few daytime images, but except for one day the skies where totally cloudless which makes for pretty harsh light.

 

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2017 Bryce Canyon NP

After Goblin Valley I headed west to a BLM site just outside Capital Reef NP. Got there early enough to have my pick of spots. By evening I counted around 20 campers, from Class As to tents. I got a few nice images from a hill next to my rig as the evening progressed. Next day I was on the road to Bryce Canyon NP, hoping to get a site in Red Canyon NFS campground. As with many roads out here there were plenty of signs warning

Loose stock on Rt. 12 in UT

of Loose Stock and they were accurate. As I went up and over Boulder Pass I also saw several Mule Deer but didn’t get any photos. The aspen were starting to turn in the high country and are beautiful.

Sunrise Point, early morning

I went into Bryce early one morning before the crowds and got a few nice images. Due to the sunlight reflected by the rocks behind them some of the rocks seemed to literally glow, sort of like the salt lamps you might have seen. Then went back at night and got some more. The moon is starting to get fuller and fewer stars were evident.

The next night I stayed closer to the campground, just taking a few images from pullouts on the road in Red Canyon.

Another favorite spot of mine is Mossy Cave Trail because you are below a lot of the rock formations, looking up instead of down. I went there again in late afternoon to get a few images. Then went back at night for some more. Even a couple days made a big difference in how many stars could be seen because of the full moon.

Mossy Cave Trail, night

 

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2017 Goblin Valley SP

Goblin Valley SP is a unique place and since it was on the way to my next destination I decided to head there, hoping to snag a campsite for the night. I got there mid morning and was able to get a very nice site. That afternoon I drove around checking the park out.

The night was very clear and it was a lot of fun to go down into the Goblins’ Playground and do some photography. I didn’t wander around too much because I didn’t want to get lost! The waxing moon gave enough light so the goblins were visible but not so much that it prevented the Milky Way from being visible. That made for a very special opportunity for me.

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2017 Moab

When I left the Tetons I headed south to Moab, figuring it had to be warmer there. When I got to Moab late on Thursday afternoon, all the BLM campgrounds were full so I decided to go to the bare bones place just off 191 where I’ve seen lots of rigs with ATVs/ORVs parked. Turns out the land owner has realized he has a good spot there so it is now set up as a basic campground. Pros, large sites, level, small gravel, neat and clean, $15/night. Cons, if you need any amenities don’t bother. No water, shade or dump, 1 portapotty. Since the Casita is self contained, I use solar and it wasn’t an extremely hot time of the year the site worked fine for me. It is also very close to the entrance to Arches and to Moab so instead of traveling several miles in windy roads it was very convenient, worth it to me. The site is backed by grand high red cliffs and a nice spot for the sunset and early morning images.

I’ve been to Arches and posted images from those visits so this time I decided to concentrate on other places. Also, the park is open only Friday and Saturdays nights now because of road work and both nights were cloudy. Anyhow, I drove out 128 along the Colorado River one morning and made several stops. Not only was I enjoying the day time drive I was scouting for night images, too. I’d been through Castle Valley once several years ago and wanted to check it out, too.

Back near the campground I was able to find a good spot for some Milky Way images, too. 

 

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2017 Teton Stars, Moose and Snow

From Yellowstone I headed back to the Tetons for several days, hoping to find some moose. Second night I was there it was very clear so I headed up to Ox Bow Bend to see if I could capture the Milky Way over the water. All the while I was there I heard Elk bugling.

The moose were around. First morning at Gros Ventre as I was putting on my shoes my youngest (and most watchful) dog started barking at something outside one of the side windows. I got up to look and was face to face with a moose cow that was under the awning looking at me. Yikes!! No chance to get a photo, either! I made certain she was gone before opening the door with the dogs. Sure enough she and a mother cow were a ways behind the trailer so I hurried the dogs in the opposite direction and hoped they wouldn’t notice the moose. They didn’t so all wen well. Once they were back in the trailer and fed I grabbed my camera and headed for the river since the moose were likely to head that way. Sure enough, but with the 2 cows and a bull somewhere around it was also a bit spooky in the willows. Fortunately there weren’t any close encounters and I did capture this young bull crossing the river.

At one point I turned and captured a mule deer who came down to the river.

That was it for the moose until a few days later I was headed out and came across some folks watching a cow, calf and bull at a creek. Managed to get a few images of them.

A couple of days later there were 3 cows and a bull in the campground so I spent several hours watching them. I find it so interesting to watch them interact. When I got there they were all laid down, but eventually they got up and then it got interesting. They all keep an eye on each other, if one cow got near the bull another cam trotting over, but that second one had run away when approached by him. With them all moving about we had to keep our eyes on all of them so we weren’t in their way and didn’t upset them. To be honest watching moose takes a lot of patience, they seem to spend a lot more time laying down than moving around. But for me it’s worth it.

The weather turned very cold, with my down jacket and wind pants being the norm when I went outside. It was also liable to spit snow at any time. After one such day I went over to the well known barn on Mormon Row, the snowy Tetons made a nice backdrop for it.

 

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2017 Yellowstone, September

I moved up to Mammoth Hot Springs campground the end of August for several days. The fires in both ID and Montana are causing a lot of smoke to blow this way. It’s rare to see a blue sky and when the moon rises it is orange. This makes a good base to head over to Lamar Valley in search of wildlife so I’ve been there a few times and expect to return before I leave here. There is a small herd of Pronghorn Antelope that is sometimes visible so I took advantage of that one day.

I’ve heard of and seen some photos of the Big Horn sheep that live on the cliffs on the road to the North Entrance. Finally spotted them on the way back from Gardiner so I stopped and spent quite a while watching them. I wanted to see where they would go on the cliffs. They moved across the cliffs then went up and around out of sight.

 

Back in Lamar the bison are all over the place it seems. Yesterday morning I stopped to watch one group and was pleased to also see a Coyote hanging around them. They didn’t seem particularly worried about it but finally one of the bison chased it off. Before that happened I watched a calf following a raven around for about 5 minutes. The calf was always about 6′ behind the raven and seems quite curious.

Then I moved further into Lamar Valley and saw that some of the bison were on the move from up in the hills to down by the river. I parked where I thought a group would be crossing and sure enough, I was right there, too close for many photographs as it turned out.

This last image shows how much smoke has been around. 

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