Monday, February 16, 2009

Trips

Well, due to rain I didn't get down to the bay. So I guess I'll post about the National Parks for a bit.

The last 2 trips I took were to Bryce Canyon and Yosemite. I'll cover Bryce first.

Bryce Canyon NP is located in southern Utah. The park is basically a series of tall rock spires formed from erosion from the rim of a canyon. That's kinda like saying that water is wet or that the sky is blue. So let us do a bit better with this:

Thunderstorm over Bryce Amphitheater

That's better.

Bryce is red rocks, blue sky, stunning vistas, deep canyons and soaring hoodoos. In Winter it's dusted with white as well. Any time of year it's spectacular. Rain brings forth the Thunderbird and his light shows.

Lightning strikes near Bryce Amphitheater

Now you have an idea of what Bryce is about.

On this trip I went with a couple of friends. We camped out over a long weekend in late September. The weather was good. Although there were thunderstorms (duh, look at the pictures:) ) It was warm during the day and cold at night. It is after all at 7000 ft. We spent our days on different trails. We hit the Queens garden and the Bristlecone loop. Trails that I've done before. This time we decided to try a trail that was closed the last time I was there. Navaho loop. The Wall street section was closed due to a rock fall. But they reopened the trail again.

Navaho loop

This is the best trail I've been on in the park (so far). We even hit it as the aspens were starting to turn. The trail isn't for folks who can't climb. The first part is a steep downhill to get to wall street.

Wall Street

What this photo doesn't show is the remains of the rock fall. A bolder the size of a Diesel rig (sans trailer) is just before the tree. I think that I was standing next to the boulder when I took this shot. Oh, and the tree is rather tall.

Let's talk about photography here. If you look at the data on the photos, you'll notice that most of them were shot with a 24mm lens. This was a conscious choice. On this trip I decided that I would stick to a prime lens and the 24 was the best for the subjects. Wide angles allow for dramatic shots in the narrow canyons and wide vistas in the more open areas. Perfect for Bryce.

Lightning. A bit of a warning and a tip. Lightning on the rim is dangerous. Especially when you are carrying metal objects...Like cameras and tripods :) So be aware of your surroundings at all times during stormy weather. Now the tip. Lightning is rarely a single bolt. From what I've read it is almost always a series. What I did to get the shots here was to try to get the second/third/fourth strikes. I got lucky. And just so you know, I was about a mile from where the edge of the storm was and we left long before it came close to us.

Well, that should do it for Bryce. Next time I'll post on my trip in December to Yosemite.