Postcard from Utah – Long Canyon on the Burr Trail

After breaking camp on Calf Creek, I continued east on Highway 12, first climbing up above Calf Creek Canyon, then descending into the farming and sandstone country surrounding Boulder Utah. As you head into the small town, Highway 12 takes a sharp left…but I chose to go straight ahead, onto the beginning of the Burr Trail.

Don’t let the name fool you, today’s Burr Trail is a partially paved 75-mile long road that goes south and east. It traverses some of Utah’s most beautiful country that is always changing. It eventually winds up at the southern end of Capital Reef National Park. The trail was originally used by Mormon pioneers to move their sheep from the Boulder high country down to lower pastures.

On this trip, I had no intention of travelling the entire Burr Trail, but rather the first 20-30 miles of it that leads from Boulder, through the petrified dunes of Navajo sandstone, through the Deer Creek Area, and eventually into the seven mile canyon area known appropriately as Long Canyon.

The Burr Trail road (all paved at this point) approaches Long Canyon from above, giving you a magnificent view of the first part of the canyon…then drops you into the canyon where the rock formations defy description. I could not take enough pictures. Every turn in the road brought new wonders into view.

I came into the canyon right as a rain storm was ending, so the air was crystal clean and I was able to get some beautiful cloud formations into many of my pictures. At one point, I stopped to photograph a scene, and after finishing, I looked up, there was an arch above me high on the canyon walls.

I continued on slowly, stopping many times and taking in all I could. Fortunately, I had perfect light at the best time of day so I have many fantastic pictures of Long Canyon, far too many to show here.

After seven miles, you emerge from Long Canyon at a perfect viewpoint to see the west side of Waterpocket Fold, the Circle Cliffs and the Henry Mountains. After enjoying this view, I headed back west into Long Canyon to see what I had missed when I was traveling east. This was as far as I had intended to go on the Burr Trail as my main objective was still to travel the length of Highway 12.

After returning to Boulder, I headed east on 12 to see more of Utah’s most scenic highway. Stay tuned.

Postcard from Southern Utah – It’s the Rocks

While on my trip through Utah and Northern Arizona, I realized I spent most of my time photographing rocks. I have hundreds of photographs from this trip, and about 90% of them are rocks! Now, I realize that’s being a little simplistic, but still there is truth here.

Of course, these are not just ordinary rocks…they are spectacular rocks and formations of a shapes and colors that can only be found here in the Southwest. And when you start seeing all these fantastic rocks, your camera just goes crazy…you want to photograph every one of them.

These are just two examples of fascinating rock formations in the Calf Creek Canyon area along Highway 12. The striations and swirls are breathtaking, each layer representing a geological moment in time. I wish I could interpret what each layer meant and how old the rock is. Sadly, geology is not one of my strong points. All I can do is enjoy the view and marvel at Mother Nature’s creations.

As the retelling of my journey continues, you will see many more interesting large rock formations and cliffs. I will try not to bore you and endeavor to make each photograph displayed be interesting. For this edition, I just wanted to focus on a couple of rocks without much of the accompanying scenery.

By the way, I will have to suspend my blogging for about a week as I head out tomorrow for Blythe, CA. I am helping my son and his wife move to their new home in Yuma. Will probably stay over for the Thanksgiving Holiday. And yes, it has a pool! Be back soon.

Postcard from Utah – Highway 12 Part 1

After five days of camping in Red Canyon, it was time to venture further east along Utah’s famous Highway 12 to see more new things. Heading east, I bid farewell to Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Kodachrome Basin.

For several miles, I passed through beautiful rock country and small towns, along the Grand Staircase of the Escalante. There some wonderful sweeping vistas along the way, but little of great photographic quality, at least to my taste. Eventually I came to the town of Escalante and could make out some beautiful canyons in the distance.

To my disappointment, the road did not take me through these canyons. Rather it skirted around them, then started climbing. Eventually I came to a fantastic viewpoint overlooking the far side of the canyons I saw from Escalante. The area is known as Calf Creek Recreation Area (Photo #1).

After a taking few photos, the road drops down into this very same canyon. As it was late morning by now, I went looking for Calf Creek Campground, a small Forest Service campground at the bottom of this very narrow canyon. I found it easily and was able to get a site, much to my relief as there are no other nearby campgrounds.

After setting up camp, I set out to explore the canyon with my camera. Very near my campsite, I spotted what looked like a cave. I climbed over some rocks and found that it indeed was a cave (Photo 2) carved out of the rock by water. To my surprise, the cave was semicircular, coming out on the other side of the trees and rocks you see in the foreground.

As the afternoon progressed, I explored more of Calf Creek Canyon, coming across many wonderful and intriguing rock formations. Eventually the road climbs out of the canyon, heading for Boulder, UT. From the highway, many more interesting looking canyons can be seen. I wore my finger out clicking my camera and will share more of the photographs with you in upcoming blogs. Stay tuned.

Postcard from Bryce – Blue

Yesterday, I spent time at the Tucson Museum of Art to see an exhibition of original prints by Ansel Adams. These were from a private collection and were all printed by Adams himself in his darkroom in Carmel.

If you’ve read these blogs for a while, you know that Ansel Adams is one of my heroes and a great inspiration for me in my photographic career. He and I both grew up in San Francisco and spent many happy days in Yosemite…his time, of course, much longer than mine. But as a boy, I visited his gallery in Yosemite Valley that is still there today.

Of course, all of his public works are in black and white. He was a master of the camera and the darkroom. So, after seeing over 100 of his black and white prints yesterday, I was inspired to again explore black and white possibilities in the digital medium.

Presented here is a black and white image I took in Bryce Canyon National Park. It is a bit different than most photos one sees of Bryce, whether in color or black and white. I call it “Blue Bryce,” as I used a blue filter to create the photo.

As I might have explained here before, black and white photographers, like Adams, used various colored filters in front of the lens to change the values of the light striking the film. For instance, using a red filter will darken a blue sky considerably and render red subjects, like Utah rocks, much lighter, almost white. Using a blue filter would lighten a sky and darken red subjects…and that is what I did here…except I did it digitally.

I used a special black and white plug-in called “Silver Efex Pro,” made by NIK that works inside of Photoshop. It allows you to select different color filters that simulate the filters put in front of a camera loaded with black and white film. Ironically, I seldom use blue filters (either in Photoshop or with real film cameras), but I loved the effect that it produced here.

I hope you also enjoy it.

Postcard from Kodachrome Basin – Little Yellowstone

Kodachrome Basin lies east and a little south of Bryce Canyon. It is also about 2,200 feet below that of Bryce. In the basin itself, there are places where you can actually see the cliffs of Bryce off in the distance (if you look on the right side of photo #1, that is Bryce way off in the distance). But, Kodachrome Basin’s landscape and origins are nothing like Bryce.

Kodachrome Basin contains many multi-colored rock formations of red, yellow, pink, white and brown, as well as massive sandstone chimney spires. Geologists believe Kodachrome Basin was once similar to Yellowstone National Park with hot springs and geysers, which eventually filled up with sediment and solidified. Through time, the Entrada sandstone surrounding the solidified geysers eroded, leaving large sand pipes (aka chimneys). Sixty-seven sand pipes ranging from two to 52 meters have been identified in the park.

How did the park get its name? In 1948 the National Geographic Society explored and photographed the area for a story that appeared in the September 1949 issue of National Geographic. They named the area Kodachrome Flat, after the then relatively new brand of Kodak film they used. In 1962 the area was designated a State Park. Fearing repercussions from the Kodak company for using the name Kodachrome, the name was changed to Chimney Rock State Park, but renamed Kodachrome Basin a few years later with Kodak's permission.

While the road to the park is paved, much of the park roads are not, but they are easily traversed. There are easy short hikes as well as longer more difficult hikes throughout the basin.

The morning I was there, the day started out clear, but by late morning and early afternoon, the clouds and thunderheads started to form, allowing for some wonderful photographs. It actually did rain later in the day, but by then I was back at my campsite in Red Canyon.

I enjoyed this little park very much and have many more interesting and unique photos…more than I can show here. I will endeavor to get the good ones up on my Web site soon and will let you know as soon as I do. Stay tuned.

Postcard from Kodachrome Basin – Just a Tease

I have been out all day and must admit I am just a bit too tired to write a full blog. But, just to tease you for the the next stop on our tour, I am including a single photograph from Kodachrome Basin.

What you see is Chimney Rock, the largest sand pipe structure in the Basin. It stand 171 feet high. If you look to the right of the rock, you might be able to make out the freestanding sign that might help you get a feel for its height.

Tomorrow, I will explain more about the park. But, simply put, it is a spectacle of massive sandstone chimneys that change in color with the day's mood. They are very unique to all of the Southwest.

Stay tuned.

Postcard from Bryce – The Mossy Cave Trail

The trail to Mossy Cave lies a few miles away from the main Bryce Highway. In fact, you leave the park boundaries, rejoin Highway 12, then head east towards the small town of Tropic (this is the town visible from some of the viewpoints in Bryce). You quickly start descending down the mountain. About halfway down to Tropic, you come to a trailhead that is the Mossy Cave Trail.

At this point, you are looking up to some of the beautiful formations in the northern part of Bryce (and you are back inside the park again). The Mossy Cave trail is a 1/2 mile uphill trail that take you to, surprise, Mossy Cave. The interesting part of this excursion not the cave itself…but rather the scenery along the way. In fact I am not even going to show you a photo of it as it is not really a cave, but a large area under a big rock that has been carved out by nature…and, oh yes, has some moss and moister in it. It is interesting, but not very photogenic.

No, it is the scenery along the way the makes this trail well worth the trip. You will see arches (photo #1), a waterfall (photo #2) and other very beautiful scenery carved out by nature. This is the only place in the park where you will see water, even though water plays a major part in the formation of Bryce itself.

If you ever go to Bryce, be sure not to miss this little side trip. As, I said, the scenery is spectacular. And you will be looking up at Bryce, not down like you do in the rest of the park.

Postcard from Bryce Canyon – Fairyland

As I hinted at in my last blog, Fairyland Canyon is not well visited by tourists, which is their loss. It is one of the more intimate places in Bryce as it is smaller in comparison to the sweeping vistas of the Amphitheater, allowing the visitor to feel much closer the the intricately carved hoodoos and rock formations…perhaps more than anywhere else in the park.

Its trails seem gentler and easier to walk than others, allowing us older folks to feel a little less strain in our legs than the other steeper trails in the park…and at 8,000 feet, that is important. While the trail does get steeper, the first part allow you some very good close views of Fairyland’s formations.

Why so few visitors? Here is my explanation. Fairyland is the very first turnoff you come to after crossing the park boundary, but before you get to the main park entrance. And, there is no sign as you drive south on Highway 63 approaching the main gate and visitor center. There is a sign as you leave the park heading north, but I think most people are psychologically finished with the park after they leave the main gate, thinking they have seen everything there is. How wrong they are!

I hope you will remember to stop at Fairyland if you ever pay a visit to this glorious national park.

Next stop…the Mossy Cave Trail…complete with waterfall.

Postcard from Bryce Canyon – New Places

Bryce Canyon National Park isn’t really a canyon at all. It is a wall that runs approximately 17 miles north to south, facing east. It contains some of nature’s most beautifully sculptured creations, but a surprising large portion of the park is never seen by most visitors.

Most of the tourist activity centers along an area called “Bryce Amphitheater,” a series of fours stops, not far from the main park entrance, that contain arguably the most beautiful scenery on our planet. Most of the photos you see of Bryce, including ones I have shown here before, come from the amphitheater area. In planning this visit, I decided to concentrate on the rest of the park…although I did spend some quality time in the amphitheater.

While the amphitheater features four viewpoints, the rest of the park, connected by Highway 63, has 11 other viewpoints…most of which definitely lend themselves to being photographed. I spent three days in the park taking photographs. Except for one stop, all photographs were shot in the morning light.

The first photograph was taken at Paria View, just outside the amphitheater area. I liked this viewpoint very much as the hoodoos and rock formations are very close. Now, notice the light in the foreground…it looks as if the sun is at my back as it is so bright and colorful. In actual fact, my camera is points in the direction of the sun. What makes the foreground so light is the sunlight reflecting off of other red rock walls beneath where I am standing. You will find this kind of reflected light in many Bryce photographs, especially mine, which helps make the park a photographer’s delight. In fact, all three photographs here show off this phenomenon.

The second photo is of Natural Bridge, another easy-to-take photograph as all you have to do is get out of your car to see it. I am sad to say I do not remember exactly where I took the third photograph, but it might be at Black Birch Canyon.

Next stop, one of the least visited parts of Bryce that is actually the very first turnoff once you are inside the park…and one of the most intimate and beautiful places you will find.

Editor’s note: I have temporarily fixed the photo problems that plagued the last few blogs I posted. I am still looking for a permanent solution, but that won’t stop me from continuing on. -JRC

Test of Photo Quality

Please ignore this edition. I am testing to see if I have solved the issue of low quality JPG’s on the Postcard blog. Sending a blog is the only way I can see if I have solved the problems.

Thanks for your patience.

Postcard from Tucson – Apologies

Hi everyone.  I fully intended to write a photo blog today on Bryce Canyon, but the last few photos I have attached to the blog have not been good.  The colors are washed out and nowhere near the originals.  I hate showing my photos when the displayed results are not even close to what I intended.

Am not sure why this is happening but am trying to find a solution.  I will resume the blog as soon as I figure out why this is happening.  My apologies and hope you will stay tuned for some really good photos and stories.

Jim