Fall in Arkansas 2016It has been unusual year for the timing of good fall foliage in Arkansas. An unseasonably warm October has been the primary reason for delaying the best color about 2 weeks. As a native Arkansan, I have never seen it peak this late. Usually, the peak color in the Arkansas Ozarks is around the end of October and start of November. However, this year it didn't come until mid-November. Finding good color was not only late but also harder to find this year. Still, I did manage to come away with a few good images.
Probably my favorite fall color picture of the season was this one at Richland Creek, which in my opinion is among the most beautiful streams in Arkansas. I also visited a couple of my favorite views of the Buffalo River. While the color was not especially good, the sunset was great from atop this bluff upstream of Tyler Bend.
Some of my best pictures in the last few weeks have been without fall color as the primary feature of the photograph. Last weekend, we had a full moon. Because the full moon this month was the closest to the Earth since 1948, it has been called a "Supermoon". The moon appears only about 15% bigger and brighter than the average full moon but it is still impressive. I was fortunate to have clear skies Sunday night to have a good vantage point of the rising moon at Lake Fayetteville.
On the morning after the official full moon, I thought I would drive up to the top of Mount Sequoyah, the highest point in my hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas. My initial plan was to photograph the setting moon above "Old Main" shortly after sunrise. Old Main is the iconic old building that represents the University of Arkansas. However, the moon was too high in the sky above the building for a really nice scene of the two features together. However, with shallow ground fog hovering over the campus, it made a striking scene of fog on the ground at the base of the building with the two towers over the fog. With Old Main located over a mile away from my vantage point, I used a zoom lens to capture this scene. The focal length was 600mm, the closest I could zoom in.
My favorite fall pictures from ColoradoI recently spent about 3 weeks in the Colorado Rockies during its fall color season. I arrived in the Aspen area, where the aspens were already turning gold in some places. As I arrived at my hotel at the Snowmass Ski Area, I noticed a herd of elk hanging out in a meadow. I am not much of a wildlife photographer, but I will take advantage of the opportunity when I happen to across it. I recently purchased a 150-600mm zoom lens and it proved useful to get a photo like this.
The elk were already bugling with the change of the seasons underway and the colors were approaching peak in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. Probably the most iconic and photographed place in Colorado is an area called the Maroon Bells, south of Aspen. I had been here a couple of years ago close to peak with good light and clouds over Maroon Peak with reflections in Maroon Lake. Being satisfied with my images from two years ago and recalling the 100-200 other photographers that are often there on late September mornings, I sought an alternative view of the Maroon Bells. So I decided to arrive a couple of hours before sunrise at Maroon Lake and hiked up the trail nearly 2 miles to the lake above it called Crater Lake. The fall color is not quite as widespread as the large groves of aspen trees found around Maroon Lake, but the crowds were much less. When I arrived at Crater Lake, there were only a couple of tents and a few campers already there before me. Otherwise, I was the first to arrive at the lake for the morning. The views of the Maroon Bells are almost as good here, and is a nice alternative to the bustle at Maroon Lake. About the only problem with the view that morning, was the top of Maroon Peak shrouded in clouds.
After spending a few days in the Aspen & Snowmass area, it was then southward to spend a little time in the Crested Butte area. A great place to see aspens in their fall glory is a road called the Kebler Pass Road, just west of Crested Butte. I have heard some say that it is the largest aspen grove in the world and I can believe it. Not only do the aspens seem to be go on for miles here, but there trunks and the understory beneath the foliage just seems more scenic here than just about any other aspen forest that I have seen.
One could spend a lot of time exploring the forests around Kebler Pass, but I had already made reservations to head to Ouray and the San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado. It was a rainy day as I left Crested Butte as a strong storm system entered western Colorado. The temperatures were getting colder and accumulating snow made it as far down as about 8500 feet. Most aspens in Colorado grow around 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, so it made for a great combination of color and snowfall. I was lucky to be here at such a great time! Some years, the snow comes just after the best color. Given the right conditions, I had to pay a visit to Dallas Divide near Ridgway. It could be argued that Dallas Divide might be the 2nd most photographed location behind Maroon Bells. I have been visiting this region of Colorado regularly for 20 years and this was probably the best combination of fall color and snow on the Sneffels Range that I have seen. This image is a Colorado classic that I have wanted for a long time!
After spending the night in Ouray, I had to take advantage of the snow on the ground by going up toward Red Mountain Pass south of Ouray. It didn't disappoint! Such a great combination of widespread color and snow. These roadside images could be found along US 550, also known as the Million Dollar Highway.
The snow would soon begin to melt but the color would remain strong for about another week. The San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado typically are best during the last week of September and the first week of October. I would spend a lot of this time in the Telluride area, with some occasional trips to the Ridgway area. One of my favorite fall color hikes in the Telluride area is the Wilson Mesa Trail. It is rare when I see another hiker here and the trail goes through one of the prettiest meadows in Colorado for aspens and mountain views. The image below is looking at Wilson Peak (a 14er featured in the Coors Beer logo) in alpenglow light before sunrise.
One of my favorite Colorado photographers is Glenn Randall. When looking at his blog, he talked about looking for unique views. One place he discussed was at a place above Owl Creek Pass, east of Ridgway. After studying his image, a topo map and Google Earth, I had a good idea of where he took this image of Chimney Rock and looking beyond toward the Uncompahgre Wilderness. I had already made plans to try to find this place. Ironically, later that week, I saw his image featured on the October issue of Backpacker Magazine. I was now even more motivated to find it! On the peak weekend of fall color, I drove to a pullover near Owl Creek Pass and headed up. Some of this was on a sometimes faint, unmarked trail. Other times, I was just bushwhacking my way up to this magnificent viewpoint. With no maintained trail to get here, I was expecting to be the only one to be photographing this not so much publicized location. To my surprise, there were a couple of other photographers there before me, and a couple more arrived after I did. I guess I wasn't the only one inspired by Glenn Randall and his cover of Backpacker magazine! Getting here was definitely worth the effort. Not only were the aspens at peak color, but the sky was great as the sun set.
Another great photographer that represents the beauty of Colorado is John Fielder. I wrapped up my trip by taking one of his weekend workshops based out of Telluride. I had a couple of more "abstract" images that I really liked and I thought was kinda unique.
Across Northern Arizona & Southern UtahBack in mid-August, I joined up with Kerrick James for one of his photo safaris in the Southwest United States. His itinerary began in Las Vegas and ended up in Winslow, Arizona with many great locations along the way that week. Our first stop was kayaking along the Colorado River just below Hoover Dam. In my opinion, August is not exactly the best time to be outdoors in the Las Vegas area. That afternoon, it reached a high of 111 degrees in Las Vegas. Thankfully, the water coming from the bottom of Lake Mead below Hoover Dam is quite chilly...a water temperature of about 55-60 degrees. Kayaking over the cool water made the extreme heat more tolerable. The highlight of kayaking down the Colorado River here is a place called Emerald Cave. If you come here at the right time of the day, you will quickly see why it is called Emerald Cave. Kerrick was among the first to discover the place back in the mid 90s (when the section of the river was opened to the public) and the first to publish photographs of this cave. He knew that the best time of the day would be about 2-3pm, when the angle of the sun would be just right for light to enter the cave and make the water appear as an emerald color.
Later, it was on to Utah to a state park called Snow Canyon...located next to the town of St. George. I had never seen a picture from Snow Canyon State Park, so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I was impressed with the scenery here. Kerrick took us to small ridge overlooking the red rock country. However, I thought the most unique feature to photograph was something known as "Moqui Marbles". You can purchase a picture of these pebbles on my new "Abstract & Architecture" page.
After that, it was to the Grand Canyon...where we camped out at the Toroweap Overlook. I have wanted to go to Toroweap for a couple of years now. However, it is not an easy place to get to. It is at the end of a long dirt road...about 60 miles from the nearest paved road. In dry conditions, much of the road is usually passable for most vehicles. However, the last 2 or 3 miles, the unmaintained road becomes more bumpy and full of sharp of rocks. We came here in a guided 4 wheel drive from an outfitter in Kanab, Utah. If you ever want to come here by yourself, make sure your vehicle has high ground clearance, good tires and a spare. Once you get here, it is among the best places to be to photograph and experience the Grand Canyon. The campground was quiet and the scenery is top notch. Here, you can high enough to get great view, but close enough to the bottom to get great views of Colorado Rivers. Here, It is only about a mile from one rim of the canyon to the other and you are over 2,000 vertical feet straight above the river. Taking these images was slightly unnerving...as you are literarily a few feet away from death by going over the edge.
It was then on to the town of Page, Arizona. There are many great places to photograph within a short drive of Page. With this has come a boom in tourism, even international tourism. Unfortunatly, some of these great places have now become overrun by tourists and do not offer the solitude that they once did. But there still are some iconic scenes in the region. Below is a picture from Horseshoe Bend. This is the Colorado River below Lake Powell and on it's way to the Grand Canyon.
Slot Canyons are a big attraction to Page, Arizona. The most famous being Antelope Canyon. I have been to Antelope Canyon a couple of times and each time frustrated by the crowds that are piled into the narrow slot canyon. Often, you have to wait for other tourists to go by before you can take your pictures. One alternative, is a place called Secret Canyon. While it is not as long as Antelope Canyon, it is nearly as scenic and sees a small fraction of visitors. It is gated and on private property, so you will need to hire a guide from a jeep tour company to see this spectacular location.
After Page, we went to Monument Valley, a Navajo Nation Tribal Park on the Utah-Arizona border. One early morning, we had a Navajo guide drive us to the backside of the park where the unusual rock spires of the Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei are located. We had some great clouds in the sky for sunrise that gave us a kaleidoscope of colors!
Another great location in Monument Valley that is harder to reach is called Hunt's Mesa. Getting there requires a Navajo guide to drive you to the top of the mesa. It is one of the roughest roads that I have ever been on....and in some places it is generous to call it a road. We went up steep sandstone and over deep sand to reach Hunt's Mesa. We camped here for a night to overlook Monument Valley for a different perspective of the great rock formations of this tribal park.
Finding Life in Death ValleyShortly after returning to the lower 48 after my trip to Alaska, it was time to go from one extreme to another...Death Valley National Park in the desert of California. Here, temperatures reached 90 degrees in the lowest elevations of the park, actually below sea level. The park was more crowded in spots than my visit back in January of last year. This seemed to be due to 2 reasons. One was Spring Break was going on for much of the country. The other seemed to be for the "superbloom" as recent rainfall over the winter has produced probably the best wildflower displays the park has seen in over 10 years...giving a little bit more life to Death Valley.
With a higher than average winter rainfall, it was a little easier to find standing water in Badwater Basin.
Sand dunes are among the highlights of a visit to Death Valley. There are so many compositions that you can do when you are at sand dunes. You can do anything to grand landscapes that include sky or focus tightly on the patterns and textures. I did some of both! These pictures were all at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.
Above are the tracks of a small rattlesnake that has recently been sidewinding through the sand. Below are dried mud cracks.
After the sand dunes, it was time to make the long drive to a remote part of the park called "The Racetrack". I have wanted to go there for a couple of years now, but didn't want to drive there alone. It is 27 miles from the nearest paved road and the road is rough with washboards. Flat tires are common on this road. With Muench Workshops, we traveled in a couple of rented jeeps from a local outfitter. With the rough road, one of the jeep's front axel broke! Thankfully, we able to get our jeep replaced in a few hours. The Racetrack playa is an otherworldly landscape with a large flat, dry lake with a few scattered rocks that "slide" across the playa with the right conditions of water, ice and wind. The mystery of how these rocks move was not solved until a couple of years ago. Below is my favorite picture of the scene there and now might be my favorite Milky Way image.
My favorite summer pictures from ColoradoI spent a large part of this past summer in Colorado. The southwest part of the state is one of my favorite areas to visit, especially the area around Telluride. I have been coming to Telluride nearly every year for the last 20 years. Just outside of town, less than a 1/2 mile walk from town is Cornet Falls (pictured below). I made my way up the short, but sometimes steep, trail to Cornet Falls 3 times in July. On the first trip, I was able to get these nice clouds along with a little bit of valley fog in the background while looking out from underneath the base of the waterfall. Seeing all the open sky to the south and southwest of the falls made me wonder if the Milky Way would be visible. After midnight and before dawn, it was! I did 2 night photography trips to Cornet Falls. I am still working on picture of this waterfall with the Milky Way, and should be up on this blog sometime in September.
During the second weekend of July, I met up David Kingham who was hosting a photography/backpacking trip to Ice Lakes Basin near Silverton. In my opinion, Ice Lakes is among one of the prettiest lake basins in all of Colorado. The picture on the left below is near where we camped out for a couple of nights in the Lower Ice Lakes Basin. However, the scenery is even better when you hike up to the upper basin. We made it up to a smaller lake in the upper basin (below right) around sunrise.
After sunrise, we climbed even higher to about 12,500 feet to Island Lake (pictured above). As you can see, the lake is appropriately named and the water here has a unique turquoise color to it, caused by the minerals in the area. By the middle of July, the wildflowers above treeline are beginning to hit their peak. One of my favorite hikes in the Lizard Head Wilderness southwest of Telluride is the Cross Mountain Trail leading up to the base of the rock face called Lizard Head. Pictured below, you can see the wonderful spread of wildflowers with the first light of the day hitting Mount Wilson.
Later in July, I made it over to the town Ouray for a photography tour lead by Jim Sternberg. What made this tour unique is that it would include jeep rides over rugged terrain each morning. Below is an image of columbines, as well as a mix of other wildflowers, in the Imogene Basin between Ouray and Telluride. This little area had some the most dense and varied stands of wildflowers that I have seen.
We also visited the little photographed Silver Basin (above left) and the ghost town of Animas Forks (above right). However, my favorite morning shoot was from a hidden pond near Red Mountain (pictured below) between Ouray and Silverton. It by far is the redest mountain that I have seen. The red color comes from the rich iron ore in the mountain. The still conditions made for a perfect reflections in this tarn!
I did a lot of hiking this summer in the Colorado Rockies. I have recently set a goal to climb a 14er in Colorado each year. A 14er is a mountain that is at least 14,000 feet above sea level. This year, I picked Quandary Peak near Breckenridge. It is one of "easiest" 14ers to climb in Colorado, but still a good workout for your heart and lungs! On the way up to the summit, I was greeted by a couple of mountain goats.
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