Big Crane Petroglyph
This blog post is a continuation of my recent 2025 Summer road trip! To see a menu of all of the days on this road trip, click here.
Good Morning From Utah!
The morning alarm found me reaching for the control panel of my diesel heater; it got cold last night! I definitely didn't expect it, I reached out, turned on the heater, and threw my sleeping bag over my head. It’d definitely be a few minutes before I popped back out. :-) I had a decent hike in front of me this morning and wasn’t sure where my destination was, so there was a chance that I might have to do a bit of wandering around. With that, and once the Five Billion Star Hotel (IG) warmed up a bit, I needed to cook a bit of breakfast and pack a snack or ten for the venture out into the desert.
My Destination Is Out There, Somewhere…
I got out of the vehicle, took a few steps, and then realized that I had no idea where I was going. I mean, I had a general idea, but that was about it. A quick glance at the notes in my phone turned up nothing. I returned to the FBSH and grabbed both my laptop and my physical notes. Somehow, a quick search for my research materials turned up empty. I know I had plans, somewhere. I'd have to go off of memory. Great; I've slept since then! Yikes!
Ever read something, but not pay too much attention to it, only to need to refer to it later and not have a clue where what you read even was? That’s kinda how this particular morning was going. I was trying to recall things I knew I read somewhere based off of the landscape and obstacles I was seeing. Off in the distance, I could see a butte that I was aiming for, I just couldn’t quite remember if it was the right one or if it was one of its neighboring twins!? Eeek. I decided to bail on the wash that I was walking in and simply head straight to the butte on the horizon via a desert crossing.
I meandered my way across the desert. The canyons were deep and much like the web spacing between the fingers on your hand. Crossing down into a canyon just to have to climb up and over into the next wasn't feasible, especially over and over. I knew I needed to follow a wash and then bail out of it, but I couldn’t remember where. I got a bit disgusted. I had no idea where this glyph was without my research material. I was probably wasting my time. So far, all of my compositions that I planned for this trip have worked out. Now, this. Then, I looked up and literally there it was!
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As it turned out, the point where I was supposed to bail out of the wash and cross over the desert, well, that was the point where I bailed out of the wash and crossed over the desert. Oddly enough, on my way back, there were tons of cairns to follow. I’d been a few meters from being exactly on course the entire time, and was walking parallel to the “real” route. I guess some of my previous desert wandering came in handy as I walked the shortest/best path without even knowing I was walking the shortest/best path. I’d wanted this image for a long time. I probably would have spent the entire day searching for it and then waited to photograph it the next morning had I not found it when I did. I definitely can’t complain about how the trip was going to this point.
After having a productive morning, I hit the road and set my destination for the NE Phoenix Valley. I had a date with a quickly approaching sunset. However, that didn’t mean that I didn’t have time to do a bit of scouting.
Land Before Time
I stopped by Moenave near Tuba City, AZ. It is here that there are quite a few dinosaur tracks that are basically a roadside attraction. Other than this stop, I had one more that I wanted to make before settling down at my sunset destination. With this one being roadside, it would be quick and would set up perfectly time-wise.
The conditions weren’t great. Well, they weren’t in the direction that I wanted to point my camera. You can guess how they were behind me; perfect! I wanted to shoot a dinosaur footprint in the foreground with a nice sky full of clouds in the background. I had trouble finding a print that was in good condition and was facing the “correct” direction. Unfortunately, the skies were bluebird boring, in the direction that I was shooting, so I simply shot a print or two with no sky involved. I added a bit of water into the print to help it stand out from its surroundings. For the shot in my mind, I’d have to return another day. Darn. ;-) Having laid eyes on the tracks, I turned my sights to my next quick stop,
People are gross…
The area was very desolate and proved to be further out than I thought. I was surprised at how trashy the area was. People never seem to fail to disappoint. Broken glass everywhere, spent shell casings lying around, even a few old TVs. But, I digress… Eventually, I was staring at a few very neat rock formations.
The Sky Was Beautiful Pending Where You Looked
With the sky around me beautiful as can be, the sky in front of me was, you guessed it, full of blue, at least in the direction I was shooting, seemingly a these for the day, my options were a bit limited as to how I’d have to approach photographing the rocks. Scratch that, rock. I decided I’d focus on one of the rocks, get a couple of shots, and then move on toward The Valley.
In my first shot, I stayed serious and shot the image that I came for. I wanted an image of the rock with the sun peeking just over its shoulder. That one was pretty straightforward. The second was a bit more difficult. The photography wasn’t all that difficult, tho a bit more involved than my first image. The difficulty came in simply standing along the hillside. It may not look like it, but I was likely sliding in this image as “standing” just wasn’t easy at all. I can imagine that other sun positions offer up an easier composition. Also, since this was a bit more of a fun image, I left the lens in a position that would allow for lens flares, giving the composition a bit more added interest.
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With the last two shoots not particularly going my way as far as the skies were concerned, I had no qualms about turning my attention toward the evening’s destination. With one eye on the road and the other looking up at the skies, I nervously made my way toward the Phoenix Valley. Along the way, I discovered a few things. One, AZ Highway 89 from Tuba City toward Flagstaff is not at all a modern road. It is quite antiquated in both its construction as well as its maintenance. In addition, it tested my Delica’s ability to actually leave the ground and fly a few times! In addition, while much better maintained, AZ Highway 87 tested my vehicle’s temp gauge a bit. Ops check good! Yikes, some of those climbs were tough!
A Peaceful AZ Sunset
I eventually found myself along the banks of the Salt River. As you can see in the image above, the skies were quite boring when the lighting on the rocks was nice. With that, I bailed and headed to where I’d left the FBSH. As you can see by the image below, I should have maybe stayed around a few minutes. Given how the day’s skies had been, and not having a view to my West due to a large hillside behind me, I had no clue that a nice patch of clouds was drifting through. Oh, well; no biggie. I never really found a composition that I was truly excited about before simply having to pick a spot and shoot due to the sun setting. I’ll have to chalk this one up to another scouting trip. Next time, I’ll have a better idea of how to attack this area. :-)
The Day’s Last Light Along The Salt River
After a few brief conversations with some fellow sunset enthusiasts, I hopped into the Delica and drove to the morning meeting spot to check it out. I’d be meeting two fellow photographers well before sunrise and wanted to see the place while it was still light out in order to get a lay of the land a bit. I also wanted to grab a quick bite and didn’t feel much like getting all of my cooking stuff out. With that, I decided I’d grab something local. Well, I forgot what section of the PHX Valley I was in. There'd be no fast food here. That was fine, though, with that, there’d also not be anything cheap. I pulled into a snazzy pizza place hoping to grab a slice. Well, they didn’t sell slices. Great. One small pizza later and I was out the door. I ate two slices and gave the rest away. I don’t have much room for food anymore. Maybe one day I’ll write about it. Anyhoo, I found a place to sleep for the night, set my 0400 alarm for an 0500 Meet-up. Tomorrow was going to be great, I could tell….!
I do not do a lot of wildlife photography. Add to that, I definitely do not do a lot of bird photography either. It’s not because I don’t enjoy it—in fact, I really do—but rather because I simply do not have the right equipment necessary to be truly successful at it. Sure, I might get lucky every now and then and capture something decent, but nothing consistent or reliable. Spending time with these two birds, though, definitely sparked a strong desire in me to improve both my skills and my gear. But that’s a story for another day.
Here’s a teaser for ya… At this point in the evening, all I’m thinking about is photographing a baby owl in a saguaro in the morning. Little do I know, I’ll be hours away in an entirely different town by tomorrow evening, all based on one single comment by a fellow photographer whom I’ve yet to meet at this point. See ya tomorrow!
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