Bros On The Road: Stuck In Utah
Sangre de Cristo Range
Day 0: Sangre de Cristo Reflections
There were three accidents on the interstate before I even made it from Monument to Pueblo. Thankfully, none looked serious. Finally, after what seemed like forever trying to get through traffic, I made it to the spot I chose as my first shooting location on this weeklong road trip. I threw on my muck boots just in case as I knew the area might be a bit wet from the recent snows. I did not have a long hike, but it did feel a bit long when hiking in those boots. The scene was setting up either brilliantly or terribly as the clouds on the horizon began to block out the sunset. Only time would tell which.
BTS at the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range
It was quite nice hearing nothing but the surrounding bird-life as you watch the day’s sunlight slowly fade. As luck would have it, the scene turned out rather nicely and I left with the below image of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains reflecting in this small pond.
Training Opportunity
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Sangre de Cristo Reflections | Prints Available
I packed up as it didn't appear as if clouds were going to break along the mountains. The clouds were sitting on the peaks as I hiked in, they were sitting as I set up, and they were sitting while I shot. They must've been waiting for me to pack up because as soon as I did, poof; they were gone! Below is a cellphone image taken as I approached my vehicle. The image isn’t good as it was handheld in the dark, but it helps illustrate the point. I missed an opportunity for a nice Blue Hour reflection image. Bummer.
Snowcapped Sangre de Cristo Mountains: A Missed opportunity
Regardless, I was beaten; whooped I tell you! It was time to head into the Five Billion Star Hotel (IG), relax, and grab some calories!
Rear Interior of the Mitsubishi Delica L300 aka Five Billion Star Hotel (IG)
I try to make a habit of offloading my images from the camera and onto an SSD each evening. With that, as soon as I got dinner going, I kicked back, got the laptop out, and backed up the evening’s images.
I planned to get up early in the morning. I wanted to hike into the same area where I shot the sunset and shoot tomorrow’s Blue Hour through sunrise.
Colorado to Arizona, Quickly!
DAY 1: Sangre de Cristo Reflections, Again
The morning was a crisp one. As previously mentioned, I found myself in the same area as the evening prior. Working around water is nice, except when the temps are below freezing. My tripod legs kept freezing into place. Finally, they simply were where they were. I'd have to thaw them in the Delica as I made my way to the day's next destination. Surely they’d be thawed by Arizona, right?
Behind The Scenes | Sunrise Reflections at the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range
It is a bit difficult to describe this particular morning. It isn’t easy to put into words the deafening sounds of the morning silence broken only by a distant Sandhill Crane or goose taking flight. The skies were a bit lacking, but the reflection more than made up for it and definitely made getting up and hiking in worth it! I was definitely hoping for a nice gradient in the sky.
Good Morning Reflections from the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range
The drive to Phoenix would have to be a quick one. There’d be no time for playin’ around.
Solo Cloud over Snowcapped Mountains in Colorado
Time-crunch or not, I couldn’t help stopping for the above image. Please tell me that I’m not the only one who brakes for clouds? ;-)
Mitsubishi Delica L300 Getting the Green Handle
After the morning's shoot, I had 11+ hours to get to my next photography destination. I often see interesting things on my trips. Today, it was an old fuel pump in Jack Rabbit, AZ. My stop there was both interesting, as well as frustrating, as I earned an inconvenient $0.99 convenience fee for having to pay inside with my credit card. 🙄
Well, a long day made short, I made it to my destination just in time despite following a guy pulling a boat and later following a guy pulling a trailer with livestock in it. I was sweating it! I’d just driven 11+ hours straight and was watching the scene that I came to photograph develop right before my eyes. The problem was, that I wasn't in place yet and was new to the area, so I didn't know where best to go. With that, I whipped the Delica over to the side of the road and grabbed my camera gear!
I clicked my gear together and ran up to a fenceline to get a clear view of the Cougar Shadow developing on the superstition Mountainside. Luckily, my tripod legs were thawed from this morning’s shoot. I took one image but didn’t like my composition. I decided to crawl onto the top of the Delica to see if I could get a better view. By the time I made it up to the top, the shadow was too long. It seems I’d driven all of this way and missed the shot due to not being familiar with the area. Dang, that was quick!
After putting my gear away, I sulked over and met up with a buddy, Hiking Bob, (FB), and his wife, Joanne. He'd successfully shot the shadow and managed a great shot of it! We chit-chatted a bit and made plans to shoot together the next evening at The Superstitions.
Superstition Mountains of Arizona
DAY 2: Sunrise At Weaver’s Needle
That night, I got plenty of rest. The long drive must've beaten me because I didn't remember anything through the night!
The morning was not cold, but cool. I loaded my pack with bare essentials and hiked up to my shooting location. I had to get quite an early start. The hike was slow going as it was all uphill. Hiking is pretty tough these days as my knees complain a lot lately, tho not typically when going uphill. Unfortunately, what goes up must later come down.
I found a family camping where I wanted to shoot. I tried not to wake/bother them. I shot a few compositions that eluded me the last time I was in the area. One was, I'd been wanting a Fishhook Cactus foreground with Weavers Needle in the background. I don't think I was able to find the Fishhook, but did manage to find this little guy. 👇
Weaver’s Needle and a Hedgehog Cactus
The campers were all now awake, so I chatted with them for a bit before heading back down the trail. The hike down really hurt my knees! By the time I was done, I was taking short-choppy-steps just to move forward. The bad thing was, my road-trip had only just begun! It usually takes my knees a week+ to “heal” the knee pain. This pretty much guaranteed that they’d be giving me problems the rest of the trip. Boo 😞
I finally hobbled up to the Delica, unloaded my gear, and drove down the road a bit in the hopes of scouting out the evening's shooting location. It was now noon. My knee wasn't having it, tho I pressed on regardless.
I eventually found a decent composition. The hike to it should have taken me about 15-20 minutes. Instead, it took me over an hour. The hike down/back was simply the worst! I'm beginning to break down. Ugh. Regardless, it was nice being able to scout out my composition. Much better than last night's fiasco with the Cougar's Shadow. The only thing left was to return in a relaxed manner vs in a rush!
Western Diamondback
After scouting, I was heading back into civilization for knee pain help when came across a nice-sized Western Diamondback. S/he looked well-fed and healthy. I snapped a quick image, knowing that s/he'd likely not be striking me from a fat, stretched-out, sunning position, and I moved on. I may have left the snake behind but it and its cousins were definitely still on my mind…
Day 2 Continued: Sunset With The Three Sisters
That evening, headed out to my shooting location a bit early as I now knew what would be involved. My knees knew too!
My two buddies, Bob and Sunniye, came out a bit later. They grabbed a nice spot a bit more toward the parking area. I’m a glutton for punishment, so I hobbled to the spot that I’d scoped out earlier.
Behind The Scenes (BTS) with the Three Sisters and the Superstition Mountains of Arizona
As often happens, the lighting behind me was fire while the lighting where my camera was pointed was, well, meh at best.
I shot and then packed up. I knew I'd be heading back in the darkness. The rocks were warm. They kept me thinking about the rattlesnake I’d seen earlier. They tend to like the warm rocks in the mornings and evenings. It's highly likely that I passed another on this evening's hike out and never even knew, thankfully.
I met up with my buddies. They waited on me so we could all hike to the parking lot together; nice of them. We all ended up with very different but very nice images.
I spent the evening at Bob's. It was nice of him to let me do so, especially once Coal, his four-legged trekking partner, warmed up to me.
Cougars Chasing Rabbits
DAY 3: A Date With A Cougar
Day three found me with Bob and his better half, Joanne, eating breakfast on an oddly cool and overcast day in Phoenix. The Luke Days event was going on. I'd miss it tho, as I’d be prioritizing a second go at the cougar shadow instead. Later in the day, I’d be heading to the airport to pick up my brother. He’d be joining me on a week-long road-trip that I planned. It’d be the first time I’d traveled/camped with another person in the Five Billion Star Hotel (IG). I expect it to feel a bit cramped. We will survive.
I picked up my brother, Nick, from Sky Harbor International Airport and raced over to the east valley in the hopes of seeing the cougar shadow.
Bros Under Gorgeous Skies
It wasn't looking good as the skies, however beautiful, didn't look conducive for shadows; especially over to the west where the sun was setting. Regardless, I was at least in place should the light
Behind The Scenes (BTS) awaiting the Cougar Shadow of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona
Luckily, an opening appeared on the horizon allowing just enough sunset light to pass through. The mountainside lit up just long enough to get a few images of the Cougar’s Shadow! After missing this event the other evening, I was excited to have captured the image of come for! I feel I got better conditions on this particular evening as compared the my first attempt as well. Bonus!
Behind The Scenes (BTS) awaiting the Cougar Shadow of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona | Nikon Z8 | Benro Mach3
Cougar Shadow on the Superstition Mountains in Arizona | Prints Available
After shooting the cougar's shadow, Nick and I headed into the wilderness and camped for the evening. As previously mentioned, it was the first time I'd had another along with me in the Delica. We figured it out well enough tho and had a successful first night's sleep. The cool air and the thunderstorm likely helped. Tomorrow, I had a beautiful moonrise image planned!
Get Your Kicks on Route 66
DAY 4: Great Horned Owls, Winslow, and the Utah State Line
Day four didn't start off too well. While lying down, I was wondering to myself, "Geesh, there sure is a lot of traffic for 0400 in the morning.” Well, that's because I'd overslept; it wasn't 0400. I glanced out the window and there was the moon I'd planned to shoot off in the distance actively setting being the Saguaros. It was a beautiful scene and would have made a great photograph! Darn. Well, off to photoshoot number two of the day.
We'd planned to meet a local extremely talented photographer, Chirag Patel, in the desert to photograph some nesting owls in a saguaro cactus. I was really hoping that the owlets might show themselves.
Behind The Scenes (BTS) with the Great Horned Owls and Saguaros of Arizona
With no moon image this morning, I was a bit bummed but pressed on. The owls were amazing and the shoot went fine, tho quickly. It was nice to briefly catch up with Chirag and also meet another pair of photographers for the first time. We parted ways with Nick and I headed to go stand on the corner in Winslow, AZ. We got dumped on by snow in Flagstaff and began wondering if we should create a Plan-B, but eventually pressed on as Winslow and the next destinations were much lower in elevation and would definitely not be a snow problem. We’d just have to be careful pushing through Flag.
As predicted, we did slog through Flagstaff okay and had no problems rolling downhill to Winslow. Nick got out and photographed me driving through "the intersection" in my Delica. It was a shot that I’d envisioned, but needed help to get. THanks, Nick! :-)
Driving [Standing] On The Corner in Winslow, Arizona in my Mitsubishi Delica L300 Starwagon
Later, Nick and I took a few obligatory photos, browsed the souvenirs, and then headed toward Monument Valley.
Taking It Easy in Winslow, Arizona
I pulled over for a fun little shoot in Twin Arrows. Sadly, one of the arrows had fallen, so I took an image of the lone “twin” arrow with the Delica. I hope to drive by in the future and see the other arrow replaced, but I doubt it.
“Twin” Arrows, Arizona are now Solo
Once at Monument Valley, we shot around a bit before setting up camp and awaiting the morning's sunrise. It didn’t appear as it sunset was going to produce anything photogenic and, on top of that, we were tired.
The Obligatory Utah State Line Sign Image with the Mitsubishi Delica L300 Starwagon
I already had a decent Welcome to Utah and Delica image, but couldn't pass up updating it with the lighting on the correct side and Monument Valley in the background!
Bros Crossing The Line
Kachina Dolls Window Dancing In Monument Valley
Forrest Gump Point, Bluff, UT, and a Hidden Kiva
DAY 5: Sunrise At Forrest Gump Point
Sunrise found Nick and I playing around Forrest Gump Point before the crowds arrived. We had a bit of side-of-the-road fun! As seen in the image below, we didn’t get amazing conditions on this particular morning, so we quickly began setting a course for our next destination.
Predawn at Forrest Gump Point in Monument Valley on the Utah Side
From there, we headed north toward Blanding in the hopes of hiking to some ancient Puebloan ruins that I knew of. On our way, we passed through Bluff, UT. I always get a kick out of their welcome sign.
Day 5 Continued: Bluff, UT and a Hidden Kiva
The Bluff, Utah Sign is Amazing
After a short drive through the middle-of-nowhere, UT, we trekked into one of the canyons carved into the Utah desert.
Exploring the Granaries Along The Cliff Edges of Utah
Her ’s a cliffside granary tucked under the ledge with Nick in the image for a bit of scale. Watch your step!
See The Granary?
Closer look at the cliffside granary. Look closely as it is hidden pretty well.
I’m Sure This Kept The Mice Out, Right?
Admiring The Kiva
Down in the Kiva. The original ladder is in a museum.
Watch Your Step!
The ceiling of the Kiva is within the circle of rocks. What a view, huh!?
Contemplating The Ladder
It was time to move on.
Time To Move On
I always try to leave sites I visit better than I left them. In this case, I am please to report that I found zero trash or anything left behind by prior visitors.
To those who visited before me, thanks for being responsible, y’all…!
🤜🤛
Look At Those Photogenic Clouds!
We hiked on in the hopes of finding another set of ruins. Look at those skies! I can't wait to get the camera out in a bit!
Five Minutes Later, Clouds Aren’t So Photogenic
Just the mention of me getting my camera out seemed to alter the skies. Damn you, Zeus! 😏
Can You Find Both Granaries Pictured?
We made it to the two ruins I’d been searching for. Can you see both granaries in the above image?
Mud Sealant Applied Over The Rock Structure
It was neat to see the mud-work covering the rock-work.
Granary In The Evening Light | Prints Available
I always enjoy finding and photographing ancient Puebloan ruins of most any type. In the above image, I took an evening shot of what this scene might have looked like if people were working inside the granary as a long day came to an end.
Swirl Cone From Patio Diner in Blanding, Utah
Ice Cream, The News, and A Hi-Lift Jack
Day 6: Newspaper Rock
The next day, we headed back to Blanding. You know what that means, ice cream from Patio Diner! (FB) More specifically, a swirl cone!
After fueling up, we turned our sights to another granary that I'd wanted to photograph. I’d searched for it before and didn't find it. Come to find out, after a little bit of research, I was about 1/4 mile from it and was unaware. I was really looking forward to checking it off of my List-O-Places-To-Shoot!
Newspaper Rock Archaeological Site Sign
Along the way to the aforementioned granary, we passed by the Newspaper Rock Archaeological Site.
Beanie Time at Newspaper Rock
Is That Snow Up Ahead?
The skies were threatening snow. No worries as it wasn't supposed to do much.
Day 6 Continued: Hi-Lift Jack, A Soft Shoulder, and a Missed Sunset and Sunrise
The Mitsubishi Delica L300 Starwagon Stuck In Snow
Fast forward an hour and quite a few feet in elevation and we found ourselves not moving forward, at all. The snow, from a previous snow event, was about 18” on the road. Off to the edges of the road, where the road dipped off for drainage, the snow was well above the knee. Once stuck, any spin of the wheels just dug the Delica down into the snow.
We bottomed out only once, the initial time that we got stuck. After that, we inched out using the recovery boards, the jack as a jack, and the jack as a come-along.
Finally, We Got The Mitsubishi Delica L300 Starwagon Out Of The Snow
Finally, after a few hours of digging out, we were free. We came up with a plan to get off the mountain the way we came. Once unstuck, we stopped there, cleaned up, ate dinner, and turned in for the evening; the rest could be dealt with tomorrow after the snow solidified a bit.
A Retreat to a Delicate Sunset
DAY 7: The Retreat
The next morning, we quickly ate breakfast, put the Delica in ‘R’, and hoped for the best. In previous attempts, the Delica sank once the wheels began spinning. We were hoping for something a bit different this morning.
The evening prior, we finally managed to get all four of the wheels lined up into our old incoming tracks. Hoping that the snow was a bit more solid this morning, we decided to back down the mountain until we reached a spot where we could safely turn around. Keeping the Delica in our old tracks felt detrimental as we didn't want to slide off onto the edge of the snowy road again.
It took about a mile or more, but we finally found a spot that had received sunlight in the days prior. This area was a muddy mess yesterday evening but it was frozen mud at the moment and provided just enough room for an 8-point turn. I felt a bit like Austin Powers.
Once we made it down the mountain, we both breathed a sigh of relief!
Our road emptied out near Monticello, UT. From there, we headed north toward Moab. With my brother having not been to Utah before, I sorta felt obligated to show him Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. Afterall, it’s on their license plate.
Day 7 Continued: A Steep Angled Hike to a Delicate Sunset
Nick’s First Glimpse of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park just outside Moab, Utah
In the image above, it was Nick's first glimpse of Delicate Arch.
Snowcapped La Sal Mountains (background) Delicate Arch (midground) and Two Bros (foreground)
Typical Sunset Crowd at Delicate Arch
We were there with about 100 of our closest strangers.
Behind The Scenes (BTS) At Delicate Arch with Sunset Looming Over The La Sal Mountains
The western horizon was setting up nicely for sunset, but would the La Sal Mountains catch any light?
La Sal Mountains Delicately Framed | Limited Edition Prints Available
The La Sals caught fire! It was perfect!
A Delicate Arch Evening | Prints Available
The sunset at Delicate was all that I’d hoped for. We got a nice glow on the rocks as well as on the distant clouds and mountains! After the shoot, I packed up my gear and we hiked back out via headlamp. Our next destination is birthday dinner! Nick was taking me out to eat for my birthday. 😀
I chose BBQ and we found ourselves stuffed after BBQ plates and an Apple Cobbler à-la-Mode. With that, we turned our sights to tomorrow's composition.
Swirls, Monuments, and Distant Ships
Day 8: Swirl Cones For The Win!
The morning's sunlight found me cliffside staring off at an amazing view at the Anticline Overlook. I’d shot here before and didn't get the skies I wanted as well as pretty much had my trip ruined by another photographer. I was hoping for better this time around!
Insert BTS and FINAL IMAGE.
It was now time to turn our sights south and on to Monument Valley and the Wast Mittens shadow.
Back In Blanding, Utah and More Ice Cream
Behind The Scenes (BTS) In Monument Valley
Monument Valley was gorgeous as usual. I spent a bit of time shooting before sunset as conditions changed. Unfortunately for me, I did not capture the shadow as I’d hoped on this particular evening. I got the shadow, tho not quite in the position I’d hoped for. I also didn’t get the conditions I had in my mind when I visualized the image. Well, I guess this place, and the Mitten’s Shadow, will just have to stay on my List-O-Places-To-Shoot! :-)
West Mitten’s Shadow Being Cast Upon The East Mitten in Monument Valley
Morning Stop At Shiprock
Dunes, Gloom, and Goodbye
DAY 9
The next morning found us watching a sunrise on Shiprock before blasting off toward the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in the hopes of shooting a moody sunset.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Entrance Sign
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Snowcapped Peaks
Well, I got the mood that I was hoping for at The Dunes, but I also got a lot more than i’d hoped for. By that, I mean I got a lot more clouds and a whole lot more wind. With that, we pulled the plug on the evening's shoot and decided to head home to Monument.
All in all, it was a great road-trip made even better by shooting with some good friends and getting to spend some time with my brother! Nick, thanks for accepting the invite and tagging along!
Annual tradition? 🤔
