We now return to our regularly scheduled program

We had some rain Friday night/Saturday morning. It was cold enough that I was hoping for snow on the mountains - but no dice.

I did find a nice tree with the last bit of fall color on it, and the mountains were crazy with fog.

I watched the fog rise from the ground from essentially nothing to the mountains completely obscured. I started walking back to the car, when it started to clear again and the mountains played peak-a-boo. 

Last week was a great break - but time to get back at it.

Cheers,

Marc

Andromeda Galaxy

I have been trying to get a close-up shot of Andromeda for a while now, and finally had success last night.

It is barely a smudge of very faint lightness where we live, even knowing precisely where to look. So pointing the camera at a very faint and very small object - I've not had success getting it framed before tonight.

This is the final image, representing about an hour of exposure time stacked into a 3-minute exposure. The stacking helps remove noise - if our eyes could hold three minutes of light, this is what we'd see. I would have had four hours to play with, but clouds developed in the process. That left me with nearly 2 hours, but those either had motion artifacts (star tracker isn't perfect, amplified by zooming in) or satellites zooming through, for a 50% success rate - actually pretty good!

I can't wait to give this a try again under truly dark skies!

Cheers,

Marc

Oh my...

So this just happened.

Kids finally picked up their drivers' permits. Here we go!

Marc

Orion and nebulae

Just a quick photo that I processed today from my trip. It is the Orion constellation with Barnard's Loop (the red emission nebula wrapping around it) and the Witches Head nebula (the pale thing to the right of the lower right star in the constellation, a reflection nebula).

I've been nerding out on stars and such lately - an evolution in my photography hobby.

Enjoy!

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 9, the final day

All good things must come to an end. I planned that night in Farmington so I could get up to shoot Shiprock at sunrise, and then head home. What I didn't realize, was that Shiprock is 8 hours north of WSMR. C'est la vie.

After a miserable night trying to sleep over the downstairs neighbors' talking, I got an early start to my destination, but not quite early enough. I wanted to shoot some stars here, but the sun was just starting to come up and wash out the stars as I arrived. 

It was a pretty, but cold, morning. There weren't any clouds to catch the light, so once the sun was up, I packed up my stuff and headed home. Shortly after lunch I arrived home, and got to do some laundry and try to get caught up with Catherine and her week.

Cheers,

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 8

Part of the rush to get out of Coyote Gulch was the very large drive I had to get to New Mexico the next day. Even getting a very early start, I didn't make it to my destination in northern New Mexico until dinner. To be fair, a good chunk of that was taking photos along the way, but Capitol Reef didn't take too much of my time.

I did find one photo I was really hoping to find, cottonwoods in color with desert varnish in the background. This was in the Fruita area of Capitol Reef. I wish for better lighting, but I am pretty happy with this.

The drive out of Capitol Reef was long but pretty. It passed through some very small towns, larger than our "ghost town" of Organ, just over the mountain from us here at White Sands. These old cattle pens intrigue me, so when I saw one with loads of fall color surrounding it, I hit the brakes and took some photos.

The rest of the trip was through some vast, mostly unpopulated area.

Cheers,

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 7

So here is where things get interesting.

Highlight number two of my trip was supposed to be Coyote Gulch, a little slot canyon with two arches, a natural bridge, and a waterfall. I was planning to hike in, explore, spend the night, and then hike out the next morning. My, how my plans were WAY off!

To start off the day, I was in Bryce Canyon National Park. I wanted to photograph sunrise, which didn't happen until about 8 am - so already a bit of a late start, but no worries. I hit the road about 9 am and turned off on to the road to the trailhead about 10:30 am. It was a deeply washboarded dirt road that was roughly 40 miles to the trailhead - or was supposed to be. The turnoff from Hole in the Wall road to my trailhead was not marked, and that road was not on my GPS. I missed my turnoff and drove for maybe 20-30 minutes before I realized my mistake - so a solid hour lost, on tooth-rattling rough roads.

I finally found my turnoff, but within a quarter mile, realized that the van was not going to make it down this road. If I thought the washboards were rough on the "main" road, I was wrong! So I turned around and headed to Plan C, Hurricane Wash. Plan A was to hike in via the "sneaker route," which involved a 2-mile hike (maybe an hour) in to the canyon. Same trailhead, different trail (Plan B) was to hike to Crack in the Wall, maybe a 3-mile hike to get into the canyon. Plan C was a 6-mile hike to the main canyon (Coyote Gulch) and another 1-2 miles to get to the sneaker route entrance.

Since the detour and move to Plan C, I stopped about a quarter- to half-mile along the trail and questioned if I still wanted to do the hike. I did, I hadn't come all that way to not see Coyote Gulch. So onwards I trudged through the desert, following a dry wash that had seen some recent water events.

I eventually made it into the canyon and started hiking down stream. The water was cold, but not much more than ankle high. It was deep enough with frequent-enough river crossings that I decided to change into my river shoes, which I had worn for the Subway and Narrows hikes, in and out of the water.

I made it past Swiss Cheese Falls, when I noticed that my left shoe was broken. It was just a broken strap, but I was able to keep the shoe on easily, it was just rubbing a sore spot on one of my toes. Shortly after that, I passed Coyote Arch, and that is when my right shoe essentially disintegrated.

The photo below doesn't do it justice, but basically all of the straps on the right side of the right shoe just pulled away from the sole, I was completely unable to keep the shoe on and walk. I was at a decision point.

I could either set up camp right there (it would have been a beautiful place to spend the night) or hike back out. Time for some math: the water temps were probably mid-50's:  cold, but not super cold. The air temps were in the low 60's, high 50's, so cool. If I hiked out now, those are the conditions I would face. If I waited until morning, the air temps would be closer to freezing. As for mileage, I was easily 8 miles in at this point, probably closer to 9. I had been hiking since just after noon, and it was 4:30 pm. The route in went through some thick areas that I had to have light to navigate - my headlamp wasn't going to cut it, and I had to hit the exits to the canyon and deep slot no later than 6:30. I'd have to hustle!

So I turned around and headed back to the van. I had to hike the first 1.5-2 miles barefoot. Don't feel sorry for me, it was 95% soft sand, both in and out of the river. It slowed me down, but only because deep sand will do that. I hit my cutoff points - if I didn't make certain landmarks (Coyote Gulch to Hurricane Wash turnout, wooded area in Hurricane Wash, deep slot in Hurricane Wash), I was prepared to set up camp and wait for sunlight, but thankfully didn't have to. I had everything I needed to be comfortable, but since this adventure had been filled with misfortune, I wanted to cut my losses.

I got back to the van about 8:30 pm. I dropped my backpack, cooked my dinner, and then went to sleep in the driver's seat - safe, warm, and well-fed. All in all, I hiked at least 16 miles, probably closer to 18, with the last 3-4 miles in total darkness (there was no moon that night - the stars were super bright, I could see the dust lanes in the Milky Way with my naked eyes), I had to keep checking my GPS to ensure I was still on the path to get to the van.

All in all, I feel like I re-certified Ranger School. In retrospect, it was quite the ranger-ific adventure, but I hope I don't have to repeat that again. I was sore for a couple of days!

Cheers,

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 6

Today was mostly a transition day, from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park. However, I met up with my cousin Kevin in the morning at Zion and we hiked up to Scouts Lookout and beyond. I hadn't seen Kevin in decades, it was great to see him again and reconnect.

We finished up our hike a little after lunch. I hopped in the van and drove to Bryce Canyon, about 2 hours north of Zion.

I took a bunch of photos of the hoodoos, but this one is my favorite of the evening. The sun was bouncing off the wall of the canyon and the other hoodoos to create this glowing effect.

Cheers,

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 5

Today I hiked The Narrows, a fantastic slot canyon where the river is the trail and sometimes fills the slot from wall to wall. The only way to avoid wet feet is with a dry suit, which I did not have. I had neoprene socks and my trusty river shoes (same thing I wore the day before to/from the Subway).

Again, I timed this trip to try to find peak fall color in the canyon, and found it! I think the fall color adds a little something extra to the overall ambiance.

I intended only to hike a mile or so, but went even further up canyon this trip than I did in May 2014.

It took me basically all day in the canyon, but I still had enough energy to go find a viewpoint to photograph sunset over the river and the Watchman (mountain to the right).

All in all, I'd say this day was a smashing success!

Cheers, 

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 4

Today was the highlight of the trip - kind of the whole point. There is an area of Zion where I have been wanting to see and photograph for some time now, the Subway. It has permitted entry, so they limit how many people are in the canyon in any given day. I happened to get an ticket for November 2nd and planned the rest of the trip around this.

The hike is listed as strenuous, but only 4.5 miles there (9 round trip). I thought "how hard can 4.5 miles be?" It turns out, pretty strenuous. The distance didn't get me, but the boulder hopping and route finding definitely did. This is in a wilderness area, and they don't maintain the trails very well.

Anyways, all of the goodness is in the last 1/2 mile or so. First up, Archangel Falls. The light here in the morning is just magical. I haven't edited any of these photos, to let me say that this photo does not do the lighting justice. Red-orange light was bouncing around off the cliffs above and created a surreal golden glow down in the canyon, it was amazing!

I kept hiking up canyon and shortly encountered The Crack. Basically a huge portion of the Left Fork North Creek flows through this crack in the rock - though the river is wide here and water is flowing over the rest of the rock, just not deep at all.

Just around the bend from The Crack was the main attraction, Subway. You'll see from my selfie that the composition creates an illusion of being in a tunnel, but I just love this area. This was a shot from my iPhone, I have some editing to do on the real stuff.

Not so funny story:  rookie mistake, I didn't bring my extra battery with me, and my camera was flashing the red battery light of death. I didn't see it until I set up to photograph the Subway. Luckily, the battery lasted for everything that I wanted to shoot, and then a little bit more. I had met another photographer at the trailhead, and we hiked together for a ways at the beginning. He caught up to me here, and also shoots a Nikon - a more advanced camera than I have, but same generation and same battery. He kindly not just offered, but took out a spare battery and handed it to me just in case.

And here I am, happy as a clam at the Subway. I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went straight back to my campsite, cooked dinner, and went to bed. No sunset photography for this guy.

Cheers, 

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 3

I got in a bit late the day before to Zion, I set up the tent while it was getting dark and then made dinner. I got up pretty early to go to the east entrance, about 45 minutes away, to photograph Checkerboard Mesa at sunrise. I was lucky to be treated with some pretty color!

From there, I drove back through the upper east side in search of the Many Pools area, which I found. I took off on a hike through the east molar and stumbled across a herd of desert bighorn sheep. The boys were cracking skulls when I first arrived, which was cool to see and surprisingly loud to hear - like a gunshot. As soon as I got my camera out, they stopped doing that and just started chasing the girls.

Since the east molar was blocked, I headed back down the wash to the west molar and hiked up that. There is not an official trail, but the canyon kept me effectively contained. I hiked up as far as I could, maybe a mile, and then turned back around. There was some beautiful color in those washes, but it was mostly past peak color at that elevation.

I drove back to my campsite and then boarded a shuttle to the northern end of the main canyon - Big Bend. I got out and started hiking back along the North Fork of the Virgin River (the river that makes The Narrows - more on that in 2 days) in search of fall color.

Found it! The cottonwoods were basically in peak color and I think they are beautiful. Everywhere I went, to included on the way back home in Albuquerque, the river basins were awash in blazing yellow color from the cottonwoods. They practically glow a vibrant yellow when the sun hits them from behind or side, but wash out when lit from the front.

All told, this hike was roughly 7-8 miles.

I tried to time it to photograph The Watchman (a mountain, not pictured here/today) from a bridge over the river, but the sunset fizzled - no real color.

Cheers,

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 2

Day two was a special one for me. I've been wanting to see and photograph House on Fire for a while now. It took me some sleuthing to figure out where it was, and since I was in the right area, I struck while the iron was hot. This is just a rough draft - I will make some minor changes, but I like how the rough draft is looking!

I love the optical illusion that fire is shooting out of the roof - but it is nothing more than sandstone that is catching some reflected light.

I then drove south through Valley of the Gods, and from there further west to Zion National Park. These first two days were primarily travel days, with the exception of the 2 mile (round trip) hike to House on Fire.

Cheers,

Marc

Fall Photo Trip - Day 1

I made some plans to see some areas in Utah for what I hoped were going to be the height of peak fall color - with one area subject to a lottery system (to keep numbers in the canyon manageable) and another way off the beaten trail. 

I started driving north and decided to check out the Very Large Array - a bunch of dishes that make up an astronomical radio observatory. 

These were featured in Carl Sagan's book Contact. I remembered passing a sign for it on my way from Washington to Texas, and since I was in the area, decided to check it out. It was 18*F when I visited!

From there I continued north and west through some very remote areas of New Mexico and Arizona. I went to Canyon de Chelly National Monument, which is a strange beast. The Navajo still own the canyon, with families living in it and on the rim. To go into the canyon, you need a park ranger or a Navajo guide, otherwise, you are restricted to the rim drives. 

I had to get to Blanding, Utah for my first night (hotel), so I opted to just drive the south rim and take a peak over the sides at the scenery below. I'd like to go back and see it from the bottom.

Cheers,

Marc