Utah - Feb 2012 - Day 4

The original forecast was for sun all week.   However, as the time grew near, the forecast changed to call for snow everyday.  So - we carried on and hoped for the best.  We were rewarded with blue sky everyday!!

On this day, the skies were gray to start and we were chased by snow squalls all the day long.  In between there were breaks of sun and bright blue sky!  So - shoot, shoot, shoot!

We thought we would start out by doing a little hiking.  The lodge had provided a sheet of nearby trails, so we choose one that said it went to a waterfall.  So, off we went, again filling our packs.  The wind was howling, but in the valley, not on the ridge.  We arrived at the location and saw a road heading off into the dirt ridge.  Thinking this may be the way, we set off.  After about 5 minutes, we decided that it was not the right way.  We marched back and found the real trail.  Ouch!  Squalls were on the horizon, it was below freezing, and the trail headed straight down the open rock face. We decided to sit this one out and start driving again!

We thought that hiking in Bryce another day would be fun, but by the time we reached Escalante, the squalls were very heavy, so we decided to retrace our steps through the Burr Trail and back around the full loop to Torrey and around to Boulder.

This was the day we were to try out some new photo techniques.  Cheri had read quite a bit about HDR or high dynamic range imaging and was anxious to try it out.  She had also read about stitching together photos and was itching to try that on the big scenery in the area.

The precipice to the lower section of Capitol Reef was a sight to behold.  You can see it in the image above!

 Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Utah - Feb 2012 - Day 2

We were up and at it early the next morning, leaving Provo early.  On out way out of town we found this marvelous diner; Village Inn.  We stopped for a bite and found that they had homemade pie as well as breakfast all day.  Cheri had the first Huevos Rancheos of the trip.  As we were preparing to pay the check, we decided to get some pie; three pieces to be exact.  We had it to go so we could take it on our adventure!

We started south, destination Boulder, UT!  There were lots of ways to get there, but John had researched Highway 12 and it looked gorgeous!  So we decided to drive a bit extra on this first day and partake of all Highway 12 had to offer!

Good thing there weren't too many roads where we were headed, because not even the GPS gets signal in that part of the world!!  Who knew there were places in the US that were that far off the grid?!  As for cell phones...forget about them too.  Heaven!

We enjoyed the prairie dogs and hawks on the way down.

As we pulled off the big roads and onto Highway 12, we were rewarded almost immediately with stunning red rocks and brilliant sites!  The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were very happy!

We continued on, after our initial image making, and were soon at Bryce Canyon.  In our opinion, it is one of the wonders of the US!  The vast number of hoodoo formations that have formed in this canyon are like no where else that we have seen in such vastness!  After riding for hours we were ready for a hike.  Choosing the Queen's Garden as our destination, we loaded our packs with camera gear, warm gear, water and tripods.  Down we hiked!  Cheri had always wanted to shoot this place in winter to capture the snow on the red rocks!  Dream come true!!

By the time we finished, it was heading toward dark and time for us to find Boulder, UT.  We had booked into the Boulder Mountain Lodge and were hoping it was a good place to stay.  Boy was it!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John