Western Trip 2016 - The Fab Four hit the trail west - 9/9/16

Leaving Albany at 6:30 am was better than leaving at 5:15 am like our last trip.  Cheri and Dottie got bumped up to 1^st class!

Before we knew it we had transited through Chicago where we got "to-go" at Frontera and had landed at Bozeman International.  We loved the Cazeula breakfast that Cheri got at Frontera so much that we replicated it for several mornings afterward at our condo, but that's getting ahead of the story. 

We got our amazing 7 seater Grand Caravan rental vehicle.  And while some might have been wondering why we might need such a large vehicle, by the end of the trip there was no doubt that it was their perfect vehicle for us!!  John the Driver and Paul the Navigator assumed their positions and we were off.

We spun into Bozeman itself and ate at Cheri's beloved Montana Teds.  It quickly became beloved by all.  The first bison burger of the trip!!  After we chowed down, Dottie and Cheri ventured into the first rock store and acquired a rose quartz crystal for Dottie's office. 

Now onto our first adventure as we headed for Great Falls, MT through the Lewis and Clark National Forest.  We drove out of Bozeman viewing ranches everywhere with purple mountains in the distance.  As we drove, the landscape began to change.  We saw our first elk and pronghorn antelopes in the fields.  Then we headed into evergreen country, surrounded by big old trees and we drove along a beautiful stream. 

Our first hike was at the perfect time of day.  We hiked at Memorial Falls to two waterfalls through beautiful multicolor quartzite landscape; salmon, pink, orange, red, black and more.  The sun was hitting the first waterfall perfectly and creating a beautiful colored drop.  Cheri created an image of the sun through the trees that looked like a star and Dottie shot the pickup stick trees that had fallen everywhere.   As we came out of the woods we saw the first of many "Bear in the area" signed!  It felt so good to stretch our legs after so much sitting.

The only disappointment was that we missed the Lewis and Clark visitor center because the part we visited was newly minted and had no visitor center.  John had been looking forward to watching a 30 minute, award-winning documentary on Lewis and Clark, Oh well.

We spent the night in Great Falls, MT at the Crystal Inn and Suites next door to a Denny's.  We had dinner late, all exhausted, so let's go close we think. There is a Denny's next door....oh boy...the waitress got every order wrong!  Grease it was....John bought Tums directly after eating.  First resolution from the Fab Four....no more Denny's! 

April 25th - Grampians to Tassie (Tasmania)

It's been a long day of travel.  The alarm went off at 6:20 am.  Showered, up and on the road with no coffee as nothing opens that early.  We were rewarded with a treasure hunt as fog began to burn off and the sun streamed through unabated.  We drove through pastoral lands filled with sheep, cows and little horses.  It was magical; again reminding me of Narnia.  The fields are all yellowish to time of year, a pastel yellow, and with the frost they looked soft.

3 hours later we were in Melbourne and we stopped at the hotel we stayed at the first night and will be staying at again on Monday night to leave a bag, then onto the airport. 

The flight to Tassie was short, 43 minutes.  Got our car and started to Cradle Mountain.  Lots of clouds, but breaks of sun and a hope of clearing tonight!

We arrived just about 5PM with sunset scheduled for 5:30 and last light at 6.  We checked in, asked where we could for for a quick look at the mountain and off we zoomed.  Wow!!  What treats we encountered.  They sent us to Cradle Mountain Lodge where they have some walks.  First thing we saw were people in the field across from the lodge.  We mounted up the big lens and headed over to see what they were seeing. 

Wombats!!  Jackpot!  Shoot away!

We chatted with some people who told us we might like the Enchanted Walk right near the lodge.  It is a 20 minute loop through some very old forest. Also, supposedly there is a platypus in the lake.  We looked, but didn't see the platypus.

The Enchanted Walk was just that!  Again, feeling like we were in a movie....Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Harry Potter.  We met a woman who reminded me so much of Luna Lovegood, she could have been her!

The forest was beyond any that we've ever walked through before.  Serious rain comes to this area and the moss and the lichen was top notch.  The feeling within the trees was magical; as if elves or fairies might appear at any moment.  What did appear was a blacks stripped wallaby and rock wallabies as well as a pademelon.  The darn pademelon was too quick and we missed the shot.  Never-the-less, the walk was extraordinary and we were out until all the light had vanished!!

Enjoy!

Cheri and John

Black Striped Wallaby

Cradle Mountain

Wombat

Wombat

Wombat

Tuesday - August 13, 2013 - Time to game drive!

Finally!  We are headed for the bush and our reunion with Dani and Marius du Preez!  We have been anticipating this reunion for a very long time!  Texting and emailing has been problematic, and we are hopeful they will be at the airstrip when we arrive on a Cessna from Dar.

Reunion!!!  Happiness is seeing dear friends and then sharing great adventures with them!!!

As usual with this dynamic foursome, we hit the ground running and started game driving immediately!  Lion, elephants, and more right out of the gate! 

That night we stayed at Sunset Mountain Lodge.  Great food, great staff, and great sunsets, but a bit tired facilities. 

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Puffins and Razorbills!!!

As Captain Andy talked about puffins and the inhabitants of Machias Seal Island, he was keeping a keen eye on the sea.  Before we knew it, he was saying, "OK, let's load the skiffs, but I still can't guarantee we can land!"  So we got on board and landed!

we had a quick briefing and then they took us to bird hides that allowed us to experience the birds from arms length!! WOW!!!

What a privilege to share an hour with these cute critters!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Utah - Feb 2012 - Day 6

Before the trip began, the weather was supposed to be clear and sunny each day.  So, we were planning to do some astro photography.  Now, here we were on Day 6 and we had seen no clear nights. Undeterred we still hoped for the one clear night.  We had read on the internet that one of the darkest skies in the US was in Natural Bridges; a Bortel Class 2 sky. 

On this day, it was snowy and the weather called for an all day snow.  Not to be deterred, we decided to drive through a blinding snow storm, for about 2 hours, to see Natural Bridges.  From this reconnaissance, we would determine if we would drive 2 hours and 20 minutes on Friday night to shoot the Milky Way.  At this time we still were not sure what time the Milky Way would rise.

As we neared Natural Bridges, remarkably, the sky was opening up.  However, once we arrived there was a full squall in progress.  About an inch of snow came down in a short space of time.  Cheri looked around the visitor center.  We decided to take a ride around the 9 mile loop even though it was snowing.

We struck off, and as we arrived at the first look out point, the skies started to clear!!  Cheri hopped out of the car and started shooting.  As we would continue around the loop the skies cleared to full blue!  There were three arches in the park and we intended to see them all.

Cheri hiked down to Owachomo Bridge and shot this HDR image.

On the way out of the park, John shot the Bear's Ears.

As we neared the Visitor Center, we decided to stop in one more time and look at their Dark Sky information.  This is when we met Gordon, the resident astronomer at Natural Bridges.  He was a great guy who willingly shared his passion for astronomy with us.  They had a "night sky" wheel on sale for $10.95.  This handy little device shows when the Milky Way and the constellations rise each day and night.  Armed with this and information about moon rise and set, we were able to plot a course for shooting the Milky Way, BUT only if the skies cooperated!!

We started the trek back as the skies closed in again!  How lucky were we to have blue sky?!  In Monticello we stopped for a pizza and chatted with the proprietor.  She suggested we stop into the lower part of Canyonlands to see Newspaper Rock on the way back.  So we did!  The light along the way was perfect and the deer were all around!

 Newspaper Rock was a place filled with Petroglyphs (see above).  They think it has been here for around 2000 years!!

Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Cheri and John

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