Zion & Bryce Canyon with Matt & Ray, Day 4

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Photos this day at Zion National Park

This was another day that Ray decided to skip the sunrise shoot to fight an old cold bug on the favorable battleground between his sheets. Although the advantage of the 2-hour time difference was wearing off, Matt & I were up early enough to get to the parking lot of the museum before the sun. We were also well before the crowd of photogs that usually gathers here for a sunrise pano of the magnificent rock formations behind the museum. On most mornings there are tripods scattered all over the flatland that runs from the building to the beauty. This morning was particularly windy, limiting the number of participants by significantly lowering the temperature. There were only two young ladies there and they had a point-and-shoot sitting next to the bag of chips they were devouring, hardly any competition for the best spots.

Matt was all over collecting memory-card samples & I stayed mostly under the roof of the back portico, while only a few others came to shoot and go. There was one guy who came to stand in awe of the unfolding display of beauty on the West Temple, which he noticed as he was driving his family across SR9 on their way to Capital Reef National Park. "Awe-mazing," I said to him below the rock wall I was standing on. After some smiles of agreement he went back to his car to get his tripod.

After changing lenses a few times in the whipping wind I started noticing even more dust bunnies on my sensor. Some of these were far larger and thicker, and hence more noticeable, than what the informed Reader will have noticed from the photos of Bryce Canyon. I tried the prescribed quick methods to dislodge them several times, but started to resign myself to the fact that this was Matt & Ray's trip really and the dots in the sky will remind me of why I was there. Still, I called Barb to be sure the sensor cleaning tool I ordered before we left would be waiting for me when we returned. The little black dots of varying opacity are often easy enough to remove in Photoshop and other post processing programs, but it is time consuming, and I often ignore the process unless I'm printing.

Not only was the wind working against our efforts, but the sky was pretty much without character. The gallery shows only 8 photos from this session. All were taken with the Sony 24-70mm, and the sky was replaced in half of them. The last one was a shot of Matt & me reflected in the back window of our Jeep with a bit of the magic light shining on the mountains behind us. We headed back the 5 minutes to La Quinta to rouse Ray for our free breakfast.

When we finally found a table for our trays in the backroom of the breakfast area, we sat and talked about our plans for the day. Since they mostly consisted of riding the shuttle up and down Canyon Drive stopping to shoot when we felt like it, the conversation slowly turned to other things. Like how La Quinta would be on the list of places that serve free food and don't check for eligibility in the imagined book, National Parks on $5 a Day. We (or maybe it was just me complaining) noticed several renditions of the same (we weren't really sure it was a) photo hung around the room. It was of a parrot head and seemed out of place with its horendous fake colors, a different one chosen for each duplication. Earlier in the lobby we commented that La Quinta displayed the best photos of Zion we've ever seen –with a few exceptions from the local galleries, but these squares of parrot heads had to go. Another item we noticed in this backroom addition led us to suppose the parrot crap on the wall was hand-me-downs from a closing La Quinta on the west coast. Surfboards were stacked for the ready, but I never remember seeing anyone carry one into The Narrows.

Our first jump off the shuttle was The Court Of The Patriarchs, although I mentioned as we passed the junction stop to look toward the Virgin for a place for sunset. The 3 peaks named after 3 patriarchs from the bible might be best photographed from the hill vantage point just up from the shuttle stop, although I always like to take some time across the street. Matt made the short climb to the top to shoot, Ray & I stopped about half way up. After a few exposures we yelled up to Matt to take his time, and we'd meet him across the street.

There were flowers, cacti and water to shoot with the majestic stone beauty rising behind them. Ray, who is 27 years my senior, was someone I'd hoped might provide a good excuse as to why I didn't keep up with Matt who is 35 years my junior. So, in order to conserve on energy, I decided to stay close and not take the trail behind the patriarchs or head up river. Besides, there was still much to see up canyon. When Matt joined us he started following a turkey downstream, and I set up for a shot of a tree. By the time I looked up Ray was nearly 300 yards upstream –so much for my excuse. After spending some time shooting wildflowers while deciding whether or not to join him, Matt returned, took a few exposures and headed upstream. I stayed to talk with a guy who just got a new Canon and was out for a test drive. Eventually we were all back on the shuttle heading to The Zion Lodge stop.

When booking rooms for this trip a few months ago I checked with the lodge for availability, which was fruitless and silly because they are always booked way in advance. If you are staying at the lodge, the only place for such accommodations within the park, you can also drive along Canyon Drive, which is otherwise closed to all but shuttle buses and bikes from April through October. By the time we reached the lodge stop it was passed 11 o'clock and the morning wind was replaced by the heat of the dessert sun. Matt & I headed toward the Emerald Pools Trail and Ray went right. We got a few shots from the bridge after waiting some time for a moment without foot traffic jarring our tripods. We hiked a ways upstream and downstream from there and played with a 9-stop neutral density filter for awhile before heading back to see what Ray found. Eventually we made our way to the bus stop to fill up on water and noticed Ray waiting in the shade. Next stop: Weeping Rock.

Barb & I often come to Zion in November when Canyon Drive is open to all traffic. We can then stop anywhere we like to explore, and mostly the only people in the park are photographers glad that tourists won't be in their shots. One early morning I was the only human under Weeping Rock. I had just taken a shot off the left side along the rail and was carrying my tripod to the right side when I heard a thunderous crash behind me. I cautiously walked back, and looked down to see a huge slab of rock recently cracked and broken into its new resting place. I wondered if it would have made such a sound if I wasn't there.

Weeping Rock was our last stop up canyon in this session. Matt took the half-mile walk up to Weeping Rock and the crowd, and Ray and I headed across the street to the meadow. From there we tried a few shots of Angels Landing and the Great White Throne, but the light was too harsh to get anything good, although that doesn't stop me from filling the day's gallery with failures. After Matt returned and got his fill of the meadow light, we boarded the bus and headed back to the museum where we duplicated our morning shot on the back of the Jeep –this time with Ray, of course, photo 34.

The plan for the evening shoot didn't really count on sunset shots. We went back up canyon and the first photos from this trip indicate we started where we left off in the morning, Weeping Rock. The light on the Great White Throne was somewhat better, but the shadows creeping up from the bottom made exposure difficult. Before we were able to move on, however, Matt found another mule deer buck. We spent more than a half hour moving closer to it while shooting it. I only posted one photo, #37, taken with the SX50. My wide lenses were no match for the challenge, but those guys got some good shots.

We moved on to the Big Bend stop for the experience. The light was quickly fading this far into the canyon and we soon headed back down to the junction stop where I hoped to get down to the Virgin for some sunset shots of the side of The Watchman. By the time the shuttle stopped we were losing light so I jumped off and ran to the path to the river, slid down, ran to a vantage point for the mountain but couldn't find the shot I hoped to find, nor the colors in the sky that would make it special. I took one exposure upstream, photo 42, and the next one downstream, and ran to another spot still hoping for magic yet was disappointed by Nature's prestidigitation.

The troops were getting hungry and there was many places in town I wanted them to experience. We chose Wildcat Willie's, a place that Barb & I eat each visit. On our way in Matt was still in the shooting mode. I took a moon shot with the SX50 and Matt suggested photo 45 of the Wildcat Willie statue punching the moon. He got better ones, but I liked the idea.

There is a large gift shop attached to Willie's and those guys did some shopping while we waited for a table. Except for a gargoyle at Notre Dame earlier this year, I don't do the souvenir thing. Barb collects thimbles and I always get one for her, but other than that I just walked around talking to the tourists while Matt & Ray shopped. We had a great meal and celebrated our fun times on this wonderful trip. Tomorrow is our last day so we had to get back to La Quinta to pack.

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Photos

Museum Pano
Taken behind the museum in Zion NP

Matt, me & Ray
...the Jeep was a rental so gets no credit