The Traveller

Twelve Legs, October 2006

For our second anniversary, Abby and I gathered our dogs, Chihuahuas Sierra and Max, for a trip to Utah. Our driving day, straight through to Monticello, Utah, was about 16 hours, but we had fun, and the dogs did just fine in our laps. By the time we arrived, it was cold in Monticello. We stayed in the Navajo Trail motel, which we liked very much.

Chihuahuas Sierra and Max on the road

Day 2…

•Beautiful, blue-sky day for us.

•Hiked with the dogs to Butler Wash ruins and Natural Bridge, where they minded well and seemed to have a great time.

With Max and Sierra at Butler Wash

Abby and Sierra, Butler Wash

•Drove to Muley Point overlooking the San Juan River, where we left the dogs in the car and scouted around for a few minutes.

Abby explores Muley Point

View from Muley Point looking south

•Stopped briefly at the Mokee Dugway, the steep gravel highway leading up Cedar Mesa from far southern Utah, that we visited in 2003 on the High Road. We were amazed at the number of stickers that had accumulated on the sign in the three and a half years since our last visit.

Signs at Mokee Dugway, 2003 and 2006

•Once down the Dugway, we took the Valley of the Gods road, which leads across an expanse of desert punctuated with pinnacles, washes, boulder fields, and one small campground. The sky was beautiful.

Abby’s image in the heart of Valley of the Gods

•Wonderful dinner together in Monticello at M D Ranch Cookhouse.

M D Ranch Cookhouse

Day 3…

•We left to dogs nested in our room in Monticello and took the guided tour of the Monument Valley Tribal Park. The entrance is just north of the Utah-Arizona state line, but the tour resides inside Arizona. The tour was $50 for each of us, and Abby and I strongly recommend it. Our guide, one of dozens of loosely-organized Navajo Tribe members, took us and a German couple through the park to four impressive natural arches. In the process, he told us stories of the land and its features, and at one point even sang a chant for us. His vehicle was an ancient Ford pickup with benches mounted on the bed for us to ride, covered with a rickety awning, all held together by duct tape.

Abby photographs Monument Valley

Guide and his truck

At “Big Hogan” arch

•Abby liked our tour guide so much, especially his singing, that she tipped him $20.

Day 4…

•Abby took the day off to crochet and nap with the dogs, so I took the Hart’s Draw Road from Monticello to the Needles District of Canyonlands. I saw lots of deer, hunters, snow and Aspens.

Mule Deer, Hart’s Draw Road

•Hiked from the Squaw Flat trail head to Lost Canyon, then south until there were too many wet crossings, so I turned back.

Bench south of Squaw Flat

•Made the Squaw Canyon-Big Spring Canyon loop, which connects at the southern end in a steep, spectacular bench and cliff complex that was some of the best hiking I’ve done in the park.

Near the top where Squaw and Big Spring canyons join

Day 5…

•It was a very odd weather day, so we decided against hiking to Delicate Arch. We heard a ranger on the scanner report hail at the Fiery Furnace trail head in Arches.

•Instead we drove out onto Hatch Point and had a look at the Anticline Overlook. We both had a great time shooting in some very complex light and a chilly breeze.

At the Anticline Overlook

Abby, Anticline Overlook

•On the way back to our motel, we ran into some very beautiful and surprising blowing snow in the Monticello area.

Monticello snow

•A simply great time with my wife.

Day 6…

•Cold, snowy morning; a perfect end for this trip to Utah.

Sunrise over the Abajo Mountains, Monticello, Utah

See the Twelve Legs galleries at richardbarron.net HERE.

The Point, June 2006

This is my first vacation with just our son Mitchell and me.

Day 1…

•16 hours on the road with Mitchell went well. We miss Abby, but we are happy to be in Monticello, Utah.

Abajo Mountains at Sunset

Day 2…

•Started at the Elephant Hill trail head in Canyonlands National Park, with the intent of just hiking in a mile or two. I wanted to show Mitchell a sample of the beauty of Canyonlands. By the time we made it to Elephant Canyon, he decided he would go all the way to Chesler Park. During the entire 5.2-mile round trip, we only saw nine other people.

Mitchell hiking in Chesler Park, Canyonlands

•In late afternoon, we hiked the short trail to Butler Wash on Cedar Mesa, to a view of native ruins and a handsome natural bridge.

At Natural Bridge, Butler Wash

Day 3…

•It was record-breaking hot today, but we were still able to take a couple of very nice hikes.

•In the morning we drove to Moab, Utah, had some breakfast, then took the Potash Mine Road to the Jug Handle Arch.

Sign at Jug Handle Arch near Moab, Utah

•Hiked to Corona Arch, which is in the same vicinity as the Jug Handle. The trail is very similar to the Delicate Arch Trail, both in elevation increase and length, as well as character and difficulty. Aside from a grip cable along one piece of steep slickrock bench, and a few mokee steps, and one ladder, it is not difficult. Corona Arch is beautiful, huge and impressive.

Mitchell ascends ladder, Corona Arch Trail

Corona Arch, with Mitchell underneath

Corona Arch, Far Side

•Later in the day, a park ranger told me that anywhere else in the country, Corona Arch would be park of a national park.

•During the hottest part of the day, we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park just for something to do.

With Mitchell at Dead Horse Point

•Later in the afternoon at Arches National Park, we made the loop between Sand Dune Arch, Tapestry Arch, and Broken Arch. It ended up being a pretty fun little hike.

Mitchell climbs near Sand Dune Arch

Day 4…

•Hiked in Cedar Mesa to a native ruin in Mule Canyon called the “House on Fire.” It was a mile to the ruin, but we never saw anyone else on the trail.

Mitchell at the “House on Fire” ruin

•The heat continued, so after lunch we toured the Edge of the Cedars State Park in Blanding, Utah. It was fun and interesting, and worked out perfectly, since it thunderstormed twice in the afternoon.

Mitchell at Edge of the Cedars

Day 5 and 6…

•These driving days included a quick stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was too windy and rainy to do much, but we definitely want to come back some day. We also stopped and photographed some really cool roadside sites, including a very complex roadside grotto.

Grotto at La Veta, Colorado

•I was glad I was able to bring Mitchell to see Capulin Volcano National Monument, if for no other reason than so he could see the ladybug migration.

Ladybug migration, Capulin Volcano

Mitchell at Capulin Volcano

See The Point galleries at richardbarron.net HERE.

Jornada del Muerto, March 2006

The Great Gallery

Day 1…

•Drove to my usual first night stop, Farmington, New Mexico. Generally speaking, this 11-hour drive is beautiful and interesting, but uses divided highways, so it is more of a utility drive. With radio and CDs, plus frequent phone calls to my wife and friends, the time slides by.

Day 2…

•Drove from Farmington northwest, shooting along the way.

Bridge over Glen Canyon, Utah

•Arrived at the Horseshoe Canyon detachment of Canyonlands National Park by 1 pm. The 3.5-mile hike down and into Horseshoe Canyon is beautiful. There are pictograph panels all along the bottom of the canyon, culminating in the Great Gallery, an icon of the ancestral Puebloans. The largest figures depicted at the Great Gallery are present in a scene at the beginning of the film Koyaanisqatsi, the title of which is a Hopi Indian word meaning “life out of balance.”

Figures at the Great Gallery

At the Great Gallery, Horseshoe Canyon

Day 3…

•It rained in the San Rafael Swell, where I had hoped to hike, so instead I drove to Capitol Reef National Park, making some decent images along the way.

Abandoned stone building, Utah highway 24

Abandoned cement mixer, Utah highway 24

Formation near Factory Butte, Utah

•Mostly drove and scouted at Capitol Reef

Day 4…

•Rain almost continuous in the morning. A spot of sunshine tempted me out in the afternoon, so I drove to Sego Canyon near Thompson Springs, Utah, a fairly deserted settlement.

Downtown Thompson Springs

•In the process of searching for the Sego Canyon petroglyphs, I managed to get my car stuck in some surprisingly slick, deep mud on a road that looked drivable. After several tries and giving up once, and with my shoes covered in an inch of filth, I coaxed my car out of the mire. It turned out I had overshot the petroglyphs, and they were on the paved road I had left behind.

Sego Canyon Petroglyphs

Day 5…

•Up before dawn and out the door in Green River, Utah, in time to shoot a lovely sunrise at the Book Cliffs north of town.

Sunrise and fog, Book Cliffs

•Perfect weather and excellent hiking at Capitol Reef. I started the day with Hickman Bridge, an impressive natural arch at the end of a short spur trail.

Hickman Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park

•Beyond the spur trail was the Rim Overlook Trail, which led to excellent views from the top of the park.

On the Rim Overlook Trail

•For some of the afternoon, I hiked the Grand Wash Trail, and though it was interesting and scenic, I found it fairly unchallenging.

The Narrows of Grand Wash

•After making mental notes of all the rest of Capitol Reef I want to visit, I took the long way back to Green River, through a mountain pass in the Fishlake National Forest, which took me above the 8000-foot snow line, then across the San Rafael Swell on I-70.

Snow Field, Fishlake National Forest, Utah

Ghost Rock, San Rafael Swell, Utah

Day 6…

•Mostly a driving day, making my way from Green River, Utah, to Socorro, New Mexico. I was able to make a few neat images along the way, and I finished the day at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument near Mountainair, New Mexico just before sundown.

Abó Ruin

Last light, US 60, central New Mexico

Day 7…

•Up early in Socorro.

• The Trinity Site is where the first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29 a.m. Mountain War Time, July 16, 1945. In the middle of the forbidding Jornada del Muerto desert and the White Sands Missile Range, the 51,500-acre area was declared a national historic landmark in 1975. The Site is open only on the first Saturday in April and the first Saturday in October. No reservations are required, but I would urge visitors to arrive early - there was a surprisingly large contingent of tourists waiting at the Stallion Gate on the north end of the WSMR when it opened at 8 a. m.

Replica of the first atomic bomb

Ground Zero Marker

•In the afternoon, I had a great time hiking around at White Sands. The wind was up, so I didn’t shoot a lot, but it was a nice, relaxing last day of my vacation.

Sand and Sky, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

See the Jornada del Muerto gallery at richardbarron.net HERE.

Llano Estacado, November 2005

With Abby sick, though better, I wanted somewhere to hike that was less than a day away from home. I decided to revisit Caprock Canyons State Park and Palo Duro State Park in northwest Texas, camp a couple of nights, and see what developed.

West Texas Sunrise

Since this was something of a whirlwind trip, I chose not to write about it day by day, but to summarize the entire three days in the wild.

•Shot well on my drive, then set up camp at Caprock, this time in the Little Red tent camping area.

Reshoot, Leaning Tower of Brittain

•Hiked the surprisingly rugged Haynes Ridge Overlook Trail.

View from Haynes Overlook

•My campsite faces west. At night I can hear coyotes, like when we camped at Chaco. Midnight at Caprock: the moon, crescent, and a bright star set in front of me. Above, all the stars there are. Behind me, the flickering orange of my camp fire. It is breezy and warm, and I don’t need my camp coat. It is a good night on the llano estacado.

•I hiked so much in the last 24 hours that it seems like I have been here a week.

•The wind is insane in my tent at night. It keeps me awake with the flapping of my tent, and blows sand in through the rain fly.

•Trails I hiked: Canyon Loop, Eagle Point, Lower Canyon, Upper Canyon, and Haynes Overlook.

Upper Canyon

Natural Arch, Lower Canyon

•After breaking camp, I drove to Palo Duro Canyon nearby and hiked to the Lighthouse.

Lighthouse, Palo Duro Canyon

See the Llano Estacado gallery at richardbarron.net HERE.