Utah

Climbing in Moab.

Last year I wrote a post entitled action Jackson where I wrote about the amazing range of outdoor recreation activities easily accessible in Jackson, Wyoming and the Grand Tetons. The same can be said for Moab, Utah as well.

Everyone is familiar with the mountain biking and jeeping in the area, but there is also great climbing and bouldering. With the Colorado River flowing through town, you can canoe or kayak calm water, or raft and kayak big white water. There are numerous hiking trails. Canyons to be explored – well you get the idea.

See more Moab, Utah photos.

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Rock Art, Moab, Utah.

There is an amazing variety of Native American Rock Art in the Moab, Utah area – some of it is really fascinating. You could spend an entire visit just checking out rock art locations.

I’m trying to use my down time in Vegas to caption and edit images – it is cheaper then the alternative activities.

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Turret Arch through North Window, Arches National Park.

After fighting the crowds at Delicate Arch, we decided to get to this location an hour before sunrise to be sure to have the what I thought was the ideal location. 

We enjoyed a half hour of quiet darkeness, then a half hour of beautiful pre sunrise glow, and finally the first light of day, and never saw or heard another person.  Only the sound of two ravens flying through the opening – when compared to silience, it is surprising how much noise thier wings can make.  This was definitely the best morning of the trip!

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Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah.

This is a little different perspective of this frequently visited and photographed arch. This isn’t a better perspective, except that we were all alone – a long way from the large crowd gathered at the end of the trail head. A crowd that actually began to yell at each other as they “ruined” each others photos – it really tainted what should have been a wonderful evening. [click to continue…]

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False Kiva, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

This amazing location is kept fairly quite by the Park Service, as it is tucked away under a beautiful alcove on an un-marked trail. It isn’t really a Kiva (site for religious rituals), but it is a historic native American site. [click to continue…]

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Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, Utah.

Having a few clouds in the sky caught me be surprised Saturday night, as it has been a fairly rare event while here in Moab. I gotta say, a colorful sky was a treat, and Balanced Rock seemed like an ideal subject for such a sky.

Check out the rest of our Arches National Park photos.

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The Needles, Canyonlands National Park, near Moab, Utah.

The open area in the middle of this scene is know as Chesler Park.

We spent 3.5 hours yesterday flying around Southeastern Utah. All I can say is wow! Everywhere I looked there were fascinating places just waiting to be explored – slot canyons, alcoves, buttes and so much more – just cool stuff everywhere.

The Needles District really stood out. I would love to spend some time exploring this fascinating region.

Check out more of our Canyonlands National Park photos.

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Mountain Biking Moab

We we were riding back to the parking lot after a great evening of riding and photographing on the famous Slick Rock Trial, when I noticed a wonderful sunset glow to the west. I wanted to find a nice ridge where I could have Janine sillouteed against the skyline. When I saw this rock, I knew I had the perfect place! [click to continue…]

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If you have followed our blog for long, you will know we really enjoy mountain biking. Well, since we are in the mountain biking capital of the U.S., you know we had to do some riding and photography – especially on the famous Slick Rock Trail!

We were out at sunset last night and came across a large group of young guys. The bravest of the group were taking turns descending this very steep section of slick rock, and didn’t mind if I did some photography. This guy had already descended successfully once, and decided to try an even steeper section. Well, as you can see he was already in trouble at the top. [click to continue…]

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Driving under a giant boulder on the Long Canyon Trail.

There are lots of places that will rent Jeeps for the day in Moab. The problem is, their day begins at 8:00, and end by 6:00. This doesn’t correspond with the photographer’s day.

We approaced a number of places about doing an over night rental, but places like Farbee’s were not interested unless you were willing to pay for two days, even though they had a yard full of un-rented jeeps. They would do two half day rentals, but that costs about as much as two days. [click to continue…]

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Dixie National Forest, Utah

This probably seems really out of place when compared to my recent posts from my Moab travels. I must admit, after spending time hiking and photographing in red rock country with temperatures in the low 80’s, standing in this snow storm yesterday did seem surreal. But wow, what a beautiful day! Some fall colors, nice steady falling snow, and no wind – a perfect combination. [click to continue…]

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Thelma Louise Point

This Colorado River viewpoint, down river of Moab, was made famous at the end of the movie Thelma and Louise.

This is Janine and I playing sick Thelma and Louise movie games with out rental jeep at that viewpoint! I gotta admit, even with a big boulder as a tire stop, and Janine guiding me, my palms got very sweaty just driving the jeep in place!

Here are more Moab, Utah photos.

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Colorado River and Red Rock near Moab, Utah

We rented a jeep over night to help explore some of the back country. The last two posts were from the evening, this one is from the next morning, about a half hour before sunrise.

I have some tips that can save a photographer some time and money when it comes to renting a jeep in Moab – I hope to share those in the next day or two.

Here are more Moab, Utah photos.

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Colorado River near Moab, Utah.

This was about a half hour after sunset. To give you an idea as to how dark it was, this exposure was for 20 seconds at f/8. I did others of this scene at 30 seconds.

I couldn’t believe the rich colors the digital camera was able to capture in such dark light. These images had richer colors, and a more even and pleasing illumination, then even the ones taken at last light. For this area, this just may be my new favorite time of day!

Take a look at more of our Utah photos.

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Turret Arch, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah

Fortunately the road to the Widows Section was reopened yesterday, so we visited the area last night. I liked the graphical nature of this scene. This is looking at a portion of the South Window arch through Turret Arch.

Here are more of his Arches National Park photos.

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Courthouse Towers, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah

We were on our way to the Windows Section of Arches National Park early this morning. Unfortunately, the area was closed for road work. I understand it opens this afternoon.

So we decided to head back towards the Courthouse Towers to look for opportunities. I hadn’t explored this area before, so trying to find an interesting foreground in the dark, with a little headlight was a challenge. I was very fortunate to stumbled upon this little pool. The pool saved the morning!

This was captured right at first light. I have a similar composition captured a half hour before first light that looks very different. Maybe I will post it one day.

Take a look at our Arches National Park pictures.

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Moab area waterfall

While we were driving around scouting today, I saw what appeared to be waterfall in the desert, coming out of the hills way across the valley. I pulled over and got out the binoculars – sure enough, it was a waterfall! What a treat!

I understand this is somewhat man made thanks to the diversion of a portion of a creek higher in the mountains, but it is still a really cool sight. I’m not sure if it always flows like this, or if this is due to the rains from the weekend.

Here are more Moab pictures.

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It was very cloudy and stormy this morning, but just a small bit of sun broke through the thick clouds and illuminated the tree I had in my foreground! It wasn’t the amazing sunrise I had envisioned in my head, but still pretty nice.

Here are more Dead Horse State Park Photos.

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Green River Overlook, Canyonlands National Park, near Moab, Utah.

Between flying and driving, it seemed to take a long time to get here – but now we are in Moab, Utah .

This was about an hour ago, it has been storming and raining hard all day, but it is still great to be back out and immersed in nature and photography in such a beautiful part of the world!

Take a look at more of our Canyonlands National Park pictures.

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