Touring the Wild, Wild West

A cliff dwelling?

Cliffs, Canyons, and Cliff Dwellers 

Turning east on U.S. Highway 89A at Jacob Lake, Arizona, we soon found ourselves traveling alongside a seemingly interminable, high, red, craggy escarpment on our left. The Vermillion Cliffs, so named because of the high percentage of iron oxide in the stone, were designated a national monument in 2000. 

The Vermillion Cliffs

 

The site is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The monument is said to have a large number of rock art sites (petroglyphs), although to be honest, we did not stop and look for them. 

Blanche Russel's Cliff Dwelling.

About an hour from Jacob Lake, after many stops to take pictures of the cliffs, we rounded a curve and came upon one of the strangest sights of our travels so far -- a small collection of crude rock buildings built into and around immense boulders that had fallen from the cliffs above. We had stumbled upon the Cliff Dwellers Lodge: Blanche Russell's rock houses.

Complete with chimney.

In 1927, Blanche Russell and her husband Bill decided to take an automobile tour of the southwest in hope that the clean, dry air would cure Bill's tuberculosis. Their car broke down at this valley of immense, oddly-shaped boulders that had fallen from the cliffs above. Not having cell phones and emergency road service, they made themselves a shelter from old planks and tarpaper and settled in for the night.  

An interior room. Hot and cold running scorpions.

In the following days, Blanche and Bill became so enamored with the desert scenery, the clear skies and clean air, and the solitude that they decided to stay right there. They bought the land and actually opened a restaurant, and later, a trading post. They were there for ten years before moving on and selling the place to a rancher named Jack Church, who turned the restaurant into a bar. 

An ice cream cone, perhaps?

Nine miles farther along from the Cliff Dwellers Lodge is the Navaho Bridge, which spans Marble Canyon at a height of 467 feet above the Colorado River, making it the ninth highest bridge in the United States. We stopped at the bridge for a few minutes and made pictures (of course), then headed south on U.S. 89A and 89 for Flagstaff, about 130 miles away, traveling through Navaho territory most of the way. 

The Navaho Bridge and the Vermillion Cliffs.

 

467 feet above the Colorado River.

We decided not to visit the much more crowded and touristy South Rim of the Grand Canyon on this trip. Maybe next time.

In Flagstaff we merged onto Interstate 40 East and began the long slog home. But not without a few more adventures.

Fuji X-T20, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII and XC 50-230mm f4.8-6.3 OIS lenses.

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts?

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020) 

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone

Touring the Wild, Wild West

Aspen and Douglas firs photographed on film with my Minolta twin-lens reflex.

Green and Gold on the Kaibab Plateau

It was 25 degrees when we woke up the next morning -- a fine, late-September morning at 8,800 feet of altitude on Arizona's Kaibab Plateau. The sun was bright, the air was sparkling clear, and it didn't feel anything like that cold as I went out to make some photographs of the aspen and Douglas fir that framed our campground. 

DeMotte Campground is hidden in this forest of aspen and Douglas fir.

 

The photograph at the top of this post was shot on film; the other three are digital.

I don't shoot much film these days for two reasons: the cost of film and processing; and the time required to scan the film. But this morning, inspired by the gold of the aspen and the deep green of the fir, not to mention the intense blue of the sky, I took along my Minolta Autocord twin-lens reflex loaded with Fujichrome RDPII 100 film. I also took my Fuji X-T20 digital camera. I have to say that the digital photographs are actually sharper than the medium format film, although you won't be able to tell that from blog-sized photos. Even so, I prefer the film shot. Which do you like? 

We had planned to go back to the North Rim this morning, but decided there was really nothing else for us to see unless we wanted to hike, which we didn't. The haze in the canyon from distant forest fires also dampened our enthusiasm. We hope to come back when conditions are more favorable. So we took our pictures of the aspen and fir, hooked up our trailer, drove back north to Jacob lake, and turned onto U.S. 89A, passing through some very interesting country (more about that next time) on our way toward Flagstaff.

(You have probably caught on by this time that we liked DeMotte Campground very much in spite of its lack of amenities.)

Digital photographs made with Fuji X-T20 camera, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII and XC 50-230mm f4.8-6.3 OIS lenses.

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts? 

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020) 

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone

 

 

 

 

Touring the Wild, Wild West

The Grand Canyon. Looking downriver from Bright Angel Point.

 

The Grand Canyon 

The next morning, September 26, Louise and I set off down U.S. Highway 89 for the Grand Canyon, a trip of about a hundred miles. At Jacob Lake, Arizona, we turned onto Highway 67 and drove south 25 miles to Demotte Campground, a National Forest Service facility about seven miles from the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim. (It's about 20 miles further to the Visitor's Center at the North Rim.)

DeMotte Campground is in a beautiful location at an altitude of 8,800 feet on the Kaibab Plateau, a large and high plateau (up to 9,200 feet) which forms the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which, by the way, is 2,000 feet higher than the South Rim. Set in a forest of aspens and Douglas firs, the campground has no hookups for RVs, but at $10 per night, the price is right. We soon had our trailer parked and set off for the canyon. 

The Grand Canyon. Looking upriver.

Everything you've heard about the Grand Canyon is true. It is an awe-inspiring sight. We parked at the Visitor's Center and walked to the Bright Angel Point overlook, then drove the roads around the rim for other views. The only problem was that because of forest fires at many places around the southwest that fall, the air was hazy with smoke. I processed my photographs for maximum clarity, but Capture One and Photoshop can only do so much. They are in no way as good as they could have been if the day had been clear.

Grand Canyon scenes.

All photos made with Fuji X-T20 camera, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII lens  

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts? 

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020)

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone

Touring the Wild, Wild West

A small waterfall just below the point where the canyon narrows.

(Photo by Louise with her Olympus S7010 point-and-shoot)

 

Zion National Park

After spending the  morning at Bryce Canyon we drove back south past our campground to Mt. Carmel Junction and turned west on Utah State Route 9 for the 13-mile drive to the entrance to Zion National Park, which many people had told us is a “do-not-miss” site.

Zion Canyon and the north fork of the Virgin River.

Traffic was heavy and slow as we descended to the floor of Zion Canyon, which is 2,640 feed deep at its deepest point. We eventually arrived at the Visitor’s Center and parking area at the bottom of the canyon although I'm not sure that was its deepest point, and took a tour bus that followed the north fork of the Virgin River to the point where the canyon became too narrow for anyone but hikers. 

The Virgin River, at the point where the canyon narrows.

 

For a photographer -- at least this photographer, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, the Grand Canyon -- are frustrating. They are beautiful and awe-inspiring and altogether too much to explore and experience in a limited time. Perhaps if I had a few weeks in each place, could hike the trails and be there for the early and late light every day, I could work my way through the photo-clichés and make a few photographs which genuinely capture the spirit of each place. But that was not going to happen on this trip, the primary purpose of which was to see as much country as possible in a brief trip.

I think this one is called "The Great White Throne."

 

My wife is remarkably patient with the time I spend on photography and I get some good pictures when we are traveling together. It's easier to concentrate on photography when traveling alone, but traveling without Louise isn't all that much fun!. Best of all is when we're working together on projects, such as the trips  to eastern and western Europe in 1990.

So we saw the sights, made some photos (Louise made a picture of a little waterfall on the Virgin River that I especially like), and caught the bus back to the Visitor's Center. The canyon is a really beautiful place, especially in its upper reaches, but I wouldn't want to be there if there were a cloudburst upstream.

Wave Rock formations. I especially like the overlapping waves.

 

Coming out of the canyon, I saw and photographed some formations called Wave Rocks that I thought were especially interesting.

We got back to Mt. Carmel Junction in time to find a good restaurant open and had a really good supper before going back to our campground and turning in.

All photos except Louise's with Fuji X-T20, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII lens.

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts?

(Photographs copyright David and Louise Jenkins 2020)

Soli Gloria Deo 

To the glory of God alone

Touring the Wild, Wild West

Formations in Bryce Canyon, as seen from Sunset Point

 Bryce Canyon National Park 

The next morning we backtracked north on U.S. 89 to the intersection with Utah State Route 12 and turned east to Bryce Canyon National Park. Nothing much can be said that hasn’t already been said countless times about the remarkable rock formations in the park; likewise countless photographs have been made that are more or less identical. Mine are by no means exceptional, but I enjoyed making them anyway. 

The rock formations, by the way, are called hoodoos, like those in the Valley of the Goblins. They have been created by erosion over many years.  Ice freezing and expanding in the cracks of the rocks is largely responsible for their distinctive shapes. 

We were fortunate to arrive when we did, as the morning sun provided a three-quarters backlight that projected the shapes of the hoodoos in sharp relief.

As I said, these photos are by no means exceptional, but I enjoyed making them. (All from jpegs, by the way.)

Fuji X-T1 and X-T20 cameras, Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OISII and XC 50-230mm f4.8-6.3 OIS lenses

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts?

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020) 

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone

 

Touring the Wild, Wild West

Boyhood home of legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy

 

A Delightful Day

After a not-very-restful night at the Flying J truck stop, made even less so by the fact that we were parked as far as we could get, but still not very far, from an Arby’s all-night drive-through, there did not seem to be much incentive to lie abed when morning light came. We ate quickly, raised the trailer’s stabilizers, checked the hitch and the tires and headed south on U.S. Highway 89 in beautiful, clear morning light.

After the previous day’s  misadventures on Temple Mountain, we decided to give ourselves an easy day. U.S. 89 goes through some gorgeous country on its way past Bryce Canyon and on to Zion National Park, and we even found a few pleasant surprises along the way. 

An hour's easy drive found us in Junction, Utah. Since we needed a few things, we stopped at the Junction General Store. It looks small from the front, but the building is very deep and the selection of products available would make Wal-Mart blush with envy. Even better, next door was a two-story Victorian house with an ice cream shop behind its white picket fence. 

We were still slurping our ice cream cones as we came to Circleville, six miles south of Junction, and found a small log house behind a large parking lot just south of town. Turns out it was the boyhood home of the notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy, sidekick of the infamous Sundance Kid.

1959 Edsel. Both photos Fuji X-Pro1, Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 lens

Moving on down the road to another little town, I found another of my interests: abandoned cars. In this case, a 1959 Edsel. I have a special affinity for Edsels, because Louise's mother drove one for years. When we first started dating I didn't have a car, so some of our first dates were in that car. Second on my list of book projects behind Lost Barns of Rock City is Found on Road Dead: An Anthology of Abandoned Automobiles. I already have enough old cars to do the book, but I didn't have an Edsel, so I was glad to find this one.

In mid-afternoon we found a pleasantly situated campground about two miles north of Mt. Carmel Junction, where the road turns off to Zion National Park, and parked our trailer in a shady spot. As we were finishing our set-up and Louise was making friends with the people in the next space, a young couple from Canada drove into the empty space on the other side, pulling a travel trailer that was at least 25 feet long with a Volkswagen Toureg, a smallish SUV. "You can't do that!" I said. "You can't pull a trailer that big with a car that small!"

"Of course I can," he replied. "It's a diesel. It has 332 foot-pounds of torque."

That shut me up. My full-size Chevy pickup with a gasoline V8 engine only generates 296 foot-pounds of torque.

All in all a delightful day. 

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts? 

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2020) 

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone

We Interrupt This Program. . .

Clearing storm, Lookout Mountain

 

Circumstances finally caught up with me. We have been working every day from can to can't, as we say in the South, to get our house and property ready to sell. So far, I've been able to steal enough time to write blog posts, but not today. The realtor is coming at ten o'clock tomorrow morning to finalize things and our listing will go live.

The next post in the Touring the Wild, Wild West series is about half written, but I just didn't have time to finish it. It will be posted on Friday. Meanwhile, I'll give you one of my favorite pictures to look at. This was taken just south of Flintstone, Georgia on GA Highway 193. The camera was a Canon EOS A2, the film was Fujichrome 100D, my all-time favorite film, and the lens was the original Canon 80-200 f2.8L "Magic Drainpipe," one of my all time favorite lenses.

(That's three "favorites," in case you weren't counting: favorite photo, favorite film, favorite lens.}

Blog Note: I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at alifeinphotography.blogspot.com. I'm trying to build up my readership, so if you're reading this on Facebook and like what I write, would you please consider sharing my posts?

(Photograph copyright David B. Jenkins 2020)

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone