Amtrak, Colorado Plateau, the Grand Canyon, and CMC's...

<p>Awesome shots - thanks for sharing your trip. I love how the colourful equipment actually works as a part of the composition in many of the shots, but I think my favourite would be "playing frisbee..." - love that shot. I think you made great use of all your classics.</p>

<p>Doug--thanks for the tip on the Facebook page--what a visual treat!<br>

Glad you had such a great time.<br>

Thanks for sharing--you've shown us parts if the GC we'd never see otherwise.<br>

Paul</p>

<p>Louis, Donnie, Peter, Paul: thanks!</p>

<p>So many things aren't seen in the photos.... Bathing in the sediment-laden river, and though ending up clean, having a bit of sand on the skin. Razor blades, good for a couple dozen shaves here in Ohio on my face and scalp, were good for about 1.5 shaves in the Canyon. I gave up, didn't have enough blades to shave 17 days. Peeing in the river, while all solid human waste had to be packed out in a sealed box (former militiary ammo can). The animal life that would flit through camp: ravens, rattlesnakes, scorpions, frogs, hummingbirds, mice, bugs I can't even identify.... The incredible geology all around us: sedimentary layers uplifted, lava intrusions into the layers, places where a lava flow filled an entire former side canyon, water sculpting of so many rocks into beautiful shapes. The fear of the day's upcoming big rapids, and then the feeling of accomplishment at handling them well. The wonder and worry at which of my drawing / photo methods would survive the trip. The frustrations when things went wrong, as they will sometimes. The sharing and support of the rest of rest of the group, which hopefully I returned. Physical exhaustion at the end of each day, and sleeping so soundly as a result. The feeling that every day was an adventure ahead, and the joy at the end of the day at having deal with everything successfully. The simultaneous joy and sadness felt when we reached the boat ramp in Lake Mead, which was the end of our trip. Wanting a cold drink with ice, cellphone recetption, and a hot shower when hitting civilization again.... then being so amused when we hit Kingman, got to use toilets in a grocery store while buying fuel, and then ordering a slushy drink using a speaker at a Sonic drive-in.</p>

<p>It was quite a trip.</p>

<p>I have a few more pics to post... I'm going through the 30 rolls, had them processed, scanned, and printed; and finding the good stuff. Plan is for all the photogs that were on the trip to share their work with all group members.</p>

<p>Anyway, because this was a solo trip, I visited, and hiked in, places that have interested me for years, but that I usually couldn't get any travelling companions to visit due to hikes / temparature, etc.</p>

<p>One of those places was Petroglyphs National Monument, outside Albequerque NM. This photo is Rinconado Canyon. There, travellers for thousands of years have made drawings in the desert varnish on the rocks. The 3-mile hike is easy, flat, and the park pamphlet states that there are 700 drawings visible.</p><div></div>

<p>Later, outside Flagstaff, I rented a bicycle and rode out to Walnut Canyon. Walnut Canyon was settled about 1,000 years ago by cliff-dwellers fleeing the eruption of Sunset Crater outside Flagstaff, by ancestors of the Hopi. </p>

<p>The ride was tougher than expected. Mapquest said it was 7 miles to the place, but that was simply the entrance. The actual visitors' center was quite a bit farther. And all of this was uphill and downhill, at high elevation. I was overly ambitious and a little ignorant, and by the end of the day had ridden over 25 miles (instead of the planned 14), all at 7,000' elevation, bucking headwinds, riding uphill and downhill. I have a newfound respect for mountain bicyclists.</p>

<p>Once at Walnut Canyon, the hike takes many steps into the canyon, and then winds around among the dwellings. The two smart things I did that day were to take lots of water, and to shadow Bill Lee, a volunteer docent, on the trail. The trail had an intended direction, and Bill went the opposite way, intercepting tourists, and answering their questions. We had a deal - I could tag along as long and we could talk about the place, as long as I just sort of melted into the background when he was doing his job as docent. Great deal..! Walking with Bill made this one of the best visits to a park I've ever experienced. He told about history of the place, destruction of many of the sites by tourists in the early days of Western tourism, architecture of the sites, archeology in general, geology, local plants, and how and why he became a docent. Fantastic!</p>

<p>Here's Bill, in one of the cliff dwellings, doing his work, while I simply blend into the background.</p><div></div>

<p>In the Grand Canyon itself, there are numerous Indian ruins as well. This is Unkar Delta, a large delta that was settled / farmed by Native Americans approximately 1,000 years ago. The high ground of the delta is covered with the ruins of foundations of homes and outbuildings, and pottery shards. The rules concerning relics is we can pick them up if laying on the ground, we can touch them - but we are not to remove anything. We must put things back the way we found them, leaving them for future study.</p>

<p>What a great museum this is..!</p>

<p>I think its a testimony to your photos that when I see them I want to experience the places they show and momentarily make me forget that I want a Widelux... damn, I done gone and remembered myself that... ;)</p>

<p>Darn, the Unkar Delta photo didn't attach. Here it is....</p><div></div>

<p>One of the many little side canyons we hiked. Interestingly, if the side canyon had pools of water, the pools had tadpoles. That was a surprise because the Colorado River itself seems to be empty of fish, I guess because the water is cold year round now due to the dams.</p><div></div>

<p>And perhaps one last image, this one from my Olympus XA but cropped to delete uninteresting space - the most comfy / cozy land-based campsite I had. This was around Night #5, at a place called Randy's Rock. The sedimentary layers of rock had framented into ledges and in places, overhangs. The overhangs had mice scampering through the nooks and crannies to check us out, but they tended to run away if we got close, so I put my cot under one of the ground-level overhangs. Some of my companions warned me it would be hot, there would be spiders and such.... Perhaps. But we'd had cool nights, and I figured the rocks would give back the heat collected during the day, and if it rained (it looked like it might), I'd be fine.</p>

<p>Plan worked perfectly - best night of sleep I had while on land! There were only a few drops of rain, but... the temperature in my little alcove was nearly perfect for sleeping. Was careful not to get up quickly in the morning, though - not much room above me.</p>

<p>One of the women didn't like the alcove idea, because while she was away doing something, a mouse had gotten on her cot, and instead of shooing it away, several of the men took photos of it. Was a cute little thing, but she didn't think so.</p><div></div>

<p>Doug, Excellent! The panoramic photos are incredibly interesting. I'm glad to see you had a great adventure after careful preparations with the camera gear. You did a fine job with your photos and your descriptive commentaries. Seems you have more than enough material to do a book or some detailed chronicle of the trip. </p>

<p>Great narrative and wonderful photos, Doug!</p>

<p>Thanks, David and Mark.</p>

<p>David - the subject has been done to death in books. I've read many of them, in preparation for my trip. Some very experienced geologists and raft guides have written volumes, and the funniest book (titled: We swam the Grand Canyon) was two surfers from California who swam the 280 miles from Lee's Ferry to Pierce Ferry in the 1950s. </p>

<p>So a book is not worth the trouble, but what I will likely do is put together a presentation for local libraries and interested groups here in NW Ohio and SE Michigan. I've got photos, drawings, and good notes / records. I've done public speaking before, on subjects I know well that are interesting, and this meets those criteria.</p>

<p>To me, the unique angle is simply that I didn't know how to row a raft when I climbed into one at the start, and learned on the fly with the help of experienced people. But I think to people who would attend a presentation, it would be the geology and the history and the photos and the rapids.... My fears about learning to raft probably wouldn't matter much.</p>

<p>I did accidentally irritate one or more of the kayakers, after Lava Falls, when I said out loud "It really wouldn't be a bad rapid if I was in a boat that could turn; it would be easy in my kayak." It's way too big to be easy.... was one of those things where I should have just thought to myself instead of speaking out loud. :)</p>

<p>Ahh, what a great place, with very colourful photos as well, thanks for sharing these! I have rafted the Snowy river here in Australia, quite a bit narrower than your river, but full of rapids...yep, and I know about those reversals!</p>

<p>Thanks for adding me on FB, Doug. <br>

Another great way to get started this morning, More photos and more narative of your fantastic trip.</p>

 

<p>You're welcome, Rick. I only put the film photos on here - drawings and digital images aren't in keeping with the purpose of this forum, and that's OK.</p>

<p>There were several very good photographers on the trip, all with different kinds of gear, and ways of seeing. And we all agreed to share what we shot with the group; the most experienced photo / video editor is making the choices of what will go into the final CD / DVD which will go to everybody. So I'll be sending him my digital images, my scanned film images, and scans of the drawings that I made as well. Oh, and video. So the final CD / DVD that each member of the party will get, will have all kinds of creativity in it.</p>

<p>John, the editor, is extremely skilled photographer. He was shooting star scenes at night, of the Milky Way and such - beautiful work. Everybody else was using modern dSLRs (with big zooms for river action, to shoot each other in rapids) and submersible point-n-shoots, with extra batteries. Since my gear and its capabilities was... different .... I took mostly panoramics - both landscape panos and in-camp panos.</p>

<p>I think the combined result of everybody's work will be wonderful. My skills weren't superior to others on the trip; all the photographers were good.</p>

<p>Wow! Amazing photos and story, Doug! Ever since you posted your first pictures while you were on your trip, I was waiting to see how it went. That definitely sounds like an adventure, something you'd remember for the rest of your life. While I was reading your story and looking at your pictures, it seemed like the theme song to National Geographic should have been playing!<br>

Very cool!</p>

 

<p>Thanks, Chris! I agree 100% it was very special... Not sure I agree it's once in a lifetime. The veterans on the trip had between 6-15 Canyon boating trips apiece in their past. And now that I can oar a raft competently (perhaps even well), combined with my kayaking and swiftwater rescue training, plus have one Canyon trip under my own belt, I'm a more desirable candidate for future trips.</p>

<p>I hope to go there again someday.</p>

<p>Another Widelux photo, of two parties assembled at the put-in at Lee's Ferry. This should give you some idea of where the 5 tons of gear went....</p><div></div>

<p>My baby being born.... I mean my raft being assembled, at the put-in.</p><div></div>

<p>And finally, the process in reverse, at the takeout.</p>

<p>I mentioned the trip was strenuous, and that everything had some wear and tear from the experience, even me.... That statement includes my Widelux. If you look at this final photo, there's evidence of mild banding in the blue sky. This is at 1/125 and F11 (almost every shot in the Canyon was at that setting), so I guess it's time for a CLA. If I recall correctly, Bob Watkins in Chicago worked on it last, in 2006. Time to look him up again...</p><div></div>

<p>One last post on this subject - one of the other photographers, a very talented photographer named John Neibling, put together a quick video using footage from a helmet cam. John's photos of the Milky Way from the bottom of the Canyon are incredible... Anyway, this video is a pretty neat cross-section of what a Grand Canyon whitewater trip is like, as far as the whitewater part goes. At 3:30 he gets flipped (and rolls) in a rapid, and at 9:50 he's a passenger on my raft, recording, when the raft goes vertical on a big wave.</p>

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<p>OooooH.....<br>

I love this. I was <em>en vacance</em> in Civil War Virginia and missed the start of this.<br>

Bravo.</p>

<p>Thanks, JDM. Glad you enjoyed! It was the most fantastic vacation I've ever taken; the only limits were my own. I found them - I'm not the hiker that some other group members were. Group members are putting their best photos together, and sharing with other members of the group. So the members with modern dSLRs and zooms, who photographed the boats running rapids, will chip those shots into the pot. My Widelux photos will definitely go in, as well as my more conventional photos, plus I drew about 100 sketches of scenes / scenery / action while in the Canyon. So all members will end up with tons of photos, videos, drawings - and memories.</p>

<p>I don't think we'll have missed anything, compared to a commercial trip. :):) Sure had great people in that group. I'm still coming back to reality now, 12 days after getting off the river.</p>

<p>Jeez Doug, what a fantastic post. Seems like a trip of a lifetime.</p>

<p>Thanks, Rob & Les! I'd read a lot about Lava Falls ahead of time, and until you've done it you have no way of knowing if all the hype is hype, or reality. Lava Falls is *big*.</p>

<p>The feet are mine. That's "my" raft. The last day, we had to make 30 miles by 2:00 PM to rendezvous with our ride out. It was all flatwater, with a 5 MPH current, so the kayaks were tied on each raft and everybody took turns rowing, so that we could just keep moving constantly. </p>

<p>The Widelux has such a wide angle, and my raft didn't have seats for passengers, so all I could do was lay on the luggage in the bow (drybags of camping gear), and shoot. The viewfinder of the Widelux doesn't show as much as what will actually be in the photo, so things turn up in photos that the shooter didn't see.</p>