Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Zion National Park





Recently Cary and I drove to Zion National Park to take some photographs of the beautiful fall colors.  It was a long 8 hr drive but well worth it.  We took of Friday afternoon and got in late.  We slept in the car at the visitor's center(all the campsites were full).  In the morning we shot at the emerald pools, which is a short hike from the Zion Lodge, later we took the tram up to the Narrows.  The Narrows are awesome.  In the Narrows you are en golfed by huge walls and water ranging from your ankles to knees.  There are sand bars scattered about that makes walking easier at times.  The giant copper colored walls are spectacular.  We did alot of motion blur with the walls in the background.  Half the shots I took were in the water.  I was usually shin high with my tripod legs in the water.  At sunset we drove just outside the park and found trees with a wide variety of fall color leaves.  We planned to come back in the morning when the light we better.  That night we ate at a place in town called pizza and noodles ( or something close to that).  I do not recommend it, the burnt the hell out of my pizza.   That night the ranger told us about a free campground exactly 7 miles outside the park so we spent the night there.  The next morning we woke and shot until 10.  The colors were great just outside the park(at higher elevations).  From there we made the 8 hr treck back to Los Angeles.  After sifting through my photos of the trip I got about 3 or 4 winners.  None of my fall colored trees turned out well.  My favorite shot is a water blur from the Narrows.  I absolutely love the landscapes and fall colors of Utah. 

Good times!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Mt. Rainier - June '09 Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So it is set. I am climbing Mt. Rainier in early June  '09.  I will be climbing with my close friends Dave, Cary, and Katie.  I can't wait it should be a ton of fun.  I haven't climbed with a big group of friends before.  We are climbing the traditional Muir route.  We are climbing with RMI Guides.   I plan to start training in mid Nov.  It is easier for me to exercise when I am training towards a climb.  

Good times with good friends!

Note:  This is my first big climb out of state.   Do you think the airlines will let me carry on an ice axe?