IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Colorado National Monument
Thursday, February 9, 2012

I’ve wanted to photograph Monument Canyon filled with fog for a while now, and this morning I finally got my chance. As I was leaving my house to drive to work and noticed the heavy fog that filled the Grand Valley, I just couldn’t resist the conditions and drove up to the Colorado National Monument instead. I arrived up above the fog just in time to watch the sun rise over the Grand Mesa. It was a spectacular view and definitely worth missing a few hours of work.

When I first arrived, the fog was all the way down in the Grand Valley and Monument Canyon was free and clear of fog. Once the sun was up, the fog slowly crept out of the valley and into the canyon. It was an amazing experience!

I arrived at this viewpoint of Independence Monument just after the sun rose over the cliff in the distance. The fog was still down in the Grand Valley at this point.

Rising Sun by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The fog creeps into Monument Canyon while the early morning daylight strikes Independence Monument.

Island View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at Independence Monument as the fog surrounds it.

Monuments in Fog by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday & Sunday, February 4-5, 2012

It was a lazy weekend for me and I ended up not venturing very far from home. I did manage to get out for a few hours each day and take some photos and do a little exploring in my Jeep. Here’s a few photos I took over the weekend.

I was originally planning on heading down to The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park on Saturday, but as I was driving towards Moab I realized that I had forgotten my circular polarizers at home. They would have come in handy for photographing some new rock art sites I was looking for, so I decided to cancel that plan and make the trip another day. I continued driving to the Richardson Amphitheater and waited for sunrise. Unfortunately, there was not a cloud in the sky this morning.

Early morning sunlight strikes the Priest and Nuns formation near Castle Valley.

Priest and Nuns by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The sun strikes the red rock cliffs on the other side of the Colorado River.

Road & Fence by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Driving back towards the highway as the sunlight creeps down the cliffs and fills the valley.

Onion Creek Bench Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Moab Area Rock Art XX
Saturday, January 21, 2012

I was up at 4am this morning so that I could make it to Marlboro Point before sunrise. With storms moving through the area, I was hoping for a colorful and dramatic sunrise…and I wasn’t let down! As I drove out onto the point, the eastern sky started to turn a dark pink on the horizon and I could tell that things were going to be good, so I hurried out to the end of the road. Shortly after reaching the overlook and setting up my camera the light show really started. The light shining on the cliffs to the right only lasted for a few seconds and I was glad to capture the moment in time.

Marlboro Point Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After the color in the sky was gone, I continued the drive to Moab where I met Marty at his house. While driving back the wind had picked up quite a bit and it started to snow and rain. We were planning on visiting a new petroglyph site not far from his house, but we decided to wait for a break in the storm before we headed out. Once that break came, we made our way to the petroglyph site.

This was the first panel we visited and there were a few others in the area.

Missing Top by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There seemed to be a few lines of small petroglyphs in a few of these panels.

Line Up by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Moab Area Rock Art XIX
Sunday, January 15, 2012

On Sunday I drove back to Moab to meet up with Marty again to do a little more exploring. I didn’t have any plans for the day in mind when I left home, so I thought we could just figure things out as we went. We ended up hiking an area within Arches National Park that I had not visited before. It was a nice area with some great views along the way. We even managed to come across a new petroglyph panel as we explored the area.

As I was driving to Moab, I saw there was probably going to be a nice sunrise. I quickly looked for an interesting setting to take a photo from, but came up with nothing. So I found a dirt road, pulled off the highway, and put my Jeep in the foreground. I think it turned out pretty good.

Jeep Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

As I drove along the icy Colorado River I came across this awesome scene and had to pull over for another photo.

Icy Reflection by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After meeting up with Marty and deciding to visit a new area inside Arches, we drove over to the Copper Ridge Jeep Trail to start our hike. We had hoped to drive closer to the park on this road, but were stopped by this sign. We would be hiking a few extra miles.

End of the Road by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Moab Area Rock Art XVIII | In Search of the Polka Dot Man
Saturday, January 7, 2012

After taking the first weekend of 2012 off to get a little rest, it was time to get back out there and start exploring again. I was up bright and early to drive to Moab so I could meet up with Marty and search for some new petroglyphs that I had been unable to find on two previous trips. On the way I was treated to an awesome sunrise and had to stop a few times to take photos.

As I neared the Fisher Towers the sky and clouds began to light up. It was an amazing display!

Fisher Towers Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the Fisher Towers.

Sky on Fire by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After finally reaching Moab and meeting up with Marty we drove up the Poison Spider Trail so that we could begin our hike.

Poison Spider Jeep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We hiked into a land of fins and mazes to try and find the petroglyphs I was looking for. I had tried to find these particular panels twice before from below, but had no luck. I was hoping to reach them from above, but that also proved to be difficult. Eventually we did manage to find the area that I thought the petroglyphs might be in, but we could find no way down from above. We tried scrambling down a steep boulder-filled gap between large fins, but were turned back by a ten foot dryfall that we could not climb down. We climbed back up to the top and made our way back to our Jeeps. We didn’t find the petroglyphs from up here, but it was a beautiful area to hike around in.

We found this arch as we explored around the Poison Spider Trail. When I got back home, I looked it up and found out that it’s known as Longbow Arch.

Longbow Arch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr