IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

New Years Eve | Saturday, December 31, 2011

We finally made it…the last trip of the year 2011! On New Years Eve morning I met up with Marty in Green River so that we could head over to the San Rafael Reef and Desert to search for some new rock art sites.

Marty and I on our way to the San Rafael Reef.

To the Reef by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After searching Straight Wash in the Reef for some petroglyphs, this is the only one we managed to find this time.

Lone Man by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at this lone anthropomorph.

Lone Petroglyph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Monday, December 26, 2011

Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year I was off from work on Monday. What better way to spend the day than searching for more rock art near Moab? However, this was no ordinary Moab rock art trip; this time Marty had received permission from a friend of his so that we could access some petroglyphs from his private property.

After finding a way down the snow covered slickrock to this point, we started the climb back up the other side. If this ladder weren’t here, we never would have had a chance. Even with the ladder, there were still a few other sections that were kind of tricky to climb up for us.

Keep Out by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Marty took this photo of me climbing up from the ladder. It was still tricky to climb up the crack from this point.

Climbing by Marty, on Flickr

Marty admires the first large panel of petroglyphs we visited. There were a ton of them here!

Admiring the Big Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arches National Park
Sunday, December 18, 2011

For the past few years Amanda and I have kind of made it a tradition to head over to Arches National Park near the Christmas holiday. This year we were able to get down there the Sunday before. The first thing we do when we get to the park is drive over to Devils Garden and hike over to Landscape Arch, just to make sure it’s still there…it is! 😉

After hiking to Landscape Arch we also visited Pine Tree Arch, Tunnel Arch, Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch and the Windows section of the park. We love visiting Arches in the middle of the winter since there are so few people there. Usually the trails are covered with snow and ice which can make things slippery, but because of our warmer winter there wasn’t much snow or ice around this year.

I decided to process most of the images from the day in black and white. It’s something a little different for me, and also something I need more practice doing. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below.

Fins in the Devils Garden area as we hiked to Landscape Arch.

Fins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The view through Pine Tree Arch.

Pine Tree Arch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

In the warmer months, Sand Dune Arch is usually crawling with people. We had it all to ourselves today.

Sand Dune Arch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Hidden Valley & Moab Rim Loop
Saturday, December 17, 2011

On Saturday, Marty and I set out to hike the Hidden Valley and Moab Rim Loop. We had both hiked Hidden Valley before, and driven the Moab Rim trail in our Jeeps, but we both had wanted to hike the whole loop in one shot. Not only so we could enjoy the scenery on a nice winter day, but also so that we could revisit some rock art sites and hopefully find some new ones.

There was a layer of snow on the ground in Hidden Valley, but once we got up above the pass there wasn’t much of it.

Hidden Valley by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There are many excellent petroglyphs found in the Hidden Valley area, but this figure is one of my favorites.

Inside by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A wider view of the panel.

Inside Out Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Sunday, January 8, 2012

On Sunday, Amanda and I headed down to watch the ice climbers at the Ouray Ice Festival. We have always wanted to go check it out, so it was nice to finally make it down there. I’m not a climber of any sorts (and have no interest in starting), but it was definitely fun to watch.

This is not my usual ‘photography subject,’ but it was fun trying to take photos of something new. Here’s some of the photos I took while we were there.

Ouray by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Ouray Ice Park by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Climbing by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr