IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Today I decided to take a day trip up to the Elk Mountains near Crystal and Lead King Basin. I had heard that most of the back-roads up there were opening up (earlier than usual) and I hadn’t been up that way in a few years, so I thought it would be nice to get back up there again.

As I was driving up to McClure Pass, I noticed the nice light on this large section of green aspen trees.

Spring Aspens by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I ended up visiting the ‘Crystal Mill’ twice during the day hoping to get some good photos, but the sky never really cooperated with me on this trip. Here are the best photos I was able to get. I’ll have to return another time to try again.

Crystal Power House by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Crystal River & Mill by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Memorial Weekend in The Needles | Day 3
Memorial Day | Monday, May 28, 2012

After another night of great camping weather we had some breakfast and set out hiking so that we could visit the Flying Carpet Panel. We also explored a few small side canyons before hiking back out to our vehicles near Cave Spring.

This is one of my favorite Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panels, but unfortunately I haven’t made it here in good light yet. Maybe next time…

Flying Carpet Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Here’s Jared taking a photo for some scale of the figures painted here.

Jared and the Carpet by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another panel of pictographs nearby.

One Arm Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Memorial Weekend in The Needles | Day 2
Sunday, May 27, 2012

After a good night of sleep at Devil’s Kitchen we spent the rest of the day making our way over to Peekaboo for the night. Of course, we made some other stops along the way.

I woke up just early enough to catch the sunset on some of the surrounding needles from the Devil’s Pocket.

Devil’s Pocket Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

As I was hiking back towards camp, I caught Jared up on top of some rocks at the Devil’s Kitchen.

On Top by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Once the sun was up I returned to camp for some breakfast and then did some exploring of the outskirts of Devil’s Pocket with Jared and his brother.

Exploring by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Memorial Weekend in The Needles | Day 1
Saturday, May 26, 2012

Bright and early Saturday morning I was up and headed to The Needles District of Canyonlands National park to meet up with a few friends for the Memorial Day weekend. I made pretty good time and was soon on my way over Elephant Hill and at our campsite in Devils Kitchen. It took my just under four hours to reach the campsite from my house in Grand Junction. I quickly setup my tent and we were soon on our way to start hiking and exploring.

We started out by searching a new area of Devil’s Lane hoping to find something new. We did end up finding a few small panels of handprints which seem to be very common in The Needles.

White Hands by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Red Hands by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After taking a few photos of the handprints and searching the area a little more we started our hike from Devil’s Lane over to Cyclone Canyon. I should mention that it was VERY windy out! As we started the hike in Devil’s Lane we had to watch out for rolling tumbleweeds blowing through the graben. It was a sight to see tumbleweeds racing down the lane. The skies were also full of dust for much of the day, blocking the sunlight and blue sky.

The view down into Cyclone Canyon as we started the descent.

Cyclone Canyon by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Friday – Sunday, May 18-20, 2012

A few months back I managed to get another pair of permits to the Coyote Buttes North area so that Amanda and I could visit The Wave again and explore a few new areas. It turns out that I had picked a great weekend to go without originally realizing it. Our permits were for Saturday May 19th and it just so happens that the Annular Solar Eclipse was going to be happening on Sunday the 20th and some of the best views of this event would be down in the same area. It couldn’t have worked out better! We would visit Coyote Buttes North on Saturday and then stick around for the Solar Eclipse on Sunday with a little extra time to check out Wire Pass.

After work on Friday we finished loading up the Jeep and headed south through Utah to the Paria Plateau in northern Arizona. As we drove past Moab the light played hide and seek with the peaks of the La Sal Mountains in the distance.

In the Spotlight by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We also made a quick stop at Wilson Arch for a photo since the last photo I took here in late afternoon light was with a point & shoot camera.

Wilson Arch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The sun was just setting as we drove through Bluff, and it lit up the clouds behind the Horse Boulder nicely.

Horse Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr