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
 

Morning Light by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I went up to the Colorado National Monument this morning to catch another sunrise. The conditions weren’t the best, but here’s a photo I took after the sun came up over the Grand Mesa.

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
 

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
 

Taken this morning as the sun came up over the Grand Mesa and struck the red rock cliffs of the Colorado National Monument. It was about 12 degrees out.