IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Saturday, January 26, 2013

On Saturday morning I slept in a little later than usual. A winter storm moved into the area overnight and when I looked outside towards the Colorado National Monument I could see that the humidity from the storm caused the inversion layer over the valley to thicken. I quickly got dressed and drove up to the Monument. I was planning on a short trip up there to hopefully get a couple of decent photos, but I ended up spending over 5 hours up there!

Since there was another layer of clouds above me there was no direct light the whole time I was up there, but I really enjoyed photographing the muted colors of the canyons in these conditions. It’s certainly different from what I normally shoot, which is what I was trying to do.

The base of Window Rock was just above the inversion layer.

Window by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The thick inversion filling up part of Wedding Canyon.

Filling by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The inversion layer sort of acted like water in the ocean. The fog would recede a little and then advance again. I waited until the wave of fog crashed against the cliff to take this photo.

Wave by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Monday – Sunday, January 14-20, 2013

Over the past week I’ve spent a few days photographing the Colorado National Monument again. I stopped by after work a few days, caught a sunrise another day, and drove through the entire park after a morning spent along Rifle Creek. Basically, whenever I had a little free time, I was there. I actually spent a few days concentrating on one small arch that I photographed in a few different kinds of light. It’s amazing how different things can look based on the time of day and the weather.

One evening I caught the Earth’s shadow over Red Canyon.

Red Canyon by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another evening the Grand Mesa lit up at sunset.

Pink Mesa by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A small tree growing out of the sandstone.

Sandstone Tree by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday, January 19, 2013

I was originally planning on visiting Rifle Falls the previous Sunday. However, when I woke up Sunday morning to leave, it was snowing pretty hard, which was not in the weather forecast the night before. I decided to change my plans and went back to bed instead. That brings us to today. I was up bright and early so I could make the drive to Rifle Falls State Park before the sun came up for the day. I made it to the park well before the sun came up and had the place all to myself until I was ready to leave a few hours later. It was pretty cold out, but I dressed appropriately and kept pretty warm, except for my hands which I can never seem to keep warm enough.

One of the falls and Rifle Creek in the dawn.

Misty Fall by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Icicles and a waterfall.

Ice & Water by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The waterfall is in the shade while the ridge above is receiving the first sunlight of the day.

Left Fall by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Thursday – Sunday, January 3-6, 2013

We’ve had a very cold start to the year so I’ve been staying close to home more than I usually do. Since that’s the case, I’ve been spending my free time trying to make some more unique images of locations I’ve photographed before, plus I’ve been trying to find some new locations around the Grand Valley. Here’s a few photos from the past couple of days.

I drove up to the Independence Monument viewpoint after work on Thursday and stuck around after the sun had dropped below the horizon so I could catch the Earth Shadow above the Book Cliffs.

Island Earth Shadow by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Then I stayed a little longer for a photo of Independence Monument in the twilight with the lights of Grand Junction in the background.

Independence Monument Twilight by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

On Saturday morning I was up early to photograph the sunrise photo along the Colorado River in De Beque Canyon. As I was taking a few photos in the early dawn light a man with a dog approached me. At first, I assumed he was out for a walk along the river, but then he mentioned to me that he and some friends were hunting ducks nearby and would be shooting right over the area I was in. I decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stick around, so I hiked back to my Jeep and got out of there so that I could find somewhere else to watch the sun come up.

Dawn in De Beque Canyon along the Colorado River.

Winter River by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

New Year’s Day | Tuesday, January 1, 2013

I ended up staying home for New Year’s Day this year and decided to get out for a hike at the Colorado National Monument in the evening. I always keep meaning to hike up Wedding Canyon, but for some reason or another it has never happened yet. I set out to finally hike that trail today, even if it was covered with snow. I didn’t bother bringing my DSLR with me on this hike, so I only took a few snapshots with my little S90 point and shoot camera.

After leaving the Monument Canyon trail, I followed the snow covered trail along the front side of The Island towards the mouth of Wedding Canyon.

Winter Hiking by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Trail through the snow.

Snow Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking back as I start my way up Wedding Canyon.

Wedding Canyon Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr