IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Friday – Sunday, June 8-10, 2012

This weekend I met my friend Philippe and his wife on their annual trip to the Southwest from France. This year we planned a day to do a little hiking and exploring on Cedar Mesa (Last year we spent a day hiking in the San Rafael Swell). We spent Saturday hiking together and searching for a few ruins and rock art sites. That evening I ended up camping at their campsite in Natural Bridges. We also had an unexpected visitor to camp that evening when Laurent Martres and one of his friends stopped by. It was nice to meet him since I used his Photographing the Southwest books when I first started getting into photography a few years ago. We also got to see a sneak peek of a new book he will be publishing soon. On Sunday I went off on my own to do a little more exploring before heading back home. Here are plenty of photos from the weekend in no particular order.

After work on Friday I drove down to the Mule Canyon Towers and set up camp nearby. I managed to get there just as the sun was setting and striking one of the towers.

Cave Tower Sunset by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Philippe taking photos of the Bigfoot Ruins. The ruins are named the Bigfoot Ruins because there is a footprint in the mud next to the doorway of one of the structures.

Philippe and the Bigfoot Ruins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A pile of potsherds found at the Bigfoot Ruins.

Bigfoot Potsherds by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Bigfoot Ruins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

I just picked up my copies of the 2013 Colorado National Monument Calendar this evening. One of my photos from this past winter was selected to be used for the month of January.

So if you find yourself at the Monument or one of the local shops selling the calendar, feel free to pick up a copy 😉

I wish I was hiking back to the Solstice Snake again this year, but unfortunately I just couldn’t make it out there this year. Since I can’t be there, here’s a photo from last year’s solstice.

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
 

Amanda and I spent the last weekend camping in Gray Copper Gulch, which reminded me of my visit there in 2009. I decided to go back and reprocess a few of those older photos including this one. This was one of my favorite photos from that day and I was lucky enough to have some nice clouds in the sky on that visit.