IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Here’s a photo I took way back in August at the Colorado National Monument that I rescued from my hard drive last night and processed for the first time.

Saturday & Sunday, February 4-5, 2012

It was a lazy weekend for me and I ended up not venturing very far from home. I did manage to get out for a few hours each day and take some photos and do a little exploring in my Jeep. Here’s a few photos I took over the weekend.

I was originally planning on heading down to The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park on Saturday, but as I was driving towards Moab I realized that I had forgotten my circular polarizers at home. They would have come in handy for photographing some new rock art sites I was looking for, so I decided to cancel that plan and make the trip another day. I continued driving to the Richardson Amphitheater and waited for sunrise. Unfortunately, there was not a cloud in the sky this morning.

Early morning sunlight strikes the Priest and Nuns formation near Castle Valley.

Priest and Nuns by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The sun strikes the red rock cliffs on the other side of the Colorado River.

Road & Fence by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Driving back towards the highway as the sunlight creeps down the cliffs and fills the valley.

Onion Creek Bench Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

As I was leaving the Colorado National Monument yesterday in the evening, I noticed that the moon lined up nicely between Balance Rock and the cliff next to it. I created two different versions of this photo; one with the rock in silhouette and another version with some detail visible in the rocks. I prefer the silhouette version the best, but I will go ahead and post the other version below. Feel free to let me know which one you prefer in the comments.

I went up on the Uncompahgre Plateau with Jackson yesterday to photograph the sunset. While we were up there I took this panoramic photo of the light on the Little Book Cliffs. This image is made up of five stitched images. It’s been a while since I stitched images for a panoramic photo, and I really like the way this one came out.

This one needs to be viewed large, so click on it for a bigger version!

Moab Area Rock Art XX
Saturday, January 21, 2012

I was up at 4am this morning so that I could make it to Marlboro Point before sunrise. With storms moving through the area, I was hoping for a colorful and dramatic sunrise…and I wasn’t let down! As I drove out onto the point, the eastern sky started to turn a dark pink on the horizon and I could tell that things were going to be good, so I hurried out to the end of the road. Shortly after reaching the overlook and setting up my camera the light show really started. The light shining on the cliffs to the right only lasted for a few seconds and I was glad to capture the moment in time.

Marlboro Point Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After the color in the sky was gone, I continued the drive to Moab where I met Marty at his house. While driving back the wind had picked up quite a bit and it started to snow and rain. We were planning on visiting a new petroglyph site not far from his house, but we decided to wait for a break in the storm before we headed out. Once that break came, we made our way to the petroglyph site.

This was the first panel we visited and there were a few others in the area.

Missing Top by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There seemed to be a few lines of small petroglyphs in a few of these panels.

Line Up by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr