One of my primary motivations for selecting the Page area for this vacation was its proximity to the Antelope slot canyons. The Upper Antelope Canyon is best photographed, spring through fall, on a cloudless day near noon when the sun shines directly down into the slots, reflecting off the walls and creating the most beautiful light in the world. With my Coyote Buttes pass squared away for tomorrow I have a little over an hour before I need to head over to Page. I use the time to make a short hike to the Toadstool Hoodoos, my favorite pictured here. The mid morning light was less than flattering but the sun eventually does have to rise.
Horseshoe Bend, just outside of Page, is an often photographed portion of the Colorado River and my sunrise photo destination this morning. I am quickly back in the SUV to reach the Paria Ranger Contact Station by 9am to enter the daily lottery for one of ten walk-in permits to access the North Coyote Buttes restricted area. With 54 similarly hopeful photographers present this day I would not win a coveted pass to one of the most photogenic destinations in the USA. I simultaneously entered the lottery for the South Coyote Buttes area, almost as beautiful but more arduous to reach. With only twelve people vying for the 10 permits I like my chances much better. Alas with 6 permits issued a family of 5 wins the next drawing leaving me out of luck again. But wait….there are only four permits left so the family must either leave someone behind or relinquish their position. They are unwilling to separate so I luck into a pass which will grant me access on Wednesday.
From LA I fly to St. George, Utah where I rent a SUV. Instead of the high clearance, 4WD vehicle I specified, my only choice is a 2WD SUV wannabe with a low hanging air dam. This unfortunate situation will impact my ability to reach some of my planned destinations. As I drive towards Page, AZ I stop at a hardware store to purchase a shovel, correctly anticipating how essential this will be for self extrication should I get stuck in the middle of the desert somewhere. I was in the vicinity of the abandoned town of Old Paria as the sun was setting and made a quick detour to capture this image (no post processing, color is true to the scene) and also elected to spend the night there. The town was originally settled by Mormon farmers who were followed by gold miners when flash floods destroyed the farm land. More recently it was used as a location for filming Western movies but vandals burned down the sets years ago and now it is just a beautiful destination at the end of a dirt road. Although I came prepared to sleep in my tent, I opted to sleep in the SUV (its single virtue being adequate space with the rear seats folded flat for me to stretch out diagonally across the cargo area). Sleeping in the SUV was no less comfortable than in the tent and saved me setup and tear down time each day. I could roll out of my sleeping bag and be on the road in under a minute.
On approach to LAX I notice hills covered in blooming goldenrod. I have rarely had so many great aerial photo opportunities on a single flight and take this as a good omen for my week of photography.
Today begins a one week solo adventure during which I will travel 7150 miles (6000 in the air, 1100 by car, and 50 on foot). During my flight from Boston to LA en route to Page, Arizona, I am lucky to fly directly above the terrain over which I will be hiking in the coming days.
Maya and Lydia decided to paint the tree house today. I was very impressed with the results given they worked on the task with no adult supervision. It should be noted that there appears to be as much paint on Maya’s thighs as on the tree house. Earlier in the day I played in my first outdoor soccer match of the season. We won 4-2 and I came away with a well struck goal from the top of the box and an assist and most importantly no injuries. I leave early tomorrow morning for a one week solo adventure into the wild. I will be hiking and camping in Utah and Arizona canyon country. Weather permitting, I would like to spend most of my time in the spectacular slot canyons of the region. I will not be posting for at least a week but when I do I hope to have a bounty of great images to share.
This morning Maya’s indoor soccer team concluded their season with a three game sweep of the championship tournament. Maya did not think it was any big deal and has already turned her sights on the outdoor season. The parents, however, were plenty excited about the accomplishment.
Early this morning I attended Maya’s Teacher Conference. It was almost embarassing to hear about how wonderfully she is doing in all aspects of school. We are very proud of her and hope she continues to take full advantage of all that school has to offer. As I was leaving the building I decided to capture an image of the library where Maya has spent a lot of time enjoying herself. I hope she will look back on this entry many years from now and remember this special place where she began her love affair with reading.
It is not exactly clear to me what Jeanine does on these retreats to Kripalu. I am fairly sure they don’t make bagels but why else would you need to toast so many sesame seeds?
When she returns from Kripalu, Jeanine will be pleased to learn of her daughter’s exploits as a professional chef. Maya announced this morning that we would be having French Toast for breakfast and proceeded to create a masterpiece. Unfortunately, Kyle had long since left for school leaving Nico and I as the sole benefactors. Maya thought this would be a healthy breakfast to fuel her through the MCAST tests at school today.
In case Jeanine checks the blog from Kripalu I though she would enjoy seeing a picture of her dog missing her. Kyle was in charge of dinner this evening and we enjoyed pasta with Vodka sauce.
Jeanine is off to Kripalu, a center for yoga and health located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts for a 5 day retreat. She will be both student and teacher as she continues to acquire and share knowledge about healthy lifestyles, food, and eating. I will hold down the fort with the primary goal of keeping everyone alive until she returns. Unhealthy eating will be permitted. Having returned early from Baltimore, I was able to attend an outdoor soccer scrimage this morning and scored several nice goals. Despite the pouring rain, which fell throughout the match, it was a great tune up for our season opener next Sunday. Later in the afternoon I retrieved Nicolai from an all day referee training course held at the hotel pictured here.
