Mill Creek Canyon Petroglyphs

Yesterday I made a long hike up the South Fork of Mill Creek, just outside of Moab, and found a darned good petroglyph panel. Here are some of the images. I'm going on the hunt for some more petroglyphs today, so hopefully I'll be posting more tomorrow.

My first video.

I've had a few weeks to play with my iPad as a still camera, and I like it. I especially love being able to shoot, edit and upload a shot, all on the same device.

So here is my first baby step toward doing the same thing with video. I edited it using the Pinnacle Studios iPad app. Well, there wasn't much editing to it, but I did figure out how to trim a clip, add a fade-in and fade-out, plus a couple of titles. I'll get better with practice.

Colorado River Sunset #2

Yesterday, I posted the sunset I shot from my campsite facing West, into the setting sun. Here's the same sunset shot in the opposite direction.

Colorado River Sunset

Moab is famous for beautiful sunsets, but I had not seen one on this trip until last night. I took this shot right from my campsite on the banks of the Colorado River.

Hidden Valley Petroglyphs

At the suggestion of my friend Randy Rush, who was out here just a couple weeks before me, today I made the hike up to Hidden Valley. I know, you would think you'd hike down into a valley, but this was most definitely up. The pot of gold at the end of this hike is a canyon wall covered with petroglyphs.  Here are a few of them. The one on the bottom, showing 20 people holding hands, is the famous "World Peace" petroglyph.

Back in Arches National Park

I visited Arches again yesterday. It's a sight to see, and it's nice to have the leisure to really spend some time there. The place was crawling with people, mostly from Asia and Europe. I'll bet foreign tourists outnumbered American tourists ten to one.

Got a couple nice pictures. It was a beautiful day, with blue skies and temperatures in the high eighties in the sun.

Reading Material

For a guy who got his degree in English, I don't read much anymore. Except when I'm camping. No TV, no Internet - what else are you going to do?

So these are the books I've read so far.

Red Threads, by Rex Stout. An old school murder mystery from the late 1930s. Features a cigar-chomping detective and a plucky fabric-designing heroine. Gotta love it.

Bad Chili, byJoe Lansdale. Set in Texas in the 90s. Don't even know what to say about this one.

High Lonesome, by Louis L'Amour. Just exactly like every other Louis L'Amour. Which is to say, awesome.

Right now I'm in Moab's fantastic little public library, using their electricity to update my blog. Last time I was here, I was finishing up a murder mystery of my own, called "Murder by Wolf." You can still get it from Amazon as a Kindle ebook. It'll set you back 99 cents.

Negro Bill Canyon

Spent some time today hiking up Negro Bill Canyon. It's a pretty place, and the hike is a decent one, 2 1/4 miles each way. It's a true box canyon. If I had been an outlaw back in the day, I would have driven my stolen cattle here. There's a year-round stream that runs through the bottom of the canyon, so it would have been perfect.

But I would have had to contend with William Granstaff, who got here in 1877 and claimed the canyon for his own.

Petroglyphs

I'm fascinated by ancient Indian rock art, and on this trip I'm going to photograph as much of it as I can. I already posted a photo of the famous "Moab Man" panel. Here it is again.

And here's a Ute rock art panel I just shot this morning in Arches National Park.

This is a relatively recent panel, probably carved from 1650 to 1850. You can tell because it includes a man on horseback, and the Utes didn't have horses until the early 1600s.

Here's the other panel I've shot so far. It is in Moonflower Canyon on Kane Creek Road.

In Arches National Park

I spent all morning in Arches National Park, really one of the natural wonders of the world. Got my exercise hiking up to Delicate Arch, then out to Landscape Arch. Didn't get a useable picture of either one - I need to try again in the late afternoon.

I did get some shots I like - just not of any of the famous arches.

Arches National Park

Had better skies for photography today, so I spent a couple hours in Arches again today. It was crawling with people. But I got a couple of shots.

Lower Drinks Campsite #16

I spent my first three nights in Moab at a campsite out Kane Creek Road called "Moonflower Canyon." It was OK, but nothing to write home about. Monday's are always the ideal time to find a new campsite, so I pulled up stakes this morning (literally,of course) and tried for my all time favorite campsite in the Moab area: Lower Drinks Campsite #16. Got it!

The Ritz-Carlton doesn't have a room anywhere in the world to compare with this. Here's the view to the East:

And here's the view to the West:

The bit of water you see is the Colorado River, flowing no more the twenty feet from my tent.

By the way, don't let the #16 fool you. There are actually only five tent sites at Lower Drinks (and no RVs at all). The other numbers are at separate campsites called Middle Drinks and Upper Drinks. Total privacy.

Here's a shot of the campsite itself.

On Poison Spider Mesa

Today I took a hike on Poison Spider Mesa, mostly just for the exercise.

It's a pretty place, but it mostly known as a challenging trail for souped-up Jeeps. Ordinary Jeeps need not apply. You can also mountain bike up it, or hike.

On the way back I passed an area called Wall Street, where the climbers do their thing.

Click on that one to fully appreciate the madness.

This morning I stopped at Wabi Sabi, Moab's famous Thrift Store. I scored paperbacks by Louis Lamour, Tony Hillerman and Michael Chriton, all three for $1.37. I'm set!

Meet Moab Man

The journey is under way!

I had a trouble-free trip west. Left on October 15, and made it to a rest area in the middle of Kansas, where I crashed in my truck. On the 16th I met my old friend Mike Prins in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and we had a fantastic dinner at a steakhouse called Juicy Lucy's - really outstanding. Pulled into Moab yesterday, the 17th.

Never seen it so busy. Spent a couple hours trying to fing a camping spot - all the campgrounds were full. Finally snagged a site in Moonflower Canyon. The weather is perfect in Moab right now, and all the world is here.

Today I paid a visit to the patron saint of Moab, a petroglyph called "Moab Man."

That's him on the left with the deer antlers and the pendant earrings. I wish I could say I hiked 15 miles into the desert to get this shot, but actually he is right across from the Moab golf course.

Then I paid a visit to Arches National Park. Who says it sucks to get old? For ten bucks I got a senior pass that gets me in to any national park in America. Free. For the rest of my life.

Arches is phenomenal. Unfortunately, it was a terrible day for photography. The sky was like milk. I did get one OK shot on Park Avenue:

Loaded up and ready to go!

Tomorrow morning first thing I'm heading west on a two-month camping trip to southern Utah and Arizona. My ultimate goal: to see the Wave, a fantastic rock formation on the Arizona/Utah border.

As you can see, I'm all packed up and ready to go. All my camping gear is in the black boxes. The water is because I'm going to be dry camping in the desert. The gravel is for ballast - pick-up trucks are squirrelly in the winter unless there is some weight in the back to balance out the weight of the engine.

Ready to roll!

Counting down the days!

Well, this is Sunday, October 12. On Wednesday morning I head west on a journey that will (hopefully!) take me to the Wave, a fantastic rock formation on the Utah/Arizona border.

Meantime, idle hands are the devil's playthings. I'm going to document my trip using my iPad Mini, and I keep playing with it to try to explore what it will do. The shot below was taken using an app called "Photo Booth," which comes installed on all iPads. After taking the shot, I worked it over substantially on an app called "Photoshop Express," which I really like. I think we can all agree the result is of great philosophical, moral and artistic import.

Since it is obvious that I am turning into an iPad Photography junkie, I've started a new blog on the subject. Check it out at: http://iPadPhotographyPhorum.blogspot.com.

Four days to go!

It's October 11, my son's birthday. Happy Birthday, Robert!

It's also four days before I leave on a two-month camping trip, with the eventual goal of seeing the Wave, a fantastic rock formation on the Arizona/Utah border.

I'm going to document my adventures using my iPad Mini. I'm getting more and more interested in the iPad's capabilities as a camera. Just started a new blog on that subject. Check it out at: http://iPadPhotographyPhorum.blogspot.com.

Still playing with photo editing on the iPad

Just a couple of days before I head west on my journey to the Wave. Today I downloaded half-a-dozen different photo editing apps, and tried them all. The verdict? Photoshop Express is the best of them all. Here's an example of what it will do.

Taking care of business before I go.

Just a little more than a week to go before I head out West.

I will be gone on Election Day, so today I took care of some important business by casting my absentee ballot. I live in Kentucky, and this election is actually a critical one with national ramifications. The marquee match-up is between our Republican incumbent senator Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader, and his Democratic challenger, Alison Grimes. Mitch has been in the senate for 30 years, and he is the undisputed leader of the Republican obstructionism of the past six years. He has an unlimited war chest, thanks to the Koch brothers. Alison is a relative newcomer, but she's a vibrant young woman and she's out there meeting the people every day. Mitch, of course, rarely leaves Washington, DC.

Incredibly, the polls show Alison with a chance to win. My absentee ballot went to her, and I hope it's the one to put her over the top.

Still fooling around with my iPad.

Not long now before I head West to see the Wave!

In the meantime, I'm still exploring my iPad's capabilities as a camera. Found an app called "photo booth" that I had not yet tried. So, by golly, I tried it.

Here's the result. I kinda like it!