Delicate Arch
wednesday
when we got into moab we set up camp at our first camping spot. it was by the river and by gorgeous mountains. lizards were all over(and all over everywhere else we went that week). after set up we went to the Arches National Park. our first destination was Delicate Arch. we got to the beginning of the hike at about 5pm. our trek up was tough. it was the first hike of the trip and i was not expecting it to be so hard. but, we made it and it was a beautiful place. we stayed up there till about 9pm. we wanted to catch the sunset, but too many clouds prohibited sun rays to turn the rock an awesome orange.
Dead Horse Point
thursday
this was my favorite place we went. it is sooo beautiful and vast. i couldn't believe it. it literally looked like the home to dinosaurs. we woke up this morning, being our first morning out shooting, at 4am to get to this spot by sunrise. sunrise came and it was too cloudy to really get some good lighting. we were here for a couple hours. it was a nice calm morning. i loved it.
Balancing Rock
on the way to more arches we stopped here
photo of me courtesy of my friend kristen
more arches
Black Dragon Wash
friday
this was a fun spot. a long dirt road that came to a very rocky dirt road. we were dropped off and walked to the rock art. we were here for a few hours. i never knew, maybe i did, how much fun it is to explore by myself. the best photos i got was just going off by myself and seeing what i could find. later, the teachers decided to drive the vans over on the rocky terrain so we could have lunch at that spot. check out the videos, my teachers are so funny. there was a lot of singing going on this weekend and a lot of laughing due to the teachers. ps. we called the teachers by their first names while on the trip. they are great men.
so now that we had the van we enjoyed a very bumpy ride out of there.Slot Canyons
after, we went to the Slot Canyons. that was about a 3 mile round trip hike in slot canyons(meaning really tight walls)-climbing up, climbing down, squeezing thru narrow walls and rocks, walking on a shaky log on top of water, scratches/bruises from climbing between rocks, handing up and handing down my backpack, taking photos, and cursing that hike. it was hard, but afterward i appreciated the challenge.
Goblin Valley
after the slot canyons we set up camp at our new campsite. we camped at a great campground just a few minuets from goblin valley. they had showers:)
friday night while all went to down to goblin valley, aubree and i stayed behind and showered. what a marvelous thing to be able to shower. on saturday morning, we were awoken at 5am to get to the valley by 6am to catch the sunrise on the valley. it took about a half hour for the light to hit the valley. it was an interesting thing to be there to watch the lightening change so beautifully. when we got there, those who went all found a spot and stayed there till we got the shots we wanted. after that, kristen and i played around on the hodos(the 'goblin' looking rocks) and took some fun pics. we were there till about 9am. that was such a fun morning and who knew you could have so much fun from 5-9am.
this picture below is what i shot for about an hour to catch the light change.
The Great Gallery
after goblin valley we hung out at the campsite for a while till lunch time where we went into hankville to have lunch at this fun little diner. after, we started are journey to The Great Gallery. this was the event we had been anticipating all week. it was a 6.5 mile round trip hike with a 750ft drop/decline at the start. oh did i mention that decline was down rocks? the hike down wasnt too bad actually. it was such a good feeling to be in such a secluded place. once we got down the 750 ft it was about a 2 mile walk on SAND. oh boy. needless to say my shoes filled up with sand and i had to empty them out at every stop. there were 3 stops which were all rock art. the 3rd spot being The Great Gallery. it is the biggest display of rock art, which are life-sized.
the great gallery
we started the hike at 2pm and at 6pm we started our trek back to the top. man, walking on sand for over 2 miles is not so enjoyable. what is even worse is walking up a hill/major incline of sand. that was the hardest part of the whole hike. i was so tired, had to use the bathroom and forgot to stop to empty the sand out of my shoes. once we reached where the climbing of rocks started it was not so bad. i kinda enjoyed that part. i walked it alone. occasionally, i could see someone far behind or way up ahead. i had an interesting experience doing so. there was many times i had to trust in myself to figure out which way to go. there were stacked rocks to help guide me, but often you don't see them at first. i learned a lot about myself during that part of the hike. when i reached the finish, i unloaded the sand out of my shoes and i had about a cup of sand in each shoe.
while down in the canyons of the rock art we had MANY sand storms. many times sand was thrown at us from the harsh wind. joy.
because of that wind....after the hike was over upon returning to our campsite the picture below is what we found. the wind was up at goblin valley as well and completely lifted up and FLIPPED our tent. that is right flipped. the first night i slept on the left side, when we got back all my stuff was on the right side. first we thought that it just threw our stuff around, but then we realized it just compeltly lifted and turned the tent. i thought that was pretty cool
After math
that blue and green pads were on opposite sides of the tent, under sleeping bags, before the wind. we found them in the middle of the tent on top of each other. odd.
Last Day
the last day we were able to sleep in till about 7 and we packed up and headed out of town. the plan was to check out some more sites on the way out of town. well we came upon more bumpy roads and the result was a flat tire. that took over an hour to change so we had to cut out some of the stops we wanted to make. the ride home was good, after a few hours we decided to play some car games. we played telephone and for over an hour and a half we played the celebrity name game. some starts and says a celebs first and last name and the next person has to name a celeb that starts with the last letter of the previous name. so fun.
i had an AMAZING 5 days. it was such an adventure. i have never experienced camping, hiking and the outdoors like that. i learned many things while on this trip. i learned how to be better at photographing certain lighting, be patient...sooo many times did i have to be patient, how to just sit and be patient to get shot after shot while observing that all around me, i learned things about the people around me, i learned i can drink a lot of water, that i am not the biggest fan of photographing rock art(but i gave it a try everywhere we went) how to be prepared, how to get over things that make me nervous and how to problem solve. i loved the people i was with and couldn't have asked for a greater experience. i miss it.
1 comment:
seriously it was good to be in like a secluded place! i loved the quietness and peace. that was seriously an awesome trip and i totally miss it too! big time! which is really surprising to me!?!
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