Microposts Archive

Valley of Fire State Park

Last week I drove out to East Orchard Mesa to try and find a good spot to take some photos at sunset. I never did find a good spot, but the sunset ended up being very nice, so I just pulled over and took a few quick photos. This first

I'm working on the photos I took on my trip to Coyote Buttes North and South a few weeks ago so that I can put together a trip report from the weekend. Here's a photo of Melody Arch that I liked from the trip. If you look closely you can

I turned 32 on Saturday, February 11th and was planning on spending a long weekend in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument since I had permits to Coyote Buttes North and South. However, last Friday morning my mom had a heart attack when she arrived at work and was rushed to

I've wanted to photograph Monument Canyon in the fog for a while, and this morning I finally got the chance. As I left for work, I just couldn't resist and headed up to the Colorado National Monument instead. I arrived up above the fog just in time to watch the

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

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

Part of my birthday present to myself this year arrived yesterday. I was originally going to wait a few more months to buy an inflatable kayak, but I came across a great deal on the boat I wanted that I couldn't pass up. Now I just need to wait for

Here's an image from the archives. I was going through some photos I took last January and came across this one that I seem to have neglected. I figured I would process it and see how it turned out. I like it!

I headed back up into the Colorado National Monument this evening to get a few photos of Independence Monument since I realized I didn't have any good ones.

I was up at 4am this morning so that I could make it to Marlboro Point before sunrise. With storms moving through the area today I was hoping for a colorful sunrise. I wasn't let down. As I drove out to the point, the eastern sky started to turn a

After all of the clouds and storms passing through the area today, I knew there was a great chance for a colorful sunset. I viewed the maps of the area and settled on a large reservoir at the base of the Grand Mesa that I had not been to before,

As I was driving to Moab this morning, I saw there was going to be a nice sunrise. I quickly looked for an interesting setting to take a photo from, but came up with nothing. So I found a dirt road, pulled off the highway and put my Jeep in

Back in November Jackson and I left work and went out to try and photograph the full moon rising over Mount Garfield and the Little Book Cliffs. Unfortunately, the sky was pretty hazy and we couldn't even see the moon until it had come up a ways over the top

In case you haven't seen this post on my Rock Art Blog, be sure to check it out! I have chosen my top ten favorite photos of rock art taken in 2011 and posted a little story about each. My Ten Favorite Rock Art Photos of 2011

I went on many awesome adventures in 2011 and posted many trip reports and photos from them here and over on ADVENTR.CO. Here are my top five favorite trip reports from the last year. The Wave Weekend Dinosaur Bones & Petroglyphs Straddling the Border to Toroweap Half the White Rim

I visited many cool places this year and also took many photos along the way. It was tough for me to pick just ten of my favorite photos this year, but I did manage to finally narrow it down. So here are my ten favorite photos of 2011. The Wave

It took me a little while to finally find these petroglyphs after two different trips searching for them. I was just about to give up again this time when they caught my eye. I wasn't looking quite high enough to find them originally. Some believe that this scene depicts Coyote

Before heading home last night, I made one last stop at the Black Dragon pictographs since it has been a while since I was last there. Thanks to recent flash-flooding, the road through the canyon was rougher than I remember it. I wasn't sure if the pictographs would be in

Sego Canyon in the Book Cliffs contains three culturally distinct styles of rock art that are all in close proximity to each other: Fremont, Ute and Barrier Canyon Style. This site is well known and an easy side trip when you are travelling along I-70. Unfortunately, with easy access come

When we headed down to Escalante this last weekend, it was one of my main goals to try and find this particular pictograph panel. I had seen a photo of this pictograph a while back, and because it was so unique I just new I wanted to find it and

The Uinta Basin in Northeastern Utah features some of the finest rock art in Utah and a very distinct subdivision of the Fremont Style known as the Classic Vernal Style. The Sun Carrier panel, also known as The Three Kings panel has been called the greatest petroglyph panel in the

"You've found something unique, please preserve it" I don't think anything else needs to be said. This photo speaks for itself! >> Dark Angel Petroglyphs

For the last couple of years I have made a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish throughout the year which has helped motivate me to get things done. Near the top of my list for 2011 was to finally get to The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park

'The Hitchhiker' is a surprisingly well preserved Barrier Canyon Style anthropomorph hidden in a remote canyon of southern Utah. It's part of a larger pictograph panel known as The Perfect Panel because of it's amazing state of preservation. It's obvious where the nickname 'hitchhiker' comes from while looking at this

A beautifully executed Basketmaker petroglyph of what appears to be a large crane, hidden in one of the many canyons of Comb Ridge. With this photo I tried to convey the perception of the crane in flight by using the natural striations in the sandstone. The small curved step in

This historical and beautifully incised horse is carved right above the very colorful lichen on this sandstone wall. It is believed that this horse was most likely created by a Ute which may depict their encounters with the U.S. Calvary. The number '8' on the front hip of the horse

This is just a small portion of the well-known Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel located in the San Rafael Swell. Because of the panel's close proximity to the Old Spanish Trail and currently next to a wall-traveled road, there has been a steady stream of potential vandals passing by this spot

The Courthouse Wash pictographs located just inside of Arches National Park near Moab are an amazing display of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs. Unfortunately, in 1980 vandals made an effort to destroy this panel by scrubbing it with stiff brushes and a cleaning abrasive. The National Park Service has attempted to

I spent many days searching for this particular site. I knew which canyon it was in, but was still unable to find it. After a few trips to the area I was finally able to find these amazing pictographs with the help of a friend, and I realized that they

Some believe that this pictograph panel in Chaco Canyon represents the supernova that created the Crab Nebula on July 4, 1054. It was a nice hike to reach this rock art site on the way to Penasco Blanco. >> Long Weekend in Chaco Canyon

From Stone Chisel and Yucca Brush: "A common experience for rock art aficionados is to arrive at a reportedly spectacular site only to discover that previous visitors painted or carved names, dates, modern symbols, slogans, and other remarks over or adjacent to the Native American images. Perpetrators of such graffiti

Rock art is thought to represent the spiritual expression of people who lived here long ago. The fremont people who lived here from about AD 500 to AD 1100 left symbols on the rock which had tremendous meaning to them. The Shield site remains an example of what vandalism can

Here's a Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel that my friend Philippe and I 'unexpectedly' came across while searching out some rock art in the San Rafael Swell. It's an amazing panel and we both spent a good amount of time examining all the fine details. One thing I noticed while

A different perspective of the beautiful Barrier Canyon Style pictographs in the Ochre Alcove, also known as the Transformation Panel. This is certainly one of my favorite pictograph panels around. Many of the figures painted here are all pretty small compared to other Barrier Canyon Style panels, but the details

I've been anticipating the Solstice this year so that I could visit the Solstice Snake (aka Solar Snake or Hyper Viper) and watch the arrowhead appear on the snakes head. For about 2 minutes on the solstice a dagger of light shaped like an arrowhead appears on the head of

I received word from my friend Philippe this weekend that the Robidoux Panel in the Book Cliffs was broken when he visited it at the beginning of his Southwest trip recently, so I just had to go see it for myself. On my way home from Moab this afternoon I

Let me start out by saying: I hate making reservations in Canyonlands National Park! It's why I haven't been to The Maze yet (or the White Rim for that matter). Last year I finally decided I wanted to go to The Maze and actually made reservations, took the time off

After work I met Jackson at the Colorado National Monument so that we could try to get a photo of the moon coming up over Mount Garfield. Unfortunately, there were some low clouds right over Mount Garfield that prevented a shot right as it was rising over it, but I

Earlier this year on our Arch Hunting the Dome Plateau Area trip, we stopped to check out Arrowhead Arch which is pictured below. Earlier today I was made aware that this arch had collapsed sometime this year. After searching for more information, I found this page on the Natural Arch