I'm outa here...for a bit

I noticed this too. The lighting is not just a matter of photography, but is noticeable with the naked eye. Before making this trip, I had noticed that many photos from Zion, the Grand Canyon, and other high areas looked washed out, as if they were over exposed. The photos reminded me of over exposed slides from the 1950s. I was surprised to see that the colors actually looked this way to my eyes. The high altitude light is very bright, and very white. It tends to wash out color.

It makes sense if you stop to think about it. The Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light, which is why the sky looks blue. At altitude there is less atmosphere, so more blue light gets through. It's just the opposite of that warm yellow light you get right before sunset, when the light passes through a lot of atmosphere.

Tom

 

This set of switch backs are known as "Walter's Wiggles", after the park superintendent who had them installed. They are at Zion, on the back side of Angels Landing.

 

A few pockets in the sandstone at Walter's Wiggles. Being rock climbers, we are always feeling rock. This formation looks exactly like some trainer boards sold for rock climbing strength exercises. I didn't realize rock actually developed in this shape.

 

Zion. Switch backs on the front side of Angels Landing, leading up to Walter's Wiggles. You are a long way up in the air before you get to the Wiggles.

 

Finally out of Zion, we come to the parking lot at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Just past the trees it's a 6000 foot drop to the canyon floor.

 

After my experience with Angels Landing at Zion, I wouldn't go any closer than this to the rim.

 

View of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. Note the thunder storms across the canyon on the South side.

 

By now you probably realize that our trip mostly involved eating and drinking. This one is lunch on Bright Angel Point.

I need to make a disclosure: Neither one of us are really drinkers, but there is something about rock climbing and near death experiences that makes one enjoy a bit of alcohol. Or a lot of alcohol. I remember a quote in one rock climbing guide book that stated: "Beer and climbing go together like, well, beer and climbing."

 

Another random shot from Bright Angel Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's a very, very long way down on the other side of that dead tree.

 

After our hike we discovered the saloon at the lodge. It's a good thing I made that disclosure about alcohol.

 

Much of the North Rim was burned by a massive forest fire in 2000. Many of the larger trees survived, but there were a lot of burned areas. Regrowth was very evident, especially the large number of Aspens.

 

This is a view of Point Imperial. I have about 200 photos of the pointy rock.

 

Having only made plans six months in advance, we couldn't get a cabin at the lodge, so we stayed at a privately owned place called Jacob Lake. It's about 45 miles from the North Rim, through the Kaibab National Forest.

Jacob Lake is named for a small lake that used to be at the location. At one point the owners decided to expand Jacob Lake, but instead managed to drain it.

Our cabin lacked a deck, so we took advantage of the little pavilion found along the "nature walk", which was in reality about 25 feet of gravel path between the cabins. Note the bottle of chilled white wine from our cooler. I knew there was a good reason we packed so much stuff.

 

I know you guys rarely believe anything I post, so this photo is just to back up my claim of staying at Jacob Lake. It's slightly blurry due to the slow shutter speed in the dark. I don't think the white wine had anything to do with it.

 

Inside our cabin at Jacob Lake. My wife, Deb, is standing in the bathroom, or more correctly, she is filling the bathroom. She's not that big of a person, but this was a very small bathroom. It made me think favorably about the one on our boat, and also think better of the pit toilets at Maple Canyon.

 

Our cabin at Jacob Lake.

 

Well, at least this half of it. The other half belonged to our neighbors. They walked around a lot and the floor squeaked. They also never seemed to sleep. Did I mention that we slept better in the tent?

 

More burned out trees in the Kaibab National Forest. There were big sections where the fire crews had grubbed out all of the dead fuel and stacked it up. It looked like a lot of work. I wonder if they will burn the piles in the winter?

 

This is the world's largest Ponderosa Pine tree, at 13 feet in circumference. Our fingers are just touching on the other side of the tree. It is located about 80 feet from the North Rim, and shows no damage from the fire.