Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Utah – March 2026 – Part 7

From our base camp, we made a number of drives along 4 wheel drive roadways, portions of which were easy, some of which were “moderate”, involving driving in washes, alongside cliffs, drop offs and over boulders.

One of the these 4 wheel trails is called “Black Dragon”. We started this drive from our base camp and exited between portions of the San Rafael Reef onto I70. The Black Dragon names comes from a Native American Pictograph, which this trail goes past near the I-70 exit/entrance.

This panorama was shot from Black Dragon Viewpoint along I-70. A portion of Black Dragon trail is visible (a narrow band of light color) at the base (approximately in the center of the image) of the geological feature in the distance.

Note the chalk outlines added by someone, joining several pictographs to make them take on the appearance of a dragon. This is a defacement of the original Native American artwork.

The pictographs on this panel were done by ancients called the Barrier Canyon culture. There are petroglyphs on nearby rocks done by the Fremont culture of Native Americans.

Please note that the petroglyphs on these rocks are subtle when viewed with the naked eye. I have greatly enhanced these images to bring out the subtle artwork. So, if you visit this are, do not expect to see panels that look like those in these images.

You will also note that modern day visitors have added graffiti to these panels. Please refrain from defacing this delicate and fading artwork left to us by the ancients dwelling here long before modern day people arrived here.

I made numerous images of different portions of the panel, to bring out the details sufficiently for viewers of this post to visualize the artwork.

And again I remind readers that I’ve overlapped and zoomed in on various portions of the panel (and used extreme editing) to make the art more easy to visualize.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Utah – March 2026 – Part 6

An early rancher in this area left his name on much of the area and there is an old log cabin that he built alongside one of the easily traveled roadways that any vehicle can travel to, at least in good weather. However, just past the cabin that roadway becomes a “moderate” 4 wheel drive as rated by trail books, but has some intervals of what might be better be described as “difficult” 4 wheel drive sections, which we decided not to venture very far along.

This image makes is look as if there is a big rock feature on top of the cabin, but it is actually on a hillside behind the cabin.

Distinctive Rock Feature Above Swasey Cabin

Thanks for following and stay tuned for more Utah landscapes,

Ken

Utah – March 2026 – Part 5

More Utah Desert photography.

This old shack is at an abandoned uranium mine site called the Luck Strike Mine, which is actually still classified as “active”, even though there has been no activity here for many years. The small structure on the right of this image is a powder (explosive) storage shed.

This sign near the shack give a brief and interesting history of the mine and the lives of the miners who worked the mine, many of whom developed illnesses related to radiation exposure before there were any significant safety regulations regarding such activity.

Most of the photos in this post were made via an iPhone camera.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Utah – March 2026 – Part 4

There are numerous 4 wheel drive roads readily accessible near our first Utah campsite. Portions of these roads do not actually require 4 wheel drive, nor high clearance vehicles, so ordinary passenger vehicles can get to some of the places revealed in this post, unless there have been rains sufficient to make the roads impassable, in which case even 4 wheel drive vehicles should avoid portions of these roadways.

There are numerous old mine sites scattered around this area, where one can find old abandoned vehicles and structures.

And there is much exposed geology to see, too.

Hondoo (“Hondu” in some references) Arch sits high up on a hill and is seen at a viewpoint at a turn around point on one local desert trail.

Most of the photos in this post are from my iPhone, while a few are from my Nikon D850 with a 24-70mm lens.

More desert photos to come,

Ken

Utah – March 2026 – Part 3

More Utah desert images made via my iPhone.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Utah – March 2026 – Part 2

While waiting for my son to join me, I could not resist walking around the desert area surrounding my Utah campsite, capturing desert scenes with my iPhone camera.

I regret that I can’t find the poetry to describe these desert scenes. I’ve noted a few of my photography contacts on Flickr suddenly waxing poetic in a manner that suggest AI generated text. I have to admit, I’ve thought about that, but I’ve not yet given in to that temptation.

Thanks for following and stay tuned for more Utah desert scenes,

Ken

Utah – March 2026 – Part 1 – Plan C

It is spring (or almost) and time for another spring trip with my oldest son. Traveling in the U.S. for outdoor activities in the spring, one always has to consider the weather at potential destinations.

The initial plan this year was to fly into Portland, Oregon, drive to Cannon Beach for photography along the Oregon coastline, knowing that the typical rainy weather along the coast might result in last minute changes, and it did. The forecast for the time interval available for this trip was for cool, rainy, overcast weather every day, which can offer some opportunities for photography, but might not be so pleasant every day. So cancel plan A. Move to Plan B.

Plan B was to go to the same area as last year, where there were still some possibilities to see and photograph in some locales not visited during previous trips. Then a few days before executing Plan B, Plan C came up. Plan C was to explore an area of Utah seen superficially and partially, when passing through on the way to other destinations. Plan C was executed.

I drove two long days to reach the first destination, a first come first serve, free camping area on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public land not far off of I70 west of Green River, Utah. This area is said to be popular with off roaders and I wanted to be sure to get here to find a campsite before the weekend crowd arrived. As it turned out, while there were a few scattered campers, including those hauling their offroad vehicles, there was no large crowd and I easily found a suitable campsite, somewhat secluded from others.

I shot the sunset panorama standing on the roof rack of my vehicle. If one looks closely, the tops of a few other campers can be seen in this image.

My son met me here to begin our exploration, making this our initial home base. Before he arrived, I had some time to walk around this area, shooting desert scenes with my iPhone. So stay tuned for part 2 to see some of those images.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 20

Photos from my final fall photo shoot of 2025.

And that’s a wrap for fall 2025,

Ken

Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 19

I made one final excursion into Brown County State Park near Nashville, Indiana in the early morning hours the first week in November 2025 to wrap up my fall photography for 2025. My first stop was at Ogle Lake to shoot the sunrise sky.

After sunrise, I drove along a park road, stopping at a few places to shoot the forest scenes in the early morning light.

Ok, this tree is not walking, but it reminds me of an early morning person out for a vigourous fall walk.

Thanks for following. There are only a few more fall images to share,

Ken

Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 18

This is a continuation of 2025 fall photography in Indiana.

A Super Moon was on the calendar for one of my days in Indiana. So I went to Ogle Lake in nearby Brown County State Park to photograph the moon with its reflection in the lake. I chose my shooting position based upon where The Photographers Ephemeris App indicated the moon would rise.

Beaver Super Moon via 80-400mm with 1.4 Extension Tube

Thanks, for following,

Ken

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Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Utah – March 2026 – Part 7

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Utah – March 2026 – Part 1 – Plan C

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Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 18

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