From Irish Canyon, we traveled to the Gates of Lodore campsite in Dinosaur National Monument, checking out Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge first. We decided that Browns Park would not be an easy place to photograph without having a second vehicle, since it was too far from the campsites to the most photogenic scenes. This is one downside to traveling in a camper type vehicle, as it takes a while to prepare the vehicle for travel after camping in it.
When we arrived at the Gates of Lodore campground, there were plenty of available campsites, but the one nearest the trailhead to the Gates of Lodore and with good shade (it was hot) had a car parked in it, even though the site did not have a reserved tag on it. We thought it possible that the car’s occupants had walked to the kiosk to fill out the reservation form, so we chose the next closest site that also had good shade. We were not initially sure that we would stay in that site, so we were just sitting around discussing options, when a volunteer park ranger stopped by and provided much useful information about the park. One of our concerns was the bear activity sign warning posted at each campsite. There were bear vaults provided for storing food and anything with an odor that might attract bears. We had lots of such items and it would be much trouble to move everything into a bear vault and retrieve it as we needed it. The ranger assured us that there had not been any recent bear activity, so we did not need to bother with the vaults. We also asked about mountain lion activity, but there had not been any sighting anywhere nearby, even though they are known to be around somewhere. Mountain lions and bears are always a concern when hiking trails in their territory.
At least a half hour went by and no one returned to the vehicle in our preferred campsite, so we assumed hikers were parked there, where they should not be, if they were not camping. So we paid for the site we were in and shortly afterwards the car’s occupants returned and departed. Other campers soon came along and claimed that campsite.
After setting up the Sportsmobile for camping, we applied sunscreen over our insect repellant or vice versa and hiked to the Gates of Lodore.
Along the trail we spotted a number of bleached animal bones, possibly remnants of a wild animal’s meal.
The trail we were on went far into the back country, but we only checked out view points for photographing the Gates of Lodore, which is a canyon through which the Green River flows.
The first few overlooks we checked out had much distracting vegetation in the foreground. My son found a very nice place off of the trail from which to photograph.
We returned to camp, had a meal and returned to the trail prior to sunset. I initially tried to shoot near the view point in the scouting photo above, but I soon abandoned that, since I was not pleased with any composition I could make there. I went back along the trail and set up near my son, so I’m sure we ended up with very similar photos, although he somehow manages to get more appealing compositions than I, even in the same location.
I made numerous shots as the sun went lower into the sky, varying my compositions a little. Shooting down river into the canyon at this location presents the frequent lighting restrictions as most canyons. The canyon walls go into shadow well before sunset, so the typical golden hour light is not really attained. There was some good light on the foreground vegetation from time to time and there was some colorful vegetation mixed with various shades of green.
Even though these first two images are the same composition, the light on the foreground is different in each.
One can see the shadow moving quickly up the canyon wall on the left of these next two photos.
I alternated from landscape to vertical trying to get some variation in the compositions.
One can see how the light is changing on the foreground and the canyon walls.
I varied the composition to get either more or less of the foreground boulders and/or the rock outcrop along the near canyon edge.
Soon the light on the canyon wall was totally gone and only the clouds in the sky were varying in the images.
After this shoot we thought maybe sunrise would be a better time to shoot here. So we will come back in the morning.
Until then,
Ken
Gee… I never really thought about bears and mountain lions but wondered about snakes. It certainly pays to be very cautious! And in that first photo… Green River really does look green!
I think about snakes, too. Especially rattlesnakes in many places that I go. So far, I’ve not seen any in my expeditions. Bears are usually only a problem for hikers, when one surprises the bear. So when hiking with someone in bear country, we try to carry on a conversation to alert the bears of our presence, so they will move away (hopefully). Mountain lions, on the other hand, can stalk one. When hiking in lion country it is best to not hike alone, stay close together and in the dark scan the area with lights, stoping occasionally to look behind, too. We have seen scat and lion tracks on occasion, but so far no lions, thankfully.