Hiking – Page 3 – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Upper Calf Creek Falls, Escalante National Monument, Utah

As a side trip from Capitol Reef National Park, we decided to hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls in the Escalante National Monument. The trailhead to this waterfall is just off of Utah Route 12 near Boulder. We traveled this route numerous times going to and from Torrey and the southern portion of Capitol Reef National Park.

The trail to the falls is only about a mile one way, but it is very steep over slick rock for the first portion, before becoming moderately level, then moderately steep just before the base of the falls. It is so steep that not only is coming back up the trail strenuous, but going down the trail takes some effort to avoid slipping and falling. There were a few places on the trail that required big steps down and up.

The information we found for the trail says the grade is 14% at the top and my son’s trail app showed as much as 20+% grade over some portions. Anyone reasonable fit can do this trail, but care is advised.

We had planned to make the round trip to the falls in about an hour. When we signed the trailhead register, we noted that the two previous hikers had taken hours on the trail, which gave us pause to consider whether much of that time was due to the strenuous nature of the trail.

Anyway, we proceeded cautiously down the trail. I knew the trip out would require me to stop to take periodic breathers, but I had no doubt that I could safely navigate down and back.

Due to the steepness and strenuous nature of the trail, I elected not to carry the weight of my heavy DSLR and lens. So the few photos in this post are via my iPhone.

Upper Calf Creek Falls and Pool, iPhone Photo

We took time at the base of the falls for photography, snacking and hydrating, before heading back to the trailhead. Our round trip time was 90 minutes, 1.5 times as long as we had anticipated. The additional 30 minutes was mostly due to the strenuous nature of the trail both going down and coming out.

We had done the trail to the Lower Calf Creek falls years ago. That trail is three times as long, but mostly on flat, sandy ground along the creek bed.

Until next time,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 22 – Cathedral Valley Exploration

My readers have already seen many photos of some of the fantastic, massive geological features in the Cathedral Valley portion of Capitol Reef National Park. The long loop road through this area passes many such features. We did not have time to explore around all of these and certainly not time to visit each area for golden hour sunrise or sunset photography.

But we did stop and walk around at some of the more easily accessible areas near the roadway. Often, I would use my iPhone camera to capture the scenes, rather than lugging around a heavy DSLR and lens.

Desert Vortex – Sky and Earth, iPhone Photo

Desert Sentinels/Commander and Sidekick, iPhone Photo

Until next time,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 18 – Upper Muley Twist Canyon

Continued from Part 17:

Hiking back towards the trailhead from our visit to Saddle Arch, we stopped at the first arch. There is no apparent way to get close to this arch. We each picked our separate ways up the sandy bank near the canyon creek bed and over slick rock trying to get good vantage points from which to shoot the arch. My son, with much difficulty and slightly injuring an ankle, found a way to get beneath the arch. He advised me not to try advancing to his vantage point. I expect I could have, but not wanting to chance an injury, I took his advice, settling for shooting from a distance at several vantage points with my 24 to 70mm lens.

The zoom lens makes it look like I’m much closer to this arch than I actually am.

One of my Flickr contacts tells me this arch is labeled “Muley” arch in some hiking guides, although I do not recall the map showing a name for this one.

The best I could do from my vantage points is to try to show the setting of the arch. If these photos make it look like it would be easy to navigate to the area below and/or behind the arch, that is deceptive. The area around this arch is strewn with boulders and covered with much brushy growth.

That’s it for this shoot. There are arches at two locations along the road to the trailhead. We will stop on the way back to the Burr Trail Road to shoot those arches.

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 17 – Upper Muley Twist Canyon

Upper Muley Twist Canyon in Capitol Reef National Park is accessed via a three mile four wheel drive road from the Burr Trail Road west of the the point where that road climbs out of Strike Valley. A high clearance vehicle is recommended for this roadway, as it is rugged with some sizable rocks that one must navigate over. However, we saw one or two Subaru Outbacks, that are capable vehicles, at the trailhead. So experienced drivers might be able to safely navigate this road with such vehicles; but definitely, ordinary, low clearance vehicles should not attempt this roadway. The road is narrow in portions with room for only one vehicle.

We were on this roadway several times during this visit to Capitol Reef National Park. The trailheads for both the Strike Valley Overlook and Upper Muley Twist Canyon begin at the parking area, which is large enough to accommodate at least 4 vehicles.

The full loop hike of the canyon is a nine mile round trip. The canyon hike was secondary to our purpose for being here, so we never tried to do the full hike. According to the map of the canyon, there are 4 arches in the canyon. The first arch is about 1 mile from the trailhead. We hiked to the first arch, prior to going to the Strike Valley Overlook for late day photography. We did not have time to go any further on that visit here and still get to the Strike Valley Overlook.

We returned here to hike further into the canyon one day prior to a sunset shoot at a nearby location and again we did not have time for the full hike, so we settled for shooting at the first and second arches along the hiking route.

The canyon wall has interesting features, such as the holes eroded into the solid rock walls. There were many of these similar to the one in the photo above.

The canyon walls are steep and sheer rock along portions of the route with stains from water runoff. This green tree against the colorful canyon wall made an interesting photographic subject.

We hiked past the first arch to the second one that is know as Saddle Arch. This arch is easily visible from the canyon floor, as one rounds a bend in the canyon. It is high up on the canyon wall, requiring a steep climb up a sandy slope to get nearest to it.

I made a number of images from various vantage points. The time of day was not the best for great lighting, but it was the only time we would be here. The colorful sandstone layers add interest to the photos and geologists will enjoy viewing and studying such exposed features.

I’ve included some of the neighboring canyon wall to give a contextual feeling for the setting.

I suppose a well prepared hiker/rock climber could get to the area directly beneath and behind the arch; but that would be a dangerous undertaking for a most hikers.

On the hike out we stopped by the first arch to try to get closer photos. More on that in the next post.

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 3 – Capitol Gorge

South of the Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center at the end of the paved road is the Capitol Gorge Trailhead. We hiked a short distance down the canyon, then up a short, steep trail to check out natural water tanks formed in low places along a water drainage.

I captured a few images in the canyon in route.

Standing Tall – Black and White with Selective Colorization

Defiance – Trees atop Canyon Walls – Black and White with Selective Colorization

The snow like blobs in these photos are foamy floaters in the water.

Green Gold – Tree adjacent to the tanks – Black and White with Selective Colorization

Water flow has cut through rock forming a small arch along the occasional stream bed.

Old Visitor Register – Enhanced to bring out faded writing

Early visitors in this canyon left their names and dates high up on the canyon wall. These marking are much higher than anyone other than a giant can reach. Maybe some stood on horses or wagons to leave their mark here or maybe the canyon was not as deep many years ago?

Parched, Hopeful – Capitol Reef Desert Scene

I cannot recall where in the park this final photo was taken, but I think it was shot along the unimproved dirt road that continues past the end of the paved roadway from the Capitol Gorge Trailhead parking area.

More later,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 2 – Strike Valley

Capitol Reef National Park in Utah is a narrow, but long park. During our first visit here years ago, we saw a limited portion of the park centered near the most visited area around the park headquarters. We were determined to see more during this visit and consequently had to spend much more time driving many miles to and from others areas of the park. So much of our time here was spent in a scouting mode, rather than being in a particular place at the best time for landscape photography.

Strike Valley, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

This view of Strike Valley is in the southern portion of Capitol Reef National Park, accessible via a 3 mile, rocky, 4 wheel drive road, followed by a 0.3 mile hike through forest and over slick rock. The photos taken here were during a scouting visit, when it was mostly overcast with rain threatening, so the light was uniform with interesting clouds.

I paused along the quick hike back to the trailhead to snap photos of the clouds overhead with occasional drops of rain coming down.

Until next time,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 1

In late March of 2022, I drove to my oldest son’s home north of Denver, Colorado and we drove together to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. We lodged in the small town of Torrey, just west of the park.

Since we arrived late in the day, we only got out for a brief visit to the park visitor center and a stop at a nearby overlook trail, where we shot a few handheld images.

The sky was overcast, the light well suited for muted monochrome images.

This old tree stump looked different, depending upon the angle of view.

The color image of this old tree stump with this angle of view reminded me of a dancer’s torso, but when I showed this one to my grandson, he saw two dogs back to back. I have to admit that I had a similar initial interpretation, but only seeing one blunt snout dog with long ears trailing behind it. I still prefer the dancer interpretation.

I have not had time to go through all of my photos from this trip and just barely got time to write this initial post, more will follow; but I may not be able to keep up with my preferred schedule of two posts per week. (Every trip leads to much to do to catch up at home).

Be safe and well,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 18 – T. C. Steele Historic Site

I found the T. C. Steele Historic Site marked on an online map of the area around my operational base in Indiana. I had never heard of T. C. Steele, so I did what I usually do in such situations. I searched for information on the internet and discovered that T. C. Steele (1847 – 1926) was an American Impressionist painter, and a member of a group known as the Hoosier Group of painters. I decided it worth while to check out this historic site.

The site is located at the actual home and studio in the countryside, where T.C and his wife lived and worked. There were maybe a couple of more visitors at the site, when I arrived at a fair sized, newish looking parking lot that even had an electric vehicle charging station.

As I walked towards the visitor center, I stopped at the wagon with iron rimmed, wood spoked wheels that served as T. C.’s portable studio. The wagon is a custom built, enclosed wagon with a wood burning stove in one corner. I made a few iPhone images of the interior and exterior, but none were sufficient to fully capture the utility and quaintness of the vehicle.

There is a modest fee, payable at the visitor center. There are scheduled tours that one can take to see the interior of the studios and there are hiking trails around the grounds, garden and through a portion of the Hoosier National Forest across the road from the site.

I elected to walk the grounds on my own, then take a trail through the forest.

Golden Tree, T. C. Steele Historic Site Grounds

The grounds and gardens are attractive and pleasant to walk through. I was impressed by the large hardwood trees on the site, but my attempts to photograph those trees and showcase the grounds did not work out well.

I chose a forest trail and hoped for better photographic results in the woods.

Yellow and Green, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Woodland Path, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

The sheer volume of objects in a forest make it difficult to get really unique images (at least for me). I went through my photos a number of times, thinking most were a lost cause, before finally beginning to choose a few to edit.

Deep Woods, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Hillside, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Photos in forest can seem so much alike, that I get easily discouraged trying to capture the scenes.

Intimate Hillside, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Green Profusion or Intimate Forest, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

In the end it seems that forest photos are mostly about colors, textures and light, since most of the objects in the photos are so much alike. I struggle to come up with good titles for images, especially the forest ones. I could not decide which title was best for the image above, so I gave it two.

Woodland Creek, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Leaves, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Path to the Light, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

To be continued,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 17 – Charles C. Deam Wilderness

A continuation of photos captured during a morning hike in the Charles C. Deam Wilderness area of the Hoosier National Forest, Indiana.

That’s it for this hike.

Until next time,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 16 – Charles C. Deam Wilderness

I returned to the old outlook tower that I found earlier, where a trailhead into the Charles C. Deam Wilderness originated. This time I was prepared to hike with my DSLR.

To be continued,

Ken

Category: Hiking

Upper Calf Creek Falls, Escalante National Monument, Utah

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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 22 – Cathedral Valley Exploration

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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 18 – Upper Muley Twist Canyon

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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 17 – Upper Muley Twist Canyon

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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 3 – Capitol Gorge

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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 2 – Strike Valley

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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 1

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Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 18 – T. C. Steele Historic Site

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Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 17 – Charles C. Deam Wilderness

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Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 16 – Charles C. Deam Wilderness

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