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.
Past PrimeMonochrome Tree
The sky was overcast, the light well suited for muted monochrome images.
Rock TreesAbstract (Rock Texture)Old and GnarlyTruncated
This old tree stump looked different, depending upon the angle of view.
Dancing among the Rocks
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.
80% ExpendedLife on the Edge
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).
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 2021Woodland 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 2021Hillside, 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 2021Green 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 2021Leaves, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021Path to the Light, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021
While examining a digital satellite map image of the forested area near my operational base in Indiana, I noted one area designated as a wilderness, so I decided to drive into that area and check it out.
All of the photos in this post are via my iPhone.
Almost Peak Color
I pulled off of the forest road through the Hoosier National Forest on my way to check out the Charles C. Deam Wilderness area at a camping/picnic area to look around. There were restroom facilities, shelters, picnic areas and a few visitors. I noted a hiking trail that went into the forest from here, but I did not take time to check it out. There were a few colorful trees in near peak fall color, so I made a few iPhone images, with the one above the best.
I continued down the forest roadway, spotting a number of “No Parking” signs along the way.
Steep Fine, Gentle Hillside
This roadway is narrow, so parking along it would impede traffic and probably would create a danger, since visibility over hills and around curves is limited and one could easily crash into a parked vehicle that appears suddenly in the narrow roadway. The $80 fine seems steep, but maybe necessary to discourage parking here.
I found a parking lot just off of this roadway at an old fire lookout tower that is no longer in use, but open for visitors to climb.
Descriptive Sign, Hoosier National Forest, Oct 2021
Apparently, there were farmlands in this area at one time, but those have been taken over by the forest, after this area was designated a wilderness area.
An old fire lookout tower, Hoosier National Forest, Indiana, Fall 2021
I chose to climb the 133 steps to the top to get an overview of this area. As I started up the first flight of stairs, I had second thoughts about my choice as the stairs wobbled with each step. After a brief hesitation, I continued the climb.
Note on stair rail
Near the top of the tower, I noted that someone else had the same reaction as I did to the wobbly stairs.
A view from an old lookout tower, Hoosier National Forest, Fall 2021
I shot a few iPhone photos from the observation floor of the tower. Being above treetop level, I had a good overview of the vast forest around the tower.
A view from an old lookout tower, Hoosier National Forest, Fall 2021A view from an old lookout tower, Hoosier National Forest, Fall 2021A panoramic view from an old lookout tower, Hoosier National Forest, Indiana, Fall. 2021Top flight of stairs of lookout tower
After enjoying the view, it was time to descend the “sketchy” stairs and get my feet back on firm ground.
Wilderness Marker
I saw a trailhead marker near the tower, so I walked over to check it out. I was not prepared to hike in this wilderness today, but I decided to come back another day for more exploration.
Near a trailhead into the Charles C. Deam Wilderness, Indiana, Fall 2021Information Sign, Hoosier National Forest, Indiana, Fall 2021
There was an old road beginning at the end of the tower parking lot that was blocked off with a steel gate. I walked over to take a look down the roadway and found this sign about an old cemetery that was apparently here prior to the wilderness designation. There was no indication of how far it was to the cemetery, but I decided to walk the roadway, hoping to find something interesting.
I found remnants of old structures that were mentioned in the information sign at the tower and continued to walk the roadway for awhile. I never found any indication of how far it was to the cemetery and I eventually turned back, since I did not see any noteworthy reason to continue.
A view into the Wilderness
This final image, looking into the wilderness woodland, was taken somewhere along the route.
In the afternoon, after my morning shoot at Ogle Lake in Brown County State Park, I decided to go to Yellowwood State Forest, where I had shot last year and see how it looked this year.
I hiked the same trail that I had taken the previous fall, but this year I went a little further along the trail. Recent rains had muddied the trail, requiring some minor off trail work to bypass the worst of the mud.
On the opposite side of the lake from my starting point, I encountered a lone, barefoot female hiker, carrying her muddy hiking boots. It appeared that she had walked through some deep mud somewhere along her hike and maybe it was more comfortable to hike barefoot than to suffer in the mud invaded boots. She seemed to be carefully picking her way along, which was good, since there were plenty of natural things on the trail to stick, poke and gouge bare feet. I did not encounter her on my hike back to the parking lot, so I have to assume she made it out.
The lack of good peak fall color in the forest resulted in a disappointing photo shoot in the forest. Even though I was late for the previous year’s peak, the previous year’s shoot seemed more satisfying than this one.
Early Fall Forest, Yellowwood State Forest, IndianaYellowwood State Forest, Indiana
I stood in a small stream crossing to get the shot above, which is about where I turned back last year on my first hike in this forest.
Through the Tree
There were no really good places to get to the lake shoreline from the forest trail, so I had to shoot through trees towards the opposite shoreline.
Somewhere along the way, I managed to push through some brush to get near enough to the shoreline to get the image below. I still had to carefully zoom and position the camera to avoid much distracting parts of stray limbs and bushes intruding into the edges of this composition.
Yellowwood Lake and State Forest, IndianaYellowwood State Forest, Indiana
On the hike out, at a bridge crossing of a shallow creek, I encountered a photographer and a young couple, apparently getting engagement photos. The environment at this location and time did not look great for such photos, but I’m not that kind of photographer, so what do I know about that?
Maybe a quarter of a mile from the parking lot, I stopped at a short section of the trail that had been bridged over by a low wooden section.
Leads Darkly
As I finished a shooting here, the young couple and their photographer approached from behind. We exchanged greetings again and I continued to my vehicle.
When I arrived at my vehicle, I was not at all satisfied with this photographic outing, so I decided to hang around on a small, narrow, concrete boat dock until near sunset and hope to get something more interesting for my efforts today.
It was a relatively calm morning as I hiked around Ogle Lake in Brown County State Park, Indiana. As the morning advanced, enough of a breeze developed to sometimes make small ripples in the lake, distorting the reflections of the trees and sky.
Fall Reflections
Fog remained just above the lake surface in the shadows near the end of the lake.
Fall at Ogle LakeLake PointerCorneredFall at Ogle LakeFall Lake SceneAutumn LakeSquiggly Reflections
This ends my hike and morning photography at Ogle Lake.
I continued hiking the trail around Ogle Lake and shooting images in and around the lake.
Fall Forest
The big lens allowed me to zoom into the edge of the forest across the lake, eliminating the sky and the lake from the scene.
Early Fall ColorDreamy Reflections
Reflections in water are always a good subject. The scene above drew me to it as soon as I noticed how the log divided the reflections and calmed the surface just enough to create the impressionist forest reflection.
Leaves and TrunkRed FallTattered
Before I left the park, I stopped and hiked along a trail through the forest. I shot many images, but most were not all that appealing, so I’m just sharing a few of the better ones.
Brown County State Park, near Nashville, Indiana is a lovely park with hardwood forest, lakes and miles of hiking and biking trails through the forest. We were staying just a few miles from the park, making it an easy place to access for Autumn photography.
Possibly my favorite place to photograph in this wonderful park is around Ogle Lake.
I regret that I did not get out as early in the mornings as I should have for the best of sunrise. Even though I got up early enough to get into the park at or before official opening time, I lingered over my coffee and light breakfast too long, as it was so pleasant doing so in the cabin.
My first morning in the park, I decided to use my big lens, a Nikon 80-400mm with a 1.4 extension. With the fall color still not being near peak, I figured I would try to get more intimate shots, rather than wide angle images.
Walking along the dam at the end of the lake, I took time to get close ups of some of the colorful leaves, back lighted by the early morning sun light, on small trees or bushes at the waters edge, before hiking on the trail around the lake.
Yellow and BrownGreen, Red, Yellow
From the dam and the hiking trail, I shot across the lake into the forest on the opposite side.
Fall Lake ViewEarly and LateLeaning Into FallFall by the LakeFall ImpressionAcross the LakeSpindly
That’s enough for now. I will continue this photography hike in the next post.
Early in our stay in Indiana in late October, 2021, I looked out the window and saw that it was a foggy morning. I walked to the roadway in front of the cabin to check out the scene.
Foggy Roadway
I only had my iPhone with me, so I used it to snap a few images in the early morning fog.
Morning Fog and Sun RaysFall FogDiffractionMorning Forest FogMorning Fog and Sun Rays
Just a reminder that all of the images in this post are via an older iPhone, so if that is all you have with you, use it!
The last stop on my route to the Grand Canyon North Rim in July 2021 was the Petrified Forest National Park. There is an exit to this national park from I40, but I elected to go into Holbrook, Arizona and go to the south entrance, since there is an RV site just outside the park entrance there. That RV site does not take reservations, so I wanted to be sure to get there early to increase my chance of getting a site. There are actually two places across the road from each other here, where RV’s can park. One site is free, first come, first serve, but has no hookups. The other has electric hook up, but no water. I did not need a water hookup, but I wanted electric, since I expected it to be hot and I wanted to be able to use my A/C or, or at least a fan.
I pulled into the Petrified Forest Gift Shop and RV Park and went into the gift shop to secure a site. Some of the reviews that I had read about this site said the staff were unfriendly, but I did not find that to be the case. Instead, I would characterize the two staff/owners as matter of fact and business like. They were not the bubbly personality types we’ve all come to expect at tourist lodgings, motels and hotels, but they were not unfriendly.
I jokingly requested a site with shade and was matter of factly told that there was no shade. I had noted that fact already. There are scattered trees around the edge of the RV parking area, but the vegetation on the trees is insufficient to provide any significant shade at any time of the day.
After getting my assigned site, I drove into the park for a quick tour. This park has gates at the entrances that open at 8AM and close at 5PM, so there is no way in the summer to be anywhere in this park for sunset or sunrise photography.
The visitor center is not far from the entrance and I stopped here, but I did not go in, since I was practicing “social distancing” during the COVID-19 pandemic. I picked up a guide brochure from an outside location behind the visitor center and proceeded to walk the paths. There were a substantial number of visitors, but not so many that one could not maintain a suitable distance from others.
Since it was mid-day with harsh overhead light, I elected not to carry around my heavy DSLR and to shoot with my iPhone camera. I do not even pretend to have great photos from this park.
Summer Learning
There appear to be educational opportunities here and this seems to be a good place for lessons in the geological history of this area.
Big Petrified Tree
The base of the petrified tree in the photo above is about 10 feet in diameter. This is a clear indication of the size of the trees in the prehistoric forest that was once here.
Petrified Log Sections
Indeed, the size of the petrified logs here is impressive.
Petrified Log SectionsPetrified Log Sections
What a magnificent forest this must have been!
Observers
I noted a little girl and her dog watching me, so I had to include them in a photo.
Cactus and Petrified Log SectionsPetrified Tree
Satisfied that I had seen everything behind the visitor center, I decided to hike to the “Agate House”, which was mentioned in the brochure. The Agate House is little over a mile from the visitor center. It was hot, but, with the temperature in the low 90s, not nearly as hot as I had expected for this time of the year. I took a bottle of cold water with me to be sure I did not get dehydrated. The hike is an easy one and is on a paved trail. The first portion of the hike is on the remnant of an asphalt road, which ends at what used to be a parking area, then the trail continues on a narrower path to the house.
Along the route, I caught a glimpse of a colorful desert creature moving amid the rocks beside the trail.
Collared Lizard
Fortunately, this colorful lizard remained perched on a rock just long enough for me to get a good photo before it disappeared into the jumble of broken petrified tree pieces.
Petrified JumbleAgate House
The Agate House is actually a partially restored Native American dwelling. The restoration was done via a works program during the Great Depression. Current practice is to leave ruins as they are found, rather than to attempt reconstruction.
Agate House
I returned to my vehicle at the visitor center parking lot and continued my quick tour of this park.
