Yellowstone-The Lamar River Valley

If you hang a left, heading south from the North Entrance, at the Roosevelt Lodge you'll be on your way to the Lamar River Valley. Lamar is truly a breathtaking river valley.

Lamar River

The landscape was practically overrun with bison. I don't think I've ever seen so many in the park.

It's not so much that the bison are exotic wild animals it's more about a feeling, at least for me. When I see them out on the range I can't help but get all dewy-eyed, reflecting on days gone by. I know, I am a sap.

I think there were nearly as many fisherman on the Lamar River as there were bison on the range. The Lamar River is a beauty but I wasn't able to find a place where I could get any kind of a shot that I liked. I'm still struggling with that darned sprained ankle. It has really put a crimp in my style. The photo that follows is the best I could do. Maybe another time.

I stopped in at the Lamar Ranger Station because it looked kind of interesting, all old log cabins, barns and out buildings.

Barn at Lamar Ranger Station

I pulled in and parked. There didn't seem to be a soul around but I heard some pounding going on in the barn. I have very old fashioned ideas about men. The one I found in this barn was one tall drink of cool water and he had the baritone voice to go with it. Turned out he was readying his equipment for a pack trip into the back country. At my age men are more of a nuisance than anything else but I must say, I would have ridden off with this one in a Minnesota minute. :)

This lucky devil is probably going to get to go!

This last photo is of the barn again. I'm just throwing it in because I like the lines and tones of the image.

Speaking of images; I have been absolutely amazed at the number of people I see taking photos directly into the sun. The chances of getting a photo you'll want to look at shooting into the sun are slim and none. I realize it doesn't cost anything to trash a digital image but it sure makes for a lot of needless work. People, get that sun behind you! And then watch out your shadow isn't in the frame.


Yellowstone National Park - Images by Kinsey Barnard

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Yellowstone-Mammoth Hot Springs

About five miles into the park, from the North Entrance, you come to Mammoth Hot Springs. It's a very busy congested area with lodge etc. But, just beyond you find yourself at Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The photos that follow were taken at the terraces. Some truly wonderous sights to see here.

Ain't this planet grand?!


Yellowstone National Park - Images by Kinsey Barnard

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

Well, lucky for us, the weather did hold and we set out for Moab. We knew we could get a place in Green River but hoped for the best and a place in Moab, which is significantly closer to the parks.




We arrived in Moab and much to our delight we found a slot. But, believe me there were not a lot of them to be had. But, one was all we needed.







As soon as we got settled in we took a drive up along the Colorado River. The river wasn't too scenic as it looked like chocolate milk. It still looks like Easter week in Moab. The place is jumping and jiving. Jeeps and other off road vehicles are everywhere. If you don't have your own there are lots of place that will rent them to you.





Yesterday we got up bright and early and headed to Arches National Park. The photos I am displaying are all of Arches. At the moment, the wind is blowing a gale again and the sky looks like chocolate milk. So, I'm having time to go through yesterday's shoot.

I really love the rock formations, like the above. No human sculptor could create anything more beautiful IMO.



I must admit I was in awe of this park. There were so many beautiful things to shoot I was somewhat overwhelmed. Also, the park was amazingly full of tourists. I'm sure I made plenty of folks annoyed as I dawdled along. Why people want to go sixty in a scenic park is beyond me. It's like zoom, zoom been there done that! I think you would have to spend days in there in order to drink it all in. It is truly a magnificent place.



Koty wasn't a very happy camper. As usual he couldn't get out except to go potty. Most of the best arches are on trails and because Koty can't go I'm not leaving him in the car. Anyway, so far haven't seen any photos of arches that send me any place but I figured I'd better include one in here for good orders sake.



We spent the entire day in the park. So, there is not a lot of story to go with this. Just me stopping every two minutes. My bigest complaint is that you can only pull over where they have made space for it. And, I must admit they missed so much photographic good stuff. I was going nuts.



Apparently, other folks may have seen some of the same things because apparently they had been pulling on to the shoulder wherever the mood struck them. The park people have gone around and made a big gouge in the shoulder to discourage stoppers. But, boy you need to be careful. Until you catch on it's very difficult to see the trenches. We darned near fell in one and it would have high centered poor little Shadow for sure.



We made it without misadventures and sure wish we could be out there right now. But, Clementine is rocking and rolling in this wind and if you venture out you get grit in your teeth. I reckon we are going to be stuck in here for the day.

Hope you enjoy this sampling. I'm getting a little lazy so I didn't put the "High Res" thingy under each image. It's a pain in the patookie. So, for those interested in seeing the larger high res photos just go to my LANDSCAPES GALLERY and you'll find them all there.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography
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MT. CARMEL MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE

This was our last day for exploring around "color country". We need to be on our way to Tucson. So, for our final adventure we took the drive out Mt. Carmel Highway and boy it was a beauty.



The rock formations in this part of the park are the best yet. Unfortunately, I didn't get any acceptable shots of the individual rocks. For some reason they look just great to my eye but they seem to lose something in translation to pixels. Another reason to spend a winter here. I might could figure out how to capture these clever little sculptures in an appealing way. But, some of the landscapes turned out mighty fine even if I do say so myself. :)



The drive up this canyon is like the Mr. Toad ride at Disneyland. It's narrow and windy. At one point there is an unlighted tunnel that runs 1.1 miles into the mountain. If you are claustrophobic you'll have fun with this one. The tunnel is so small they have to stop traffic to let tour buses go through. It's so dark they have signs telling you to remove your sunglasses before entering. I imagine in the summer this is a real log jam but at this time of year it was a breeze.



You may wonder what the excitement over the above photo is about. It's just one of my "things". The sage set against the azure sky was just awesomely beautiful to me. It seems to me that there is beautiful art being made no matter where you look in nature. We humans often get all impressed with our art making. But, in my opinion, we are simply posers. Mother Nature is the only true artist.



Once you leave the park the landscape is still pretty interesting but in a rural way. The windmill above is made of wood and is part of a windmill well pump. It seemed an elegant structure and the wheel was especially alluring.



And, we came across this old covered carriage along the road. We traveled all the way out to Hwy 89 and had intended to go up to 14 and over to Cedar City but we'd dawdled so long on the Mt. Carmel Highway we just went up the road a piece. But, again it looked like fine fodder for the photographer. There was all kinds of interesting rural subjects to try and capture. So much to do. So little time. We'll spend more time here on our next visit that's a for sure.

So we bid fond farewell to Zion National Park and environs and look ahead to the next stop.

You can see all of our trip so far in high resolution at TRIP GALLERY.

Ciao for now,
Koty & Kinsey

©Kinsey Barnard

Happy in Hurricane

In the night and early morning we had quite a storm blow through. It cooled things off so that was welcome.

We took our time packing up for the twenty minute drive over to Hurricane. Once here we were so happy we made the move. The digs are 300% nicer than the ones in St. George. We have a little concrete patio and lots of grass. Road noise is at a minimum.

I declared this a day off, had lunch and took a nap. After the siesta we took a walk to check things out. We went from one end of town to the other which is mostly on the main drag. It looks like Hurricane has been through a whirlwind of development but is now suffering the consequences of a slowing economy. Many businesses are no more and the only visitors to the empty spaces are tumble weeds. Still, I can see why people would want to winter here. The weather is mild, in winter, and has an awful lot to offer the out door enthusiast. Hurricane is only about 17 miles from Zion National Park so it's very handy if that is your destination. Here's the Wiki on it.

We'll be heading out to Zion to hunt for photo ops.

Ciao for now,
Koty & Kinsey