This is for you, Bart!

This blog, and the adventure it describes, are dedicated to my friend, co-worker and fellow adventure lover, Bart.
Bart would prefer to be riding his Moto Guzzi down a scenic road,
but unfortunately he is limited by health issues.


My hat (helmet) is off to you, my friend, and I hope you will get some enjoyment from
reading about my little adventure until you are well enough to get back to planning your own.

Cheers,
Rick.
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Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.

- Helen Keller

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
but I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep.

- Robert Frost

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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Zion!

Zion National Park.
Wow.
Oh, man.
Wow.
I've never seen a place that was at the same time incredibly beautiful and so difficult to photograph.
If you've ever experienced the grandeur of Yosemite Valley, you know what I mean.
But Yosemite has viewpoints from a distance that allow you to capture the valley in a decent perspective.
In Zion Canyon, you are right up against the most massive walls you can imagine,
and you can't back up far enough to take a decent picture.
Shooting vertical photographs leave you with a perspective that is meaningless, with no context.
Another big difference between Yosemite and Zion: Color.
Yosemite is nearly all the same granite, where Zion's canyon walls are a rainbow of different types of sandstone.
 
The little road up Zion Canyon has been closed to private vehicles for some time,
since it is incapable of handling the volume of traffic.
Now they provide a free shuttle up and down the canyon, stopping at 9 different locations.
Get off when you like, overheat your camera, and then catch the next shuttle in a few minutes.
Chuckle... the shuttle has skylights/vents in the ceiling,
and people had to take pictures through the ceiling to capture the tops of the canyon walls.
 
All the while I was shooting photos, a little voice was telling how futile it was to
try to convey this magnificent landscape to others via a little portion of a computer screen.
So, good luck.
Just try to imagine you have a 100-inch screen and you are standing a foot away from it.
 
Camping tonight just outside of Bryce Canyon at around 6,000 ft. elevation.
Temperature forecast is in the 30's.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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