Ooooh Ahhhhhh (Point, that is)

One of the shorter hikes down into the Grand Canyon is on Kaibab Trail.   Two main trails lead to the bottom of the canyon .. Bright Angel and Kaibab.  We had been invited by Patty's co-workers to hike down about a mile to Ooh Ahh Point one evening, but we opted to make an early start Thursday morning instead.  Loaded up with enough water and food to last us 4-5 days, we took off on our 3 hour adventure!!!  Again, we were breaking the rules and heading into the "bus only" entrance, thinking that as in the past, this meant locals too.  Dan informed us later that this time we COULD have gotten in trouble, since here you need a sticker on your vehicle to park.  As we ascended down the trail, we came upon a mule that had collapsed and did not survive.  More on that later.  All around the rim the Yucca are in full seed.

Heading down below the rim, this is a very steep gravel-slippery trail.  Still, I can see myself trail running ... well, downhill anyway!

Everywhere you look are fantastic vistas with amazing colors.  Thankfully this trail is in the shade all morning long.

When we got to the Point, there were truly lots of Oooohs, Ahhhhs and Wows!  Not only from us, but from everyone who came hiking by.  I tried to talk Patty into moving out to the edge, but she would have none of it.  Smart girl!!!

I Love This Place!!!!

Course we weren't there five minutes when the local squirrel family showed up to check out our backpacks.  Knowing that they can carry many awful diseases, including plague, we not only kept our distance, but tried to shoo them away.  No such luck ...  He's chewing on Patty's walking stick!!!

I mentioned the mule above ... on our way back to the top, the helicopter came to lift the mule out of the canyon.  Although I got several images, I've chosen to only show the helicopter kicking up tons of dust.   We surmised what happened using our best forensic investigative skills on our return climb ...  Should you get hurt in the canyon, a similar helicopter will airlift you from the canyon for around $7,000.00.

Tonight will be another magnificent sunset due to the tropical storm coming in from Mexico.  Patty and I will be there with bells on!!

Trading Post Negotiations

My house is a representation of my adventures over the years, including the Chinese dining room, the Castle Keep entrance, the Tuscan kitchen (actually on my list), an eclectic living room for all the miscellaneous stuff and the Cowboy/Indian family room with rock fireplace and beam/wood ceilings.  A great addition would be an authentic Navajo blanket to adorn the floor to ceiling fireplace.  Which means BIG, which means expensive, which means a trip to the Cameron Trading Post to hopefully negotiate a reasonable price.  On the way is the Tower, by Architect Mary Colter.  It is an amazing creation at the edge of the eastern side of the South Rim, the interior of which is covered with hand painted Indian designs by a local native artist of that time.

If you look close, you can see small designs in the tower to create interest, including what looks like a condor head on the left side and hieroglyphics on the right.

Here is one image of the designs inside ... they cover all the walls ... and beautiful handmade pots act as lampshades.

Outside views are of course just as dramatic.

The trip to Cameron is just over 50 miles and along the way are many native Indian roadside stands where they sell their jewelry and pottery.  Of course we stopped at several of them.  At the very first we met a wonderful lady and I assume her daughter.  She told us the story of the Juniper berries they use in their jewelry, that the natives think it protects them ... so they even sew a few in their clothes to ensure they are not without sacred protection.  Just to show you HOW nice they were ... when Patty mentioned she was trying to make bracelets for the kids working with her at the general store (and they had broken), she was offered the wire necessary to make her own bracelets.  We were very impressed and returned on another day to purchase several of their bracelets.   Another 10 stops later for photo opps, we finally arrived at the trading post.  I had every intention of getting a blanket, but they were amazingly high priced ... well over $2000.   Since we had been told to look for the blue dot "sale" tag (ask us the sale price), we kept looking until I found the perfect one, priced at $2700!!!!  EEK!  I was however able to negotiate a price well UNDER $2000, much to Patty's surprise, and I left with my prize.

Again, the sales girl was nice enough to provide me with a picture of the lady who actually made it.  All of the wool is natural colors, made by combining different colored yarns to achieve lights and darks.  I can't wait to get it hung on my fireplace.  What could be better???  Hiking the Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point .... tomorrow.

Extreme Biking the Rim

Haven't got a clue what's happening to the font size here.  The draft looks good.  They must be having some problems .....


After lots of hiking and photography on Saturday, I snuck into the Fountain Shop and had a huge cup of ice cream.  Patty is watching her diet and I didn't want to sabotage her efforts ....  On Sunday, she and I hiked to Mather Point.  By now, I'm not sure which images are which.  Guess I need to take better notes of where I've been!!!  At any rate, later in the day Dan drove me to Grandview to check out photography sites on the East end of the rim.  I will be returning here later for evening pics.

That night, Dan cooked dinner for me since it was his day off.  BBQ steak, rice and yummy corn.  With that and the ice cream under my belt, I was quick to take up Dan's offer for a bike ride to Hermits Rest the next day.  I stole this picture from his blog site ... don't tell!!!!

We started out at his R.V. in Trailer Village ... well I'm liking this REALLY well!  It's almost all downhill ... what could be better?  Well let me tell you .. we rode to the beginning of the red route bus line, Dan loaded the bikes on the front and we "rode" the bus to Powell Point, where we disembarked for photo opps.  Extreme biking at it's best!!!  

From there, we rode on a path right next to the rim most of the way to Hermits Rest.  This is a good view of the canyon within a canyon, showing the Colorado River.  Dan spied 6 river raft boats coming down the river which I hoped to photograph.  Unfortunately they must have stopped for a break, because after 30 minutes and no sight of them, we continued on.

Pima Point was another great view ... although the smoke from the fire is still visible.

From Mohave Point we headed up to Hermits Rest where I easily talked Dan into ..... ice cream!!!  Hey, that bike ride had a few uphill parts that were breathtaking!!!  It's now late in the day and our dog family members would be waiting for dinner, so we jumped back on the bus for a short ride to Mohave Point, where we "ran the downhill" portion back to the start line.  Another great day!!!  Next on the schedule is a trip to Cameron Indian Trading Post with Patty!!!!

Grand Canyon Rim Trail

I decided to take a break on Friday ... I moved my RV inside the park to Trailer Village where I would stay for the next 10 days and set up camp.  Walking to Patty's Castle (yes, it is an RV, but believe me, it's a Castle on wheels!!) we met a couple of park employees who supplied us with information on good places to take images.  It was a secret held by few and we would be "breaking the rules" to embark on this adventure ... but I'm all in!!!  I was looking for golden hour images, and us photographers will do almost anything to get them.  We snuck up to the entrance trying to act like we knew what we were doing, punched in a code, the gates lifted and took off up the hill like we owned the place.  The following was taken at Pima Point ... I think.  There are so many points and we went to all of them multiple times.  Since Dan drives this route several times a week, hopefully he will correct me if I'm wrong!!!  Spectacular scenery!  A canyon within a canyon.  Most all of these images came straight from the camera.  You just don't need to mess with them!!!!  The little bit of haze was caused by a large fire on the North Rim ... the smoke just rolled into the canyon.

Don't think I drug Patty into this adventure ... on previous trips to the coast years ago, she carried scissors in her purse to "prune" pieces from strangers gardens that she might try to grow at her house!!!   Partners in crime, we tried to park the truck where we would receive the least attention .... This image was a "Oh my gosh ... STOP!!!"   We ran to the edge and got this shot of the sun hitting the rocks.  Again, no color adjustment.  Can you imagine living here for the summer?  I can and hope to next year.  

Everywhere we went, it was "look at that tree" and "look at that one .. wow!!"  Good thing Patty and I went alone.  If you weren't seriously interested in photography, you wouldn't want to be with us!  I have to say too that it doesn't matter what camera you have.  Patty carried her point and shoot and got spectacular images!!!

We spent several hours and were so proud that we did not get "caught" by the Rangers while on our adventure.  In fact, we planned on returning and continuing further up the canyon.  Unfortunately our "proud" balloons got busted when the kids Patty works with told her they know the code, as well as all the locals, which Dan confirmed that evening.   Kind of took the "sneaky fun" out of our adventure!!  The next time, we DID drive where we weren't supposed to, unknowingly .......... REALLY!!!

All the while here I was wishing I could get some lighting pictures.  There were a couple times it looked pretty promising, but it was not to be.  Good thing I guess, because Dan just mentioned in his blog that one of the most important parts of his job as a driver, is to get the tourists off the rim in bad weather due to lighting strikes.  It's just not something you think you have to worry about.  But worry you should, because yesterday a gentleman was hit by lighting at the rim on Dan's route.

Best Friends Reunited

After starting off with extreme 114 degree temperatures in Laughlin, I was again on the road to the Grand Canyon.  I spent one morning in Oatman taking burro pictures, then off to Keepers of the Wild on Old Route 66!  I was a little nervous since I wasn't seeing ANY traffic on this road ... just me and the trains ... but found them all parked at the Hackberry Store, continuously in business since the l900's, if not before.  But I was on a mission to meet up with Patty and Dan Chance in the Grand Canyon where they had been working for the summer.  I knocked on their door that first night, and it was like I had just seen them yesterday.  We spent many hours together in the "old" days, cruising on Harleys and took a few RV trips with them ...  from Sturgis to Canada and back ...  You just can't find nicer people!!!!

And off we went!  Patty walked my socks off.  At an elevation of 7000 feet, I was huffing and puffing after the first 10 feet (who's the runner???).  Over 6 miles later, I was having a hard time keeping up.  Patty gave me the grand tour of the South Rim, including all the bus lines, so I would be able to navigate while she and Dan were working ... Patty at the General Store and Dan as a shuttle bus driver.  We are on the Bright Angel Trail here going through a small tunnel.  There were OOHs and WOWs around every corner.  This place is magnificent!!!!

The Colorado River and the movement of the earth's plates, has created an amazing natural wonder.  As Patty stated at LEAST one hundred times ... I Love This Place!!!

Here she is standing at the rim ... and I mean, the rim.  You don't take a step backward anywhere here unless you look first.  Unlike Yosemite, there are very few railings as you walk along the South Rim.  There are however, signs everywhere that say "if you fall, you die!!"

We were on the far side of this canyon when we spied two packers bringing mules up the Bright Angel Trail.  Yup it's that steep!  Even more so in some places.  All of the supplies for the Phantom Ranch Lodge at the bottom, are carried by these mules.  Pretty tough guys in my eyes ... the temperature at the top ran around 85 degrees ... at the bottom of the canyon, 100+.   Now THERE's a job for me!!!!!

Further on, Patty wanted to show me the fossil beds.  Fossils???  At the top of the rim???  Come to find out, this used to be a lakebed.   It is covered with a layer of silt, now rock, called Kaibab ... and in it are an amazing number of fossils.  Everywhere you look we could see sea shells and small creatures.  More on this later, as they have a Ranger guided Fossil Walk with I did on my last day in the park.

So that's the first day ... I'm exhausted and ready for one of Patty's famous casseroles.  As the Casserole Queen, she did not disappoint!  This girl can cook ... and it's healthy!!!!!  Sorry Dan for eating all your next day lunches!!!

Boron ... land of no electricity!!

Hi all ... sorry I haven't been posting.  I went on an extended trip to the Grand Canyon to visit with my old friends Patty and Dan Chance.  Of course my internet service did not work.  I thought since I was in Boron California on my way back, that I would get good service, which I did.  Well at least for 20 minutes until the huge thunderstorm showed up with 60 mph winds, thunder, lighting and rain that goes sideways (you know that funny noise they make on the radio for severe weather warnings?????).  So no more power and my computer is on red red red.  Guess I'll get back to this tomorrow when I get home.  I'll post stories and pics of each day there.  It was the best RV trip I've EVER taken!!!

Burros and Tigers

Not usually spoken in the same sentence, but when seen in the same day, it's an experience.  I finally arrived in Laughlin to a melting 114 degrees.  You won't see any pictures of Laughlin because I was inside the RV with the dogs, trying to stay under 100 degrees while I figured out how to reset every circuit breaker that exists!  My plan was to stay 3 days and travel around the area, but after one night, I was off to cooler heights.  I spent the first half of the next day touring Oatman .. NOT a ghost town (yet anyway) ... but an old west mining town struggling to survive.

The original buildings still stand ... named something else originally (which escapes me now), it was named after Olive Oatman, who was captured by Indians when she was 7 or 8 years old.  She lived with them and married a native.  At some point, she returned to the forts, where it was discovered that she had survived.  Here is her picture ...

The lines on her chin are the tattoos of the Indians she lived with.  Oatman has an historic hotel that was the site of Clark Gable and Carol Lombards honeymoon after they were married.

Oatman is more renown for its wild burros who inhabit every corner.  On my way there, I found the locals parked on the side of the road in the shade of an old building.

Four Jennies and one Jack along with four brand new babies.  

The babies have stickers on their foreheads saying not to feed them.  Carrots and hay cubes are their favorites, which can be purchased in town and fed to them; however that is not good for the babies.

I have about 300 images of them ... but I'm sure you have seen enough.  Next stop is Keepers of the Wild, a wildlife refuge in the middle of nowhere, where loving people save animals destined for death, basically.  They have everything you can imagine, but mostly tigers it seems.  Please go to their website .. Keepers of the Wild in Arizona ... and make a donation.  They are doing this all on their own and truly deserve your help.

It was feeding time, as you can see he's salivating.  He went crazy when he heard the meat wagon coming.  

The enclosures these guys are in are chain ink fences, each VERY high and VERY big.  They have more room to roam in each cage than my horses do in my back yard.  Bet they think they are in heaven.

Yes, I have another 300 images of these guys too!!!  They are just so gorgeous.

At last I'm off, still on old Route 66, to the Grand Canyon.  

Nerves of Steel

I don't have them yet, but taking off in an RV by yourself helps build them.  I'm always stressed about finding fuel, and yet it has not been a problem so far.  At least not until the "Trucker" GPS told me to take Goffs Road, Old Route 66 Highway to get to Laughlin.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  First we (Cooper, Jessie and I) had to climb Tehachapi Pass.  At the top are windmills ... not turning, but windmills none the less.

Once over the pass, there is really nothing to look at.  The road just goes on forever.

I had a route all planned out and thought my GPS must be telling me to go the same way .... it wasn't.  56 miles on a narrow two lane road with no cars, trucks or fuel in sight.  The stress level increased with every mile.  What I did pass was five of the longest freight trains I've ever seen.  I can't believe it ... I've become the "window" photographer.  No place to stop and it's very hard to drive in your lane and take pictures with one hand.  So I apologize for any that are a little fuzzy!!  
First train ......

Second Train .....

First Train again ...

Ok, that's enough.  They all looked pretty much the same.  Finally with a huge sigh of relief, I start a long 15 mile downhill stretch (1/4 tank of fuel left) into Laughlin where I will stay for 3 days.

or NOT!!!   OMG!!!  The temperature here is 114 ... in case you don't believe me, here's a really bad picture of my truck gauge.

Finally got to Riverside Casino RV park ... very nice and huge!!  Good thing I have electrical hookups ... my a.c. has been running for over an hour and I think it's 90 in here now.  I'm definitely going to get my $30 worth!!.    Poor dogs ... I soaked them with water and the cool air is finally easing their panting.  Not sure if I'm staying here or not.  I'm going to take an early morning trip to Oatman for pictures.  Will probably leave the dogs here and not stay in Oatman long.  Can't take a chance of the a.c. going out.  Looking forward to tomorrow.

Yosemite By Moonlight

Another sojourn to Yosemite National Park, one of my favorite places to be.  Especially since I can now get in free ... well, $10.00 for a lifetime pass, but that counts as free.  This time for another beautiful full moon, which by the way you can't see unless you leave the park.  The mountain walls are too high and the moon too far south.  What we DO get is moonlight for pictures.  We spent the first couple hours taking images of ferns, flowers and miscellaneous "stuff", waiting for the main feature.

Gee .. flowers you say.  The trials of getting this image are great.  First I slid down the cliff carrying 20 pounds of camera and tripod, with keys and other miscellaneous equipment swinging from lanyards around my neck ... to the swamp!  Do you know what grows in swamps besides flowers?  Mosquitos ... BIG ones!!!  By the time I got my tripod set up low to the ground in order to take this picture, I was bitten numerous times, had wet tennis shoes and very wet dirty knees on my jeans.  Finally ready to take the picture ... the wind starts blowing.  What you get are lots of blurry images, since the shutter speed needs to be very slow due to the fading light.  So one out of 35 flower pics isn't bad, right??
Here's the swamp ... so you can visualize the conditions .....

Next we're off to try painting with light.  We each picked a tree or object we wanted lit, but by now it's pitch dark.  Traipsing through the meadow with camera, tripod, same stuff around my neck but adding a flashlight (wrist mounted), an SB900 flash (big and heavy) and pieces of gel to cover the flash and add color.  Shutter times now are anywhere from 45 seconds to 5 minutes.  It takes as long for the camera to produce the image in the display (so you can see where to set the camera since it's so dark you can't really see through the viewfinder!!)  as it does for it to take the image.  Lots of patience and waiting in this game.  First results are here ... orange gel.

In case you are interested, 400 iso, F 3.5 for 45 seconds.  You set the camera on "bulb", push the shutter button, place the gel over the flash and hold it where you want the light, setting off the flash.  When the shutter finally trips after 45 seconds, this is what you get.  The first few times I got beautiful light on the grass in front of me and on the photographer next to me.  What I REALLY needed was a helper to work the flash and lure the mosquitos away.  My favorite red gel was next.

The first few images had a little too much red in them.  My photographer/nurse friend Cyndy said they  looked like blood vessels ... yuck!!  You can also use a flashlight, running it over the areas you want highlighted ... but it's not as dramatic as the gels.

Okay, I'm tired of fumbling around with all this equipment.  Time for just a straight moonlight lit image of El Capitan.  I have to say nature does an amazing job.  When I got back, I put this image in Photoshop and went to work on it.  I made several adjustments, then compared that image to the original.  The original with no adjustments was so much better!!!  I deleted the shopped one and kept the original ... here it is!!

I love this image.  So that's it ... I was up at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning in order to acquire an entry registration to the Nike Womens Marathon.  I stood in line in Stockton for 3.75 hours and had to spend $215 (I got the entry) ... back by 1:00 p.m., I couldn't nap because my dog wanted to play ... and play ... and ... you get the picture.  I finally got home from Yosemite at 12:30 a.m.  Hence it has taken me two days to rest up and get these posted!!  LOL  Note to self:  leave a can of OFF mosquito spray in the truck and let someone else drive so you can sleep!!!

Garden Hose Summer Fun!

It's 105 degrees here today ... nothing compared to other areas where it's upwards of 118 ... but when the mercury rises, you can be sure the kids will play with sprinklers and garden hoses in the back yard.  My kids are no different ...

These guys aren't your typical kids, but they do love to play in the water when it is hot.  Not great images, since it's pretty hard to hold the hose, shoot the picture between the fence rails and not get soaked myself.  Showboy on the left and Remy on the right.  We three stood here for about 30 minutes getting soaked and cooling off.

These two guys were my cutting horses for many years.  They are retired now, like me and are obviously very spoiled, since I'm standing in 105 degrees cooling THEM off!!  They love to have the hose actually in their mouth.  Both mouths are open here!!  LOL

Lovely perspective of a fuzzy nose!!  They would stand here all day if I would keep the hose on.

Okay, not everyone wants to look at my horses mouths, so here's the last one.  Showboy got a good teeth cleaning ... they are fighting for control of the flow!!!!

After 30 minutes of cooling off resulting in a large mud puddle for Cooper the poodle to run through, I turned the water off.  Tomorrow has even hotter weather predicted.  I suppose you will see me out at the fence around 2:00 .......