Doin Stuff: August 2006

ARCHES IN THE SNOW

Arches National Park is beautiful anytime, we had never seen it in the snow, that is something that doesn't happen often in southern Utah.

we were unprepared for the fog, it took two days to lift and was only lifted for a short time. We took these few in that length of time.

It was mid-January

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ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

Arches National Park

Moab, Utah

Red rock sandstone cliffs, giant balanced rocks, slender monoliths, the red rock formations appear to be giant sculptures.
Arches National Park contains the world’s largest concentration of natural sandstone arches.
2,000 arches are located within the parks 76,518 acres.
From the new, this year, visitors center take the 18 mile scenic drive. Many of the rock formations are visible from the road with numerous pullouts and view points.
This is a landscape, sculpted by nature. Spectacular displays of eroding Entrada and Navajo sandstone, shape the scenes. The Entrada sandstone is the beautiful dark, salmon color and Navajo is the lighter, desert buff. Making a beautiful contrast.
Manganese and iron appear as black streaks on exposed rock surfaces to add to the beauty.
Photography opportunities here are endless. The landscape with naturally occurring geologic wonders, sandstone fins, pinnacles and spires.
The beauty is left to the eye of the beholder to capture uniquely through their lens.
A great way to start this and every excursion into a National park is to stop at the visitor’s center.
Arches National Park visitor center is open all year. There is a very informative 15 minute movie for your information on the history on the park.
Today new arches are being formed and old ones are being destroyed. Erosion and weather are relatively slow but are relentless, creating dynamic land forms that gradually change over time.
Take nothing but pictures.
Waste nothing but time.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

INSIDE SLOT CANYON

ANTELOPE SLOT CANYON

Entrance
Slot canyon, just the name of it is intriguing. A narrow crevice cut through rock, by water and wind over thousands of years.
I had seen pictures and wanted more information.
Slot canyon, corkscrew, petrified sand dunes, my imagination ran wild.
Limitations to go to see the canyon just added to the mystery. On Navajo Indian land in Page, Arizona, accessible only with a guide.
My choice of tour was Roger Ekis, Antelope Canyon Tours. Navajo owned and operated. The month was December.
A Navajo guide, in a jeep, took us to a mysterious spot in the desert.
The outside looks like a crack in the stone wall or maybe an entrance to a cave.
Once you enter it is and amazing fantasy world of stone, carved by nature.
The darkness inside makes you stop for a minute so your eyes can adapt. The floor is sand, the canyon walls are solid rock and smooth.
Looking skyward we can see the light filtering through the crevices. Every month is a different color scheme, according to the suns position. Our palette, of color was purple, yellow and orange. This is transmitted by the sunlight filtering down from above and bouncing off the canyon walls.
In the summer months the shafts of light, makes light beams, streaming down from the top to the canyon floor. The brilliant sun shafts make the canyon walls different colors.
It is a fragile canyon, only a quarter mile long and one hundred thirty feet deep.
When you get to the end of the quarter mile, you go outside and come back in. It is a much different view than when you were going to other way.
A visual delight that leaves you breathless.
If you go: Page, Arizona is on the Utah, Arizona border near Lake Powell, Utah.
Roger Ekis Antelope Canyon Tours
This story was published in Frommers Budget Travel Magazine March 2004. All rights reserved by Barb Nelson

THE VISTA HOUSE

One of the most photographed sites on the Columbia River Gorge.

Standing 733 feet above the Columbia River, it is a memorial to the Oregon Pioneers.

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HISTORIC COLUMBIA RIVER HIGHWAY

Construction of the historic highway started in 1913 and completed in 1922.

It was considered one of the greatset engineering feats in the modern age.The engineer worked delegently to showcase the many waterfalls and the other beautiful places on the route through the Columbia River Gorge. It is the first highway designated a National Histoic Landmark.

It stone guard rail and graceful arches, all laid by hand, are typical of the highways exquiset crafstmanship. You can connect to this highway from Troutdale or The Dalles, Oregon.

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THE BEAUIFUL MAIDEN

By artist A. Vincen Talbot
Boise, Idaho

SACAJAWEA'S CHOICE

Sacajawea’s Choice

If she could talk she would agree, this is the absolute best place for her to be.
Salmon, Idaho by the river and mountains where she was abducted ,overlooking her homeland.
The Sacajawea Interpretive Center in a 71 acre park dedicated to Sacajawea, her people, and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
This beautiful center interprets the history and the significance of her role with the Corp of Discovery.
It is a lasting legacy for Sacajawea, the Shoshone Nation, the community of Salmon and the world.
We went to check out the center last summer. All of the flower’s were in bloom and it was truly a heavenly place. So fitting for the beautiful Indian maiden who gave so much and got so little in return.
The magnificent statue of Sacajawea and he baby Pomp is realistic and beautiful.
It is a great complement to the artist, A. Vincen Talbot. She is a disciplined historical researcher who insists on authenticity and detail in her work.
You will want to spend some time here, to get the feel ,of Sacajawea’s spirit. She is home at last.
Others will tell you Sacajawea went back to her homeland in Wyoming, married several times and had more children. Living to a rip old age.
On the Wind River Reservation near Lander, Wy. They have a grave for her and John Baptiste, her baby. A monument in her honor.
We have gone to the monument in Wyoming and Salmon, Idaho. I have read and listened to the stories of her life and death.
It is my opinion that she is from Salmon, Idaho.
Or is she? I am from Idaho. Is it I just want a piece of her to say in Idaho?
Just like they do in Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota?
There is this beautiful center in her honor in Idaho, a burial memorial site in Wyoming, a simple monument to her in South Dakota and North Dakota.
You will have to decide which story you want to believe.

SACAJAWEA'S HOME

CENTER OF CANYON COUNTRY

HORSE SHOE BEND OVERLOOK When a subject as beautiful as the Horse Shoe Bend Overlook, the challenge for the photographer is when to stop.

Located in Page, Az., the northern part of the state and on the southern shores of the magnificent Lake Powell, Utah

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WYOMING HAS THE OLD WEST

Chevy trucks,cowboys, and apple pie.
Some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States.
It has places, like Jackson Hole with its old wooden boardwalks and elk antler arch,from the elk heard that winters there.
You can even take a real stage coach ride.

IT'S THE MOUNTAINS

The rugged Teton Peaks, people come from all over the world to film them. They have been seen in many movie films for years.

WIND RIVER

On the Wind River Reservation is a grave site of Sacajawea and John Baptiese,she is thought to have been from Wyoming by some.

PIONEERS

There are many pioneer crossings that are noted with signs along the roadways.
Places like Morman Handcart and Newspaper Rock,
Trails,Oregon Trail where the old wagon wheel ruts can still be seen today.
The Morman trail cutoff at Southpass.

WYOMING

Wyoming has it all.
They have animals that are not seen just everywhere. They roam along side roadways,and loose in Yellowstone Park.
Animals like grizzly bear, elk, antelope and coyotes.
If you visit Yellowstone Park you can see all of them, plus hot pools, and Old Faithful.