guitarjamman
Junior Member
Took the old man and the brothers on a camping trip to see Rainbow Bridge in Arizona, then over to Utah to hike Buckskin Gultch a few weeks ago. First to start, I am extremely jealous of the members here who live in that area - Heaven on Earth. I try to get out there once every few years but it life has a strange way of getting in the middle. We have hiked the Grand Canyon numerous times and Zion a few times. Bryce Canyon is one of my favorite spots, a sunrise in the heart of the park out there is to die for....
Anyways, I wanted to share a select few photos with you folks:
At the trail head along Navajo Mountain straddling the Utah/Arizona border, there is an old brick building that photographed pretty well. It is sad to say, but the natives out there who live on the preserves do not have much better for permanent housing. I know inner-city poverty can be oppressive, but it seems in the desolate county side the word "poor" gets taken to a whole new level. Every person I met on our trip had a heart of gold though; I quickly got the impression that if you needed a piece of food, the last slice of bread in the house would be given up out of generosity. I try my hardest not to perpetuate the typical Northeasterner attitude and feel I do pretty well, but the size of everyone's heart in the southwest is enough to make me weak at the knees.
Here is a neat little panoramic I shot at a rest area along the trail, this was about 6 hours into the hike and our elevation remained constant at around 6,300 feet. Scenery was absolutely stunning around every corner.
After camping on the trail for a night and another full day of hiking (we were stopping to smell the roses and taking in the atmosphere) we reached the Rainbow Bridge. This picture does not do any justice to the sheer awesomeness of this place. The bridge is about 300' tall and has a massive presence when you come upon it. The temperature was around 85 degrees when the photo was shot and you can still see snow on the mountains in the background (about 4,000' feet higher). Pretty neat
After hiking back out we drove about 5 hours into Utah to begin our adventures in the Buckskin Gultch. Again the photos may be neat, but to see it in person is unbelievable. The gultch is a neat little slot canyon with walls about 200' high on both sides and a width of no more than 5' in certain areas. It rained a few days before we got there so there was some DEEP standing water - side note, in the picture of my brothers you can see the water level lines when it flows (no way you could make it out alive if a flash flood came through).
Another neat shot of the nooks and crannies carved out in the walls
I would recommend visiting either of these two places to anyone who wants to see the beauty mother nature has tucked away.
-Z
Anyways, I wanted to share a select few photos with you folks:
At the trail head along Navajo Mountain straddling the Utah/Arizona border, there is an old brick building that photographed pretty well. It is sad to say, but the natives out there who live on the preserves do not have much better for permanent housing. I know inner-city poverty can be oppressive, but it seems in the desolate county side the word "poor" gets taken to a whole new level. Every person I met on our trip had a heart of gold though; I quickly got the impression that if you needed a piece of food, the last slice of bread in the house would be given up out of generosity. I try my hardest not to perpetuate the typical Northeasterner attitude and feel I do pretty well, but the size of everyone's heart in the southwest is enough to make me weak at the knees.
Here is a neat little panoramic I shot at a rest area along the trail, this was about 6 hours into the hike and our elevation remained constant at around 6,300 feet. Scenery was absolutely stunning around every corner.
After camping on the trail for a night and another full day of hiking (we were stopping to smell the roses and taking in the atmosphere) we reached the Rainbow Bridge. This picture does not do any justice to the sheer awesomeness of this place. The bridge is about 300' tall and has a massive presence when you come upon it. The temperature was around 85 degrees when the photo was shot and you can still see snow on the mountains in the background (about 4,000' feet higher). Pretty neat
After hiking back out we drove about 5 hours into Utah to begin our adventures in the Buckskin Gultch. Again the photos may be neat, but to see it in person is unbelievable. The gultch is a neat little slot canyon with walls about 200' high on both sides and a width of no more than 5' in certain areas. It rained a few days before we got there so there was some DEEP standing water - side note, in the picture of my brothers you can see the water level lines when it flows (no way you could make it out alive if a flash flood came through).
Another neat shot of the nooks and crannies carved out in the walls
I would recommend visiting either of these two places to anyone who wants to see the beauty mother nature has tucked away.
-Z
