A Little Adventure

More old stuff… A developer purchased a number of buildings next to where we live with the intention of demolishing them and building some condos in their place. It was quite fascinating to watch the buildings being demolished. We all spent way too much time in front of the window watching the demolition happen.

This was on the first or second day. There was a two level parking structure that needed to be torn down. They just used this front end loader. The operator would literally pound on the top level until it gave way. We could easily feel and hear the demolition those first couple of days. Milo certainly didn’t get his afternoon nap

Milo loved to watch the demolition.

More pounding action…

Milo hadn’t played with this loader too much. Now that he caught the vision of how it can be used he gets it out and plays with it quite often.

There were a couple of houses in addition to the commercial property that were demolished. This is a picture of the loader driving on top of the rubble from what used to be a two story home.

I am just clearing out the cruft that has been hanging around half done for a little bit. Each year just after Thanksgiving my mother makes gingerbread houses. It is a great family tradition that we all enjoy. Milo is getting old enough that he enjoys it as well. Here are a few photos from his decorating experience this year (2006).

It takes lots of concentration to get that candy on just right…

Success!!!!

Did I mention it takes concentration?

He was so proud of himself.

Milo and I have been going to the library once a month for several months now. Milo loves going to the library. We usually get anywhere from 8 to 10 (or a few more) books each time we go. Milo has his most favorite books that we have to keep looking for. He really likes the Arthur books and David Shannon’s “A Bad Case of the Stripes.” I can occasionally talk him in to trying some new books.

Milo likes to sit with all his books on his soccer ball and “read” them while he watches TV. He also gets very excited after we’ve gone to the library and has to tell Scott and his aunts which books he got.

About a month or so ago, a few days after we’d been to the library, we found that Milo had ripped one of the pages of a library book completely out of the book. We put them up and told him that he’d have to tell the ladies at the library that he was sorry and see if they could fix the book. After that, Milo needed to have Mom and Dad help him when he read his library books. After we got that taken care of, whenever he would find a book that had been ripped and fixed, he would tell us that the book was ripped. We would ask him if he did it and then find that it had been fixed. He seems to be very conscious about the fact that he can’t rip his library books, which is a very good thing.

I hope that he continues to enjoy reading and learning about new things through books.

For Christmas, Milo received an alarm clock. We thought this was a great idea because we could then teach him how to tell time. Why would you teach a 3 year old to tell time? Well, he often wakes up very early in the morning, and we were hoping to teach him to go back to sleep without waking us up when he wakes up before 6 a.m.

Before going to bed, Scott told him that he couldn’t wake up in the morning until the the first number on the left said 7. This didn’t work so well as Milo would see that the clock said 8:07 and say “Dad, it says 7, time to wake up” before he even went to bed. Scott decided that he would fix the problem by covering up all the minutes and only leave the hour exposed. That has seemed to work much better…

For a few weeks now, Milo has been waking up before 7. We have him trained that if we are still in bed, to just go out and turn on the TV until we wake up. Scott is normally awake before he is. The other thing that helps him know what time it is in the morning is the timing of when his favorite cartoons are on. One of the first ones he watches comes on at 7. We try to encourage him to stay in bed until that point. It sometimes works.

The best part of this whole thing is that Milo uses this same tactic to get Scott and I to get out of bed. He comes into our room and taps on our alarm clock and says “Mom (or Dad), it says 7, time to wake up.” It seems that I’ve been woken up several mornings with Milo’s jovial little “it says 7, time to wake up.”

Scott’s biggest concern about doing the Wave was the weather. When we got our permit on Friday, there was a negligible chance of rain predicted for Monday. By the time Friday night rolled around, there was a 40% chance of rain predicted. We were most concerned about the road, because it is posted as “impassable when wet.” The primary danger is that the road is mostly clay. The clay becomes very slippery and difficult to navigate when wet. As Monday neared, it seemed that the storm was splitting. Our hope was that if it did rain along the road it wouldn’t rain hard enough or long enough to cause us any problems.

When we woke up this morning we decided to take a little bit longer than planned getting ready and eating breakfast with the hope that sunrise would reveal promising weather. The sky looked reasonable, so we headed out to House Rock Road and the Wire Pass trailhead. We started on the hike, and the weather was actually fantastic. There really isn’t a trail, but we were able to easily find our way with the BLM provided directions.

The weather was VERY nice…

Scott’s pre-trip reading had described a short exploration along the trail leading to some interesting rock formations, dubbed “lace rocks.” With some basic directions in hand, Scott left Monica and Milo along the trail while he went looking for these rock formations. The basic directions were adequate to find these very fragile yet beautiful formations. Scott snapped a few quick photos and headed back to find Monica and Milo. The area is spectacular and definitely deserves more attention on a subsequent trip.

One lace rock formation.

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Another lace rock formation

While Monica and Milo were waiting, Milo played with a stick and hitting anything he could find. It was pretty funny. Scott returned, and we were on our way again. We then quickly came to what we consider the worst section of the hike. Hiking up a hill of deep sand. Monica didn’t enjoy this much at all but survived and made it to the Wave. The weather was actually really nice up to this point. Once we got to the Wave, it started to get a little windy and it looked like a storm was coming in. Scott did a bit of exploring and we had a nice lunch. We were lucky in that no one else had bothered to show up yet. This meant that we had quite a bit of time to just sit and take in the scenery. Fantastic stuff!

Monica and Milo as they entered the wave.

Happy hikers..they made it to their destination.

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Some brain rocks…

A vee…this was a very colorful area.

A token abstract image.

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Lunch at the wave…

After lunch Scott gave Monica & Milo directions to a few interesting formations while he did some other exploring. They looked around some and liked what they saw. Milo climbed up some of the waves and was sliding down. He seemed to like it. Monica and Milo were waiting for Scott and it was getting pretty windy and cold. When Scott finally finished his exploration, he came to find Monica and Milo. We decided it would be best to get going back to the car. Milo was getting cold and restless. On the way back it decided to start sprinkling, so we picked up the pace and hoped the storm didn’t get any stronger. The storm didn’t pick up and we made it back to the car and paved road without incident. The warnings about getting back are sound. Due to the lack of easy to follow landmarks (i.e. the notch) more attention to the route is required on the return leg of the trip.

This is known as the second wave.

I think this is called Hamburger Rock…at least it looks like a hamburger to me…

When the alarm clock went off for Scott to wake-up and leave for a sunrise date with Horseshoe Bend he considered ignoring it and going back to sleep. He eventually decided it would be a good idea to shoot Horseshoe Bend in the morning and rolled out of bed. When he arrived and witnessed sunrise he wasn’t disappointed. The bend wasn’t crowded at all. There was only one other photographer there. Scott was able to shoot from his preferred spot based on scouting from the previous day. The sun came up for a bit and then went behind a cloud. It was nice to be able to get some shots with the low angle rays and then some more with some muted light.

Before going out to photograph Horseshoe Bend Scott happened upon this Horseshoe Bend photographic study. Scott thought it was very nice. He decided to do something along that line. Below are three very similar panoramics of Horseshoe Bend. The first is taken before sunrise when there aren’t any shadows in the bend and the sky doesn’t have much detail although there is a touch of color. The second is taken as the cliffs in the background begin to light up. The third is taken when the sun went behind a cloud leaving a more detailed sky but fewer shadows in the bend.

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We decided that it would be nice to spend some time in Monument Valley. It was only a two hour trip from Page, so it seemed like a crime to not drop by this icon of the American West. We started on the adventure about 10:30 that morning with the hope of being around for some nice late afternoon light. Monument Valley is on Navajo lands (as is Antelope Canyon), so we were limited by their restrictions. The hours of Monument Valley for the self-guided tour are very restrictive and eliminate the opportunity to be in the valley during sunrise and sunset (they close at 4:30 p.m. during the winter months). We decided to do the self-guided car tour for our first visit. They request that you don’t deviate from the self-guided tour road and don’t leave the viewing areas to hike closer to the sights. We did our best to stay on the road although it wasn’t particularly well-signed. It was a fun and interesting journey. We saw the Mittens (or as Monica called them…The Gloves), the Three Sisters, Elephant Butte, Camel Butte, Totem Pole, Artist Point and of course the thumb. You could see many of these formations up close, but you had to go on a tour to do that. We didn’t have time for that. There also is a self-guided hike around one of the mittens, but we didn’t have time for that either. We did have an enjoyable time. We would certainly like to go back and see some more things.

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This is the view from the visitor center viewing area. It is quite spectacular.

Requisite family photo with the mittens in the background

How about an artsy tinted black and white photo of the mittens from a cliche viewpoint.

This image represented so much of what Monument Valley is about. A nice formation, a dirt road, and a colorful home.

Do you think that Milo does much else?

The Totem Pole…that I believe was made famous by a John Wayne movie. I didn’t find it that spectacular or photogenic, but apparently it is historic.

Driving along the dirt road we picked up a lot of red dirt on our back bumper. At each stop Milo would take the liberty to wipe the dust off the back bumper with his coat sleeve. What a nice little boy.

When we stopped at Artist’s Point, Milo dutifully cleaned the dust off the car bumper. Dad still wasn’t done taking photos, so Milo started to entertain himself by running back and forth along the handrail. Dad thought it was cute, so he took a few photos. Milo wasn’t amused and finally said, “No more!”

When Scott first saw photos of Antelope Canyon he was mesmerized. It was incredibly beautiful and not like anything he had ever seen before. He really wanted to go and see it with his own two eyes. Since that time Scott has explored and photographed a few slot canyons, so some of the novelty has worn off. He has also grown to dislike taking photographs while fighting with the crowds. All that said Scott was a bit worried that Antelope Canyon would be a disappointment. The canyon didn’t disappoint although the other tourists were worse than expected. Scott was taking some longer exposures (on the order of 10 seconds). There was another fellow with a tripod and camera who walked right through Scott’s frame without even asking if his shutter was open. He was not too pleased. It is a narrow place and easy to walk in front of other people’s exposures. Scott had just hoped for more courtesy. All of that said Scott did manage to get a few decent images (although the dynamic range of the place makes it very difficult).

One of the tumbleweeds that you will find sitting around the canyon in what appeared to be strategic locations.

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This is the first “room” you will find upon entering the canyon.

The unexpectedly interesting part of the tour was the people we met. Scott had read about a guide named Dalvin (http://www.navajotours.com/) who gave a very good tour and also played his flute in the canyon. Our tour guide just explained the basics and turned us loose to photograph the canyon. Dalvin’s group was following ours, so Scott listened in a bit to what Dalvin had to say. It was very interesting. After we had left the canyon, we stopped to talk to Dalvin for a few minutes. He was a really great guy. He told us that his philosophy during the tour is to impart information and tidbits about the Navajo culture and people during his tour. That is why he plays his flute and discusses the history of the canyon as it relates to the Navajo. Scott really liked his ideas about the tour and respected his point of view. We think the next time we go to Antelope Canyon we will have Dalvin guide us. Scott has also heard a lot of good things about another guide who does a lot of guiding in the area named Jackson Bridges. Scott was taking some photographs near the entrance to the canyon when Jackson Bridges walked in and started up a conversation. One thing lead to another and Jackson introduced himself. Scott said a few nice things and Jackson gave Scott his card. Maybe we will have to use Jackson as a guide sometime in the future as well. That would certainly help compensate for our lack of 4WD vehicle….and more importantly Scott’s lack of driving skillz

After Antelope Canyon, we drove down to the Navajo Bridges/Lee’s Ferry area. We decided that since we were there we should stop and see the Navajo bridges. It was very interesting. The Colorado River went under the bridges and the water looked green with the sunlight shining on it. It was very cool. Scott read a few signs and learned that the bridge was the only place to cross the Colorado for about 600 miles when it was originally built. We didn’t learn much more about the bridges because the visitor’s center was closed. As we were leaving we had the most unfortunate incident of the trip… Milo was running around like the crazy little boy that he is and let his hand run across an old wooden picnic table resulting in a huge sliver in his hand. He immediately started crying. Scott had a band-aid in his backpack which helped reduce some of the trauma…but not much. We decided that we would skip going out to see Lee’s Ferry because Milo was still screaming like a stuck pig. We headed back to the hotel and let Milo watch the Disney channel. A couple of hours later we went out to go to the store and to get some dinner. Milo did not want us to take the sliver out. We insisted and managed to get it out despite his constant protests. After Milo’s bath later that night, Scott removed a piece of sliver-damaged skin from Milo’s hand. Milo didn’t like that much either. Milo even made a comment about both incidents the next day. He must have been very traumatized…

Today was the big day. We would find out if we were able to get a permit to the wave or not. We showed up at the Kanab BLM office around 8:45 a.m. or so. When I arrived they already had more than 10 applications for Saturday. This meant there would be a lottery for the permits on Saturday. Sunday was filling up quickly. We didn’t want to have to stay around until Tuesday, so Scott put in our application for Monday. It worked out well as they only had 8 applications for Monday. The lottery was an amazing spectacle. Of the 40 permits they had to give out (because Monday was a holiday they issued permits for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday) they gave out 35 of them (and I presume a few of the remaining 5 were picked up later in the day). One fellow walked away empty handed, but I think everyone else managed to find a day that worked for them. It was really kind of crazy.

Having done our duty there we hit the road and headed for the Rimrock Hoodoos. The hike to the main hoodoos area was short and easy. We spent some time exploring and having a good time. There are actually a number of different formations if you take the time to look around. This is a great little hike that I recommend to everyone. Milo really had a great time on this hike.

This is the so called “Toadstool Hoodoo.” As you are hiking in you can see several hoodoos on the ridge, but this is the first hoodoo you can see as you round the corner. It is a beautiful hoodoo.

A different view of the Toadstool hoodoo and a friendly neighborhood hoodoo.

Another hoodoo in the area.

The fam hanging out w/ the hoodoos.

Milo and his hoodoo friends.

Monica and Milo waiting for Scott to finish taking some photos.

This hoodoo has started to fall down. If you look to the left you will see the piece of rock that has broken off the cap. I presume that “shortly” the rest will follow suit. Nature is constantly changing her beautiful formations. It is sad when we as humans accelerate that process…

If you take a short walk around the corner there is a section full of white hoodoos…very beautiful.

Of course…what Milo really wanted to do was play in the sand.

We then headed down Cottonwood Canyon road for our final stop of the day, Yellow Rock. Scott had read that the trail was steep and potentially tricky at the start. It is often hard to tell what that means, so he figured we would give it a whirl. When we found the spot where we picked up the first chunk of elevation it became clear that this wasn’t a hike for Monica (in her current condition) and Milo. They returned to the car while Scott promised to do a quick exploration of the area and return in a couple of hours. The trail was steep but not too difficult. As soon as you gain the top of the ridge it is like you have entered a different world. There are a couple sections of very jagged rocks. It is like a movie set or something. Then you arrive at Yellow Rock. It is a beautifully different chunk of sandstone. The whole area is just ripe for exploration. This is definitely on Scott’s list of places to visit again.

Scott titled this image “Rock Cemetary.” There seemed to be headstones sticking up and just a general mayhem around that said “Leave me alone.”

This is the turtle rock attempting to eat the leafless bush.

Castle Rock can be seen off in the distance from the top of Yellow Rock.

There are some interesting rock formations around the base of Yellow Rock.

The huge hunk of sandstone itself.

When we woke up on Thursday morning it was snowing in Salt Lake. That was depressing, but we hurried and finished our preparations to leave. Milo was excited to go on a trip and play in the sand, but the drive was just a bit long for his taste. He was pretty bored by the time we hit Provo. We arrived in St. George without incident. The weather was basically perfect. We were glad to have left the rotten weather in the SLC behind.

We had planned to pass the afternoon and evening in Snow Canyon SP. Scott’s grandparents had told us about an area of Snow Canyon SP called the Whiterock Amphitheatre that is just north of the northern entrance to Snow Canyon SP. We decided to hit that area first. It was a very nice little hike to start off the trip. Milo enjoyed playing in the sand. He found a steep slope and created a slide down the sand hill. He really enjoyed himself. Scott found some very cool sand “sculptures” to grab his photographic interest. We eventually decided that it was time to leave and had to forcefully pull Milo away from the sand slide.

Milo running up to the top of the slide

Milo at the top of his slide

Milo sliding down the sand

An amazing sand sculpture.

Still sliding down the rock…his mother was elated

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out near the Petrified Dunes in the main section of Snow Canyon SP. The last time we went to Snow Canyon SP Scott found a very photogenic dune. He noticed that it would be best photographed in the late afternoon. We hiked the short distance to this dune and hung out for a few hours to watch the light change and allow Scott to photograph the surrounding area. One of the things Scott likes best about this dune is the moqui marbles that are abundantly embedded in the cross-bedded sandstone. There are also a number of moqui marbles that have been “released” as a result of erosion. Milo quite enjoyed throwing these rocks and watching them congregate with the rest of the rocks in the depressions of the formation. Milo did get his camera out and took a few photos. He even traded cameras with Scott for a few minutes. Scott took his photos, the sun set, and we left the park. All in all it was a pretty laid back day.

Milo climbing on the rocks…”with bare toes”

Monica excitedly waiting around.

Throwing rocks…part I

Throwing rocks…part II

Milo climbing around

A smoking rock…

Curves

Curves and moquis

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A nice pano of the dune.

I have a lot of images to process, so I am not sure how long it will take me to get a full trip report up. Here is a teaser image from the wave (quickly processed…and I don’t much like the color…oh well…they will be better on the final report). We had an amazing trip…if you were wondering