First Time in Utah

[venchka]

A year may not be long enough.

[gevalia]

Take the Route 12/24 scenic trip. A week is not enough time to see even a little bit of this amazing area but it is enough time to get you hooked. You'll be coming back for years and years - as I do. I'd say, throw in Arches and Bryce on a fast-track. Arches at sunset and Bryce before sunrise. Again, you're just gonna get postacard shots but the trick on your 1st trip is to see the amazing range of lanscapes available and take home a few keepers because you could honestly spend a week in 1 place very easily and never see all its beauty.

[Tom Monego]

Last fall we came at the Southern Utah trip from the other direction. Flew to LasVegas, my wife hadn't been there, did visit the Neon Museum (aka graveyard), but one day was more than enough. We drove up to Springdale Utah, stayed in a lovely place, The RedRock Inn. On the way we visited the Valley of Fire, Nevada State Park. Springdale is at the main entrance to Zion NP, fantastic place. Kept running into someone with a Linhoff, felt inadequate with my D200, he was in a camper traveling the country. BTW Red Rock Inn has a room with a fenced off hot tub, would be a nice night for your 30th.
Cedar Breaks is a small but dramatic (earlier trip) well worth the drive, its one main look out is beautiful, take a photo, then look up Ansel Adams and Cedar Breaks, same shot.
From Springdale we went to Page AZ, Antelope Canyon, HorseShoe Curve etc. Lower Antelope would be easier on someone with a view camera. Upper Antelope is just too crowded.
The area between Springdale and Page is also interesting, part of the Grande Staircase Escallante some very interesting formations, including the Wave which has a very restricted entry policy. We didn't get in on the day we wanted but did run into a maintenance worker who said there were many other lesser known formations in the area, said he could spend a month there and not see them all.
As folks have said this area is vast, the closest drug store to Zion ended up as being in Page 120mi east. I would also give the Grand Canyon a pass, unless you absolutely have to see it. Wear yourself out hiking and exploring not driving.

Tom

[eddie]

i started in LV and worked my way to SLC in 21 days and felt i was rushed.

hang around moab. great place plenty to shoot. canyonlands, etc.

[nray]

Good morning.

Just resurrecting this old thread to say thanks again for the great advice. We completed our trip. I can't tell you the awe I felt in seeing these grand sights for the first time. I did use my 4x5 but only sparingly as the time was mostly spent with my wife as we experienced it together.

We started in Salt Lake City, drove to Dinosaur National Monument and to Echo Park. Then drove down through Colorado to Moab for 3 nights. Took the Lasal Mt. Loop to the north. Ended up at the Priest and Nuns. Later went to Arches, then Canyonlands, Island in the Sky. We took some great hikes there. Our favorite was going to the false Kiva. We were all by ourselves there and back and got lost off trail on the way back. (That was fun but strenuous.) It was impossible to see everything there. We then traveled toward Blanding and then Mexican Hat. In Blanding we stopped at Edge of the Cedars State Park to see a real Kiva. Next toured Valley of the Gods. This was my compromise as I wanted to really go to Monument Valley but was voted down by the board of directors. (My wife) Goosenecks State Park was next. We then had to drive all the way up to Torrey because of time constraints. So, could not stop along the way. (The drive up the mountain out of Mexican Hat (rt.261) was rather frightening, but fun.) In Torrey we went to Capitol Reef and into the Capitol Gorge. Fun seeing the names inscribed on the canyon wall of the old settlers. Then drove down to Tropic east of Bryce. Toured Bryce twice. Left the next day for Zion, then the Grand Canyon and flew out of Las Vegas for a 10 day trip.

I took over a 1000 digital shots. Also brought along an old 35mm Minolta X370 loaded with velvia that I gave to my wife. I also took about 8 4x5's.

When we were at Canyonlands I was shooting as the sun was setting. It was nice but not spectacular. Then....as the sun had set I turned back and took a shot of my wife. When I looked at it I couldn't believe my eyes. The rock was glowing red and yellows. Wow. I quickly hurried toward the eastern overlook (the White Rim) and took some time exposures. Wow again. Took advantage of this from then on and at Bryce and got some wonderful shots.

In summary, it was a fantastic trip. It was a first for me to see such sights and the phrase that kept going through my head was "What hath God Wrought" every time we made the next turn. I did make some reservations for motels ahead of time, but wished we had done the whole trip as just about every place was booked solid and we had to scramble at times to find a place to sleep. September is one of the busiest months as Europeans are over in abundance visiting. I got to stop at Tom Till's store in Moab. Man, he is prolific. I felt like just donating there at the store just knowing all he had to go through to get the photo. Well, I also learned a lot. I took all my shots on my digital underexposed by almost a stop. If you use a flash in Bryce, the walls explode with color! Anyway, we had a great time and visited with many along the way.

(Laurent Martres book was just fantastic and I used it extensively for planning our days.)

[Terence McDonagh]

I finally made it to Utah two years ago. By the end of the week, I'd already made a reservation at the lodge in Zion NP for the same time next year. And within 12 months of the first trip, I went back to Utah three more times and had hit Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches, in addition to several smaller parks and wilderness areas.

Utah is addicting. Been back two more times since then. So far, Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef is my favorite area. But I think that's only because I haven't gotten far enough into the backcountry of Canyonlands.

[eddie]

thanks for the update. sounds awesome....show us those 4x5s...

[gevalia]

Sounds like a good trip. A good "beginning". i say that because I'll be out there next week for my usual October 2-week trip (i do April as well). I got hooked almost 10 years ago and with very few exceptions, have been out there at least once a year.

My 1st trip was with a digital before I did film. Once I went to 4x5, I have never looked back. I do miss the light by minutes sometimes whil setting up but I still end up with 40+ unique 4x5 negatives per trip. This year (next week) I have added Portra and Astia along with Velvia to finally shoot some color when I am out there. Boulder Mountain on the way to Escalante is almost always spectacular mid-October.


Ron

[Eric Leppanen]

Our favorite was going to the false Kiva. We were all by ourselves there and back and got lost off trail on the way back. (That was fun but strenuous.)

I have been thinking about doing this hike. Did you have any trouble finding the kiva during the hike down? How well was the trail marked with cairns, etc.? Did you get lost on the way back due to declining late afternoon light, or just made a wrong turn? Did you use a map or GPS for reference, or did you just follow the trail?

Thanks!

[nray]

I have been thinking about doing this hike. Did you have any trouble finding the kiva during the hike down? How well was the trail marked with cairns, etc.? Did you get lost on the way back due to declining late afternoon light, or just made a wrong turn? Did you use a map or GPS for reference, or did you just follow the trail?

Thanks!

Most of the way we scoured the ground for footprints and the small cairns. There were many times on the flat rock you had to have direction from the cairns. Finally, I could see the Kiva cavern way up in the side of the mountain once we got that far. But, I figured that couldn't possibly be the place as it looked impossible to get at. As we traversed the side of the mountain we found the first cavern which was huge. I knew it wasn't the one though and kept walking to the other end and found the trail to the second cavern.

Here is the first cavern:


Here is the second Kiva Cavern:


It was a great adventure. We got lost on the way back I suppose because we didn't keep our nose to the ground. The path becomes very undulating and somewhat steep in the end. Do it! I took multiple exposures at the Kiva to try and piece together the correct exposure on everything.