The Grand Staircase in April

[gevalia]

Planning on heading back out to Escalante Utah in mid-April for 1-2 weeks. Been there many many times roaming canyons in October but not in April and was wondering about the weather, temps, rainfall, flooding, day/night temps, etc. The usual for shooting in canyons.

Anyone have insight?

[venchka]

I'm no help. I'm envious.

[Doug Dolde]

Should be pretty dry then. I like it best in summer when the monsoon kicks in.

[Alan Rabe]

Oh yeah, nothing like a flash flood to get the blood flowing. October and April are the best times for that area. Mid 70's during the day and low 40's at night.

ENJOY

[gevalia]

Should be pretty dry then. I like it best in summer when the monsoon kicks in.

Yeah, I spent 2 years on assignment in Phoenix - I remember the monsoons. Sideways lightning, 6 feet of water on the roads in just a few minutes, and wild horses just outside of town kicking up the dust. Ah, the good ol' days.

Thanks,

[Drew Wiley]

You get a lot more bugs in Spring - especially flies in the canyons, and some of them
bite. Repellant might be handy to have along. Otherwise, pleasant time of year.

[Alan Rabe]

Ah, but Phoenix is open country you can see it coming. The Escalante isn't. It could be raining miles away from you and you wouldn't even know it. Then you trun around and there is a 20 foot wall of water coming down the canyon. Time to bend over and kiss it good by. I seem to remember a pretty famous photographer and his wife getting killed last year in this manner.

[Heroique]

A favorite place of mine to explore the loneliest & liveliest of canyons in the High Southwest.

When I consider what gear to bring, two characters of this area spring to mind: all the colors of the sandstones and shales (red, brown, light greens, purples, grays) and the Ansazi art you often come across on this sedimentary rock (petroglyphs & pictograps).

The sun, of course, means many images include shadow, so how to manage high-contrast scenes is important. And since I visit mainly with B&W film, filters get a lot of my attention. In many situations, I've found a green filter does a great job bringing out the art on these rocks.

(A 210mm or 240mm lens is my most-used lens for capturing rock art from close to medium distances on 4x5; a 75mm lens is another oft-used lens for the near-far compositions I notice with every other step.)

And I agree about the flash floods (March-May), especially if you're exploring the more narrow canyons. Just noticing flood debris caught high-up in the cottonwood trees is enough to spook anyone into a greater awareness about the "life" of your surroundings!

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Look out for wind- the whole Colorado Plateau can be unbelievably windy from April to June. It's hard to predict- one week will be perfectly calm, and then the wind will start and blow strongly for weeks without stopping. Being out there surrounded by sublime scenery that is impossible to photograph with an LF camera because of the wind is a truely exasperating experience. If you get lucky, spring can be a good time of year to be there, but late September to early November is definately the best time.

[mrladewig]

Look out for wind- the whole Colorado Plateau can be unbelievably windy from April to June. It's hard to predict- one week will be perfectly calm, and then the wind will start and blow strongly for weeks without stopping. Being out there surrounded by sublime scenery that is impossible to photograph with an LF camera because of the wind is a truely exasperating experience. If you get lucky, spring can be a good time of year to be there, but late September to early November is definately the best time.

I'll second this comment. Last summer the snow on the San Juan Mountains was tinted red from April wind storms in Utah. And so far this winter it has been extremely windy in Colorado Springs. But I've been several times in May and its always been fine.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Ah, but Phoenix is open country you can see it coming. The Escalante isn't. It could be raining miles away from you and you wouldn't even know it. Then you trun around and there is a 20 foot wall of water coming down the canyon. Time to bend over and kiss it good by. I seem to remember a pretty famous photographer and his wife getting killed last year in this manner.

Yes my friend Gordon Chapple and his wife were killed in Escalante last September. Gordon was very familiar with the canyons as were the guides that were on that trip. Please do be careful.

Jim

[gevalia]

Ah, but Phoenix is open country you can see it coming. The Escalante isn't. It could be raining miles away from you and you wouldn't even know it. Then you trun around and there is a 20 foot wall of water coming down the canyon. Time to bend over and kiss it good by. I seem to remember a pretty famous photographer and his wife getting killed last year in this manner.

Thanks for stating what is obvious for anyone that has spent more then a few months in the desert.

[Doug Dolde]

An article in todays NY Times may be of interest.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/travel/12outback.html?pagewanted=1&em