At the Top of the World

Well, we were at the top of Utah county pretty much... So I think that counts. The first picture is one of my favorites, that is the ridge we hiked along, follow the cornice into the cloud and up, and there is the summit.   The summit was a really cool place, at times the clouds were so thick you couldn't see anything but the ground you were standing on, but then it could clear away in seconds and you could see the whole valley, but don't blink or it could be gone when you open your eyes again... 

Avalanche Zone

Note how many of the trees are just not quite right...  In the next post, notice the big pile of snow in the lake... we have sufficient evidence to suggest that that was the final destination of an epic avalanche. Thats one thing I love about being out in the wilderness... anything can happen. anytime.  

A Dream Fulfilled

About 2/3 up the mountain and shortly after we had donned our snow shoes (also a very heavy item to carry... if a bit more useful than a tripod...)   It was here that we crossed over to the other side, which is really what it seemed like.  All of a sudden mist surrounded us and every one of our 5 senses knew it. you could feel the moisture and pressure all around you. The smell was incredible, it was more than just a smell, its like it actually existed!  As we looked of the edge of a cliff there were trees rising from the mist, but soon you couldn't see anything farther than 30 or 40 feet, excepting of course, the cloud itself.  The sound expressed itself by it's silence; the only sound was our snow shoes, the cloud seemed to have stiffed the sound of birds we had been hearing and although the cloud was moving, the wind that moved it didn't make a sound.  To be inside a cloud is to be inside something that is alive... 

On Birds and Mountains...

Not too far into our hike we were crossing a large stream with I looked up and saw this eagle landing one the top of a nearby pine... watching it control its landing with those massive and powerful wings to gracefully land on a thin branch was one of the coolest things I've seen.  Anytime I see wildlife in its natural habitat, I am reminded of how majestic it can be.  unfortunately it started flying away before I could change lenses and this is the best picture I snapped. 

By now we were getting ever closer to the cloud line and I was eagerly looking forward to seeing the innards of a cloud. The view looking up the mountain and across the valley is what I picture a place like Scotland or wales to look like... one day I'll find out for real, but for now this will have to do. 

The Latest Adventure...

Last week ended with 3 days of rain, all of which were so cloudy we couldn't see the top of the mountains... This week began with a hike to the top of Maple Mountain (officially it is called Spanish Fork Peak, but whatever, the top of the tallest mountain...)  

It was cloudy again that morning and I was especially looking forward to fulfilling my dream of being inside a cloud.... but first we had to get high enough to be in the clouds, and the beginning of our hike saw many "photo-stops" (aka, Alex is tired and is going to stop and take a picture now so he doesn't have to hike stops)  :)   and up these incredibly steep trails I lugged my heavy fullsize tripod... which I only used twice, once at the beginning and once at the end... However, even if these were the only reason I lugged that thing all the way up the mountain, I think they were worth it. :)  These are without question the best pictures I have done of water. 

Its been a while...

Yes... its been a while since I posted, actually its been exactly a month since my dark canyon adventure, and although I've had plenty of adventures I've not spent much time behind the lens... this weekend I did happen to take a few pictures at a Scottish festival we attended and had a lot of fun at... 

And Eileen wanted me to post this list... of random songs on my play list that i used as answers for these questions. the rule was you had to use the next song to play as the answer for the question... theres some pretty funny ones... 

Untitled

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY....?

-  Beautiful world (we’re all here)  - Jim Brickman

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

- What the world needs now J 

- WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?

- Pocket full of sunshine: Natasha beddingfield

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

-  Taylor Swift: the best day

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

- Measure of a Man: Clay Aiken

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

- Needle and Haystack life: Switchfoot

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

- Can’t let it go: Goo Goo Dolls

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

- Two Worlds: phil Collins

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

- Rainbow Veins: Owl City

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR FIRST KISS?

- We Didn’t Start the Fire: Billy Joel  J

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

- Its Your Day: Yiruma

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

- Without you here: Goo Goo Dolls

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

- Awakening: Switchfoot

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

-  No Other Way:  Jack Johnson J

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

- How do I live without you: Leann Rimes

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

- Absolutely( story of a girl) 

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

- Rule the World: Pop Feast

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

- Staple it together:  Jack Johnson

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

- Ninety and Nine : Michael Mclean

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

- Learn You Inside Out: Lifehouse

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

- Beautiful: Ted Bruner 

Life Lessons

This has been a difficult post for me to put together... and to be honest, at the moment I'm not even sure what I want this post to be... But brooding about what I want to say has gotten me nowhere for 3 days, so perhaps the only thing left to do is write. 

Last week at this time I was laying on slate and gazing up at droplets of molten silver that seemed to want to drip from the night sky. I was so exhausted that I would have sworn I'd never be able to move again. My feet were swollen, there was blisters in between my toes, we had hiked downhill and over streams for 10 miles with 45 lbs on our backs, but Logan and I had made it to Wate's Pond, or at least we thought we had... 

Earlier that day, we had arrived at the trail head of Woodenshoe Canyon and had eagerly set off on our first backpacking trip of the season, my first backpacking trip ever... Woodenshoe canyon was (as seen below) not what I had pictured a desert canyon of Southern Utah to look like, we hiked through stream and wetlands, snow at the top, and pine forests at the bottom... and along the side were a scattered selection of Native American ruins just begging to be explored...

The pond we camped at was floored with shale, or some flat, layered stone, that created an awesome little waterfall above a fabulous pool of clear water... for the most part, it was too dark to make night time pictures that used any landmarks such as trees or mountains, and I was too exhausted to wait long enough for star tracks, but I had enough energy to gaze up at them all... I'm convinced now that there is not actually any empty space in our sky at all, and that you could pick any spot on the sky that there seemed to be nothing in, and if you could travel that way, you'd find that it wasn't empty at all, but filled with more suns than the milky way, they were simply too far away for us to see from Earth.... It is an awe inspiring experience to look up and Know that God created every single one of those stars... every planet in each system, and everything on each of those planets... and then to come back to little old earth and realize that that same God who created all of that, knows me. Alex Mageno, from Springville, Utah... and that as i'd soon find, He not only knew me, but watched out for me and guided me.  

Our next day of hiking brought with it many disappointments, beginning with the realization that we had actually camped 2 miles before Wates Pond, putting us behind schedule and shaking our confidence in our map reading abilities... Leaving Woodenshoe canyon later that day, and entering Dark Canyon we realized why there was warnings about being able to bring enough water for an entire day... there was nothing in that bed, there was no trees to shade us from the blistering heat, nothing but skeletons, rocks, and sand... It also become increasingly clear why "map reading skills required" and "for advanced backpackers" was pasted on every trail guide we came across... there many side canyons, some that were key, some that weren't, some that weren't canyons at all... We hiked trough 4 miles before we got to Dark Canyon, 5 miles along a dusty wash-bed, a half mile up the wrong canyon where we realized we were lost and our map was not good enough to make us found, not in this canyon... and then another 6 miles before the sun set and we crawled into bed, lost, tired, depressed, and hanging on to one last hope that the morning sun would shine light on where we were... Even knowing that we could only be somewhere on this small map, and that there was no way we would run out of water, or starve for many days, I crawled into my sleeping bag feeling more hopeless than I had ever felt in my life... looking back I can't quite understand why it seemed we were in such dire straights and why death seemed to tug at the zipper of the tent, but to a tired mind that had been wrong all day, things seemed pretty hopeless... Some people say its easier to be close to God when things are hard, and easy to forget when things are easy.  I'd say that it is the other way around, with cheerful optimism I had gazed at the stars and reflected about God the night before. Now, when it seemed hopeless and I felt deserted it was hard to pray, but pray I did, that we could know where we were, and have the energy we needed in the morning...  and after a restless nights sleep I did figure it out, and we were right!  Things looked completely different that morning, we started hiking at 7:20, after getting up at 6.  There was only an undertone of last nights doubt as we set off on what we wanted to be our last day of hiking. We ended up being only 1.5 miles from Rig Canyon, our goal for the second day, and when we found that corral and road we could have jumped with joy!

I wish that I had taken more photographs that last day, as it was probably my favorite of the 3 days... but I know that is easier said from my armchair than it was with 40 lbs on my back and still miles of hiking left to do...  Since I don't have any pictures I guess I'll have to describe it... Peavine Canyon, the last of the three canyons on our hike, had its trail-head back up where we had parked making it the last leg of our hike. (not counting the miserable three miles of dirt road between the two trail-heads...)   We started up Peavine after lunch, full of hope that we would actually make it out of here alive, in just 8 short miles... Walking into Peavine Canyon was like walking into Middle Earth. The forest was thick and dense, and the pines seemed to be so old that they whispered to one another, just waking up after a long winter. On the north slopes that the trail lead us through there was knee deep snow, and the rest of the trail criss-crossed the river a countless number of times.  During one these crossings we were bearing down on the ford as two incredible Coyotes were wandering down river.  We met up with each other less than 20 ft apart.   To see such powerful creatures in the wild, so close to us, was an amazing experience.  So was reaching the top of the canyon and once again dropping our packs in desperation with still four miles to go... only to find that we had miscalculated and only had one mile left to the trail-head!  finally a miscalculation that worked in our favor! Although in hindsight, if i would have known it was only a five miles canyon I would have stopped and taken more pictures...  We made it in the end, almost 50 miles, in a little bit less than 2.5 days, which is an amazing feat in and of itself. But more amazing that being able to say "I did that!" is being able to share the lessons I learned out there. Such as how things are never really as bleak as they seem in the moment and a rash decision in times like that might be your last decision. I gained new perspectives on what really matters in life, Eileen and my family are the ones I wanted to see the most, while I haven't even opened the facebook games I was so fond of before I left. 

Fire, Caves, and Silhouettes

Every boys favorite thing about camping is the fire... because every boy likes to play in the fire, poking it, melting things in it... taking pictures of it... or maybe thats just me... :)  and every boy scout can tell you of numerous stories involving various sizes of flames that had various effects on their skin and hair... :)   but i had never tried photographing fire with a tripod, it actually worked pretty well, I like the soft playful-yet-fierce look of the flames... 

Speaking of tripods... I'm really glad I have a handy little one that I can take anywhere, because it pays off when you stumble on little tunnels like this...   not that I don't like the blurred look, because I do, its mysterious and I like that... but the tunnel looks much better with a tripod. I wish I wasn't so worried about getting sand in my lenses, because I would have loved to play with long exposure in the cave, with the dust flying through... but I'm thinking I'll actually get lots of practice with that in coming weeks! :) 

The adventurer in me seems to have waken up with a vengeance, so I've decided to take up backpacking! :) just for fun... my first trip is a 40 miler planned for Tue, Wed, Thur, next week!: )  I'm way excited, hopefully I can come back with some excellent pictures! :)

And last but certainly not the least of my random lets-post-the-rest-of-goblin spree, this excellent silhouette of Eileen and I. :)  

Night Photography From Goblin (and its my 100th Post!!!)

I have always loved the solitude that the night offers the world. In the summer, I can sit in the backyard and listen to the bubble of our waterfall, or stay up late and night and look at the stars... I can go running at night, or I can stay up late at night by the fire in the middle of winter... no matter where I am or what I am doing though, there is something in the air at night that makes me want to be alone and try to unravel the mysteries around me. This is a fitting subject and mood for my 100th post.  The solitude of night offers something different to everyone, but to me, it offers a clear mind and a clearer path. There is so much less in the way at night, no noise, no light, no people, no things... just me and my mind...  Photography does this for me to, it allows me to focus on a subject and as I compose a shot, I consciously think about the entirety of the viewfinder, is there a twig in the way here, do I like this tree, do I like this angle?  Once I can focus on what really matters, because what is outside of the view finder doesn't really matter, but sometimes it takes a camera to remind me to focus on what is in the viewfinder because in the end, the world is what it is and all we can change is our perspective.  

These photographs resemble that line of thinking, that we can only choose what and how we see, the world is not going to change for us. The photo above is an excellent example of choosing what we see, and how night can make things clearer. By blacking out everything but the cloud and the sky, I show what actually matters in the photograph, the star in the upper right.