WATER
The trail as can be seen is easily followed as many previous travellers have used same path over and over again.
Gps keeps reminding me I have travelled so far every 10 mins, I am sure the Internet did not mention it was such a hike, glad its down hill, I seem to be following a dry river bed, did I mention it's getting quite hot? I sit in shade and have a drink of water, a dog comes bounding along snarling making me jump, the owner not far behind says it's harmless, he is the first person I have seen in 40 minutes. Relieved I wasn't wild dog food I carried on!
Well it seems like hours since I set out, glad I only brought my camera and tripod, 1 bottle of water gone, wish I hadn't had coffee this morning. Oh no a bone along the track does not fill me full of hope, is it far to go?
This long hike is so lonely, I met the second and third person just near here and I asked if I was going in right direction as I was near to giving up, I thought I had taken the wrong path. Thankfully I was pointed in the right direction, the line points down to where I was heading, directed by the couple going out of the place. A dry sandy river bed is not ideal walking material but I must keep going for the good of photography and my honour.
Finally! The entrance as I eagerly entered!
The light was just about right and I gladly opened my tripod and began multiple exposures for some HDR attempts for when I get home. These images are not HDR as I have no way of doing this on this trip. Most of the images are touched up in iPhoto and saturated a little. Some are not touched at all and I will highlife those.
The passage gets quite narrow so I am glad I am of a slight build otherwise it would have been a tight squeeze.
I got so far and it would have been too much of a struggle to climb and fit through the narrow slots, not impossible but improbable with camera and tripod in this heat. I did see a bird which flew up and perched on the wall watching me, I soon found out I was near its nest, a quick flashed image and I left it be going back the way I came.
These tumbling tumbleweeds seem to get everywhere, they have sharp thorns too so be careful when near them.
The long walk back I underestimated, A total of 5.18 miles round trip taking 2 hours and 43 minutes was hard, especially coming back up hill with insufficient water, why does that dead tree make me shudder? I took my time and sipped at my last 3/4 of a bottle of water knowing I had some back at the car. It just seemed an eternity going back and I only passed 4 more people, this place is remote and not well visited. Eventually I got back and sunny delight and water was well worth the wait, a nice nectarine as the cars air conditioning cooled me down. I headed back to the motel and had a good long cool shower and a nap.
Today is my hike into Zebra Slot Canyons
I started with a light breakfast, coffee and a bagel, not particularly hungry today as its quite warm already at 8-30 am.
New ice pack had been put in with drinks and fruit the night before, I set off in search of the slot canyon I had read about on the Internet.
Drove out of town and found a information point, seem to be lots of these dotted about with photo stops ( scenic view stops), I did and read about pioneers creating roads in the area and difficulties faced. Next turn off was 'Hole in the rock road' the one I wanted.mi turned onto it, glad of my 4x4, a dirt road that had far less pot holes than our tarmacced roads back home, a 7 mile trip down this barren track just past a cattle grid where I noticed 2 vehicles parked.
Here I stopped applied sun cream put on my new cowboy hat and loaded with 2 bottles of cold water, had a drink of orange juice and set off with camera and tripod. The way was easy to follow, but I set my gps app on my iPhone to track ( motion x gps tracks and keeps record of distance travelled, time taken, also showing me on a map which had been downloaded before I left for the states so it would not rely on unavailable Internet while here, it works perfectly and is free)
The trail as can be seen is easily followed as many previous travellers have used same path over and over again. Gps keeps reminding me I have travelled so far every 10 mins, I am sure the Internet did not mention it was such a hike, glad its down hill, I seem to be following a dry river bed, did I mention it's getting quite hot? I sit in shade and have a drink of water, a dog comes bounding along snarling making me jump, the owner not far behind says it's harmless, he is the first person I have seen in 40 minutes. Relieved I wasn't wild dog food I carried on! Well it seems like hours since I set out, glad I only brought my camera and tripod, 1 bottle of water gone, wish I hadn't had coffee this morning. Oh no a bone along the track does not fill me full of hope, is it far to go? This long hike is so lonely, I met the second and third person just near here and I asked if I was going in right direction as I was near to giving up, I thought I had taken the wrong path. Thankfully I was pointed in the right direction, the line points down to where I was heading, directed by the couple going out of the place. A dry sandy river bed is not ideal walking material but I must keep going for the good of photography and my honour. Finally! The entrance as I eagerly entered! The light was just about right and I gladly opened my tripod and began multiple exposures for some HDR attempts for when I get home. These images are not HDR as I have no way of doing this on this trip. Most of the images are touched up in iPhoto and saturated a little. Some are not touched at all and I will highlife those. The passage gets quite narrow so I am glad I am of a slight build otherwise it would have been a tight squeeze. I got so far and it would have been too much of a struggle to climb and fit through the narrow slots, not impossible but improbable with camera and tripod in this heat. I did see a bird which flew up and perched on the wall watching me, I soon found out I was near its nest, a quick flashed image and I left it be going back the way I came. These tumbling tumbleweeds seem to get everywhere, they have sharp thorns too so be careful when near them. The long walk back I underestimated, A total of 5.18 miles round trip taking 2 hours and 43 minutes was hard, especially coming back up hill with insufficient water, why does that dead tree make me shudder? I took my time and sipped at my last 3/4 of a bottle of water knowing I had some back at the car. It just seemed an eternity going back and I only passed 4 more people, this place is remote and not well visited. Eventually I got back and sunny delight and water was well worth the wait, a nice nectarine as the cars air conditioning cooled me down. I headed back to the motel and had a good long cool shower and a nap.Ps if this link works it shows the route taken and can be opened in google earth.
Here's hoping
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