Travel Plans?

Hey Folks,

The weather appears to be finally warming up. . Anyone have any interesting plans? We have a bunch planned. In July we will be going back to Maine to do the puffin thing. i am debating the purchase of a Sigma 120-300. The newly updated lens sounds pretty cool. In August, I may be joining Steve Kossack in Glacier (he asked if we had the time the other day). Perhaps I will harass Mr. Bynum and see if he is around at that time.

Th Fall is the big question mark. My brother is pushing for us to venture to Yosemite/Sequoia as opposed to jellystone, We are also thinking possibly about Acadia again for foliage. LOL, decisions decisions.

James

James & All,

We are planning a late July trip to Denver, and then somewhere in the mountains for several days. I'm looking for reasonable accommodations, a quirky town with shops that will keep my wife entertained, and good access to a national park with awesome photo ops. Anybody have any ideas for the northern CO, southern WY area?

Folks are traveling to us this year. Tammy's Parents are coming the first week of June and staying through at least the 4th of July. Bringing two nephews along, so there will be lots of Busch Gardens and Hershey Park in the plans.

I have a trip right in the middle of it to OH, but other than that, I'm trying to do portraits in the studio for most of June. Only two events planned.

Hey Preston,

I have never been to Colorado in my life. I have a friend though who works for the State and spends a lot of time in the parks. If you want, I can check around. As to Southern Wyoming, are you talking about being in the Cheyenne area? I have a friend who was at the AARP Spelling B contest a couple of months back and I know there are some state parks around there....

James

Sounds like fun, James! Nothing quite like photographing a glacier, though. Wish I could go!

Preson, I've only been to Denver once, when I was in the 11th grade, don't remember much of the surrounding area. But we did have fun, thats for sure!

We are going to Cherokee NC in 2 weeks, looking forward to those photo ops. Then, in June, we are going to San Antonio TX to see my son graduate from Air Force Basic Training. We lived there for 5 years, and he was actually born there, but I don't think there will be many nature photo ops, but there will be photo ops of my son.

Well, we are only stopping in Denver for a night with friends (ie, free nights lodging) before heading north toward Boulder, Steamboat, Breckenridge, or Cheyenne. Its wide open right now. Any ideas are appreciated. I know Breckenridge and Steamboat from skiing, but I really don't know the National Parks and their photo ops.

Marie,

Cherokee? Really? That's near my old stomping grounds.

Forget the casino, go over to Cullowhee and get a kayak or a tube and take a lazy ride down the Tuckaseegee.

Get up on the Blue Ridge parkway or hike the Appalachian trail.

Or go white water rafting on the Nantahala. http://www.noc.com/

Or go see the former super secret spy station in Rosman, NC. http://www.carolinacorner.com/attractions/pari-secret-spy-station-educational-resources.htm

Hey, thanks, Preston!
Yep, we are going for 2 nights and 3 days. We lucked out and got a free hotel stay (can even bring the dogs) through the Harrahs Casino hotel. There is so much to do outside the casino, we don't actually have plans to stay inside. We have been there once before, and have passed through once before heading back from Knoxville after Thanksgiving. I truely love that place, the mountains, the streams, the mornings, the afternoons looking out into the valleys...just beautiful!
Thanks for the info, I'm gonna check out that white water rafting!
I've got a photo project due for the NYIP course I'm in. 90 degree lighting and backlighting..hoping to get these shots.

Preston:

You did not say how much time you have but Rocky Mountain National Park is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Denver. Neither my wife and I are into shopping at all, so I don't know if Estes Park area meets your wife's shopping criteria, though. Of course just a few hours west of Steamboat Springs is Dinosaur National Park and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. I really like both, but RMNP is probably more photogenic unless you are lucky enough to get commercial rafting reservations.

Jim

Going back to Yosemite mid-June for a one on one workshop with Michael Frye

Meeting at Lake Tahoe next week. Plan to drive up/back from LA & photo along the way.

Week in the Sierra mid June just south of Whitney: Golden Trout Workshops
I'm really looking forward to being in the mountains for a bit.

Thanks Jim...I will look at that. We have 5 days, four nights.

Hey Durwood,

How did you find Yosemite? I keep hearing that the amazing visual experience gets ruined by the fact that the loop road becomes a giant parking lot....

James

...BTW, spoke with Steve Kossack yesterday. He has invited me to join them for the Glacier NP workshop. That's cool. I have never been there before (though Tony and I have been talking about getting together there this year as well).

James

Who has more info on Estes Park? Lodging deals, photo ops, etc.

Wife and I are leaving Iowa Friday afternoon for a week in Yellowstone.

Don

Hey Don,

That's awesome. I have never gone this early in the cycle before. I have been trying to convince wifey thay we want to go at Christmas time - but it is probably 2x as expensive at that time, so it will need to wait (lol indefinitely).

James

Leaving this week for Texas and Padre Island National Seashore.
Any recommendations of what not to miss? So far birds appear to be the thing, along with turtles. . . Any suggestions most welcome.
Caroline

We like this time of year
The bears are starting to come out of hibernation and are on the hunt for food of any kind. There's a lot of new borns, elk and bison, that the wolves and bears hunt. There are some winter kill carcasses around that attract the bears and wolves as well.
The higher elevations will still have snow so we can get some "winter" type photos.

We have a couple of insiders that help us with our photo ops, step-son works for the National Park Service repairing the trails and his girlfriend is a National Park Firefighter. Then my step-daughter works for Xanterra, the service that runs all the gift shops and snackbars. If we can't find anything on our own we ask them what they've seen or heard. Plus they take us to spots that most people stay away from.

Don

I loved Yosemite. The more iconic spots for photography can be somewhat of a circus. There are a lot of people, but, at least this early (April) in the season, the park manages them very well. We stayed in the Lodge at the Falls and walked almost everywhere. We were very close to many trails, and we got out early before most people were up.


The free shuttle is very convenient to reach more remote corners.

Hey Preston,

http://itunes.apple.com/hn/podcast/rocky-mountain-national-park/id320931554

This is a Rocky Mountain podcast which I believe is appropriate to Estes.

James

Thanks, James.

Anyone have ideas of places near Vegas for the beginning of August?? Not a great time to be going, but I am attending a dear friend's wedding.

James

James:

Lots of options, but it will definitely be hot !!!

North Rim of Grand Canyon - 275 miles
Zion National Park 160 Miles
Death Valley NP - 150 miles (But you been there & done that often)
http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/ -120 miles (This gets my vote)
Valley of Fire State Park -55 miles (Not for the faint hearted in August)

Jim

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the reply. The heat is what is really worrying me. I have been pretty much to all of those places (except the skywalk, and I really need to do Grand Canyon again). I had thought perhaps of doing some slot canyons, but the idea of being oven baked is just not my idea of fun. :P

I guess I was wondering if there are any relatively close 'high altitude' places around Las Vegas which will be a bit cooler. Steve Kossack was telling me that last week it was 94 degrees. Yuck...and July is going to be a lot hotter. :P

James

James:

Looks like the Canyon is your best option. The elevation at the North Rim is over 8,000 feet. Even in August, daytime highs run around mid to high 70's. It even gets chilly enough to need a jacket at night or for early morning sunrise shoots. The South Rim is about 8-10 degrees warmer.

There are some mountains within an hour or two's drive from Vegas, like Red Rock Canyon & Desert NWR, but I am not familiar with them. I do know that August is not a good time for migratory birds in this part of the country.

Jim

I lived in Boulder for 15 years and had a very good friend that lived in Estes, visited often and also events there. I LOVE Estes. I never did it but I think you can have a meal at the Stanley Hotel and just a visit is worth the time. The view from the deck is stunning, especially if you can hit it at sunset. Maybe worth staying overnight there? I am not a big "shopper" but love the shops in Estes, being lots of gem and minerals, fossils, antiques, art galleries, food treats and the usual touristy stuff. Beware though, you will have tons of tourists to fight your way through any summer days. But still would be worth at least 1/2 to one full day in town.

You can do "the big loop, which takes you all the way through RMNP over Trail Ridge Rd, down past Grand Lake and Lake Granby on the west side, a long drive but you'll get your fill of the big mountains.

One of my favorite things in the region was to go to the hot springs pools in Eldorado Springs, west of Denver on I-70. Beautiful drive through steep canyon to get there.

Diana

And as I think someone mentioned, Arches and Canyonlands is only about 5 hrs from Denver, definitely worth visiting if you've not seen those landscapes in person.

oops, sorry, not Eldorado Springs (which is south of Boulder), I meant to say Glenwood Springs...

James:

How about this one? 130 miles

http://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/snow-canyon

Jim

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the heads up. I see it is only a couple of hours from Vegas. One of the cool things, it seems, about Vegas is that everything is only a couple of hours. :P Death Valley, Bryce, Zion, The Valley of Fire, Grand Canyon, etc.

James

Durwood:

I'd be interested in hearing more about your one-on-one workshop with Michael Frye? How long was it? Was it tailored especially for you or a standard itinerary? What did you cover? Is he a good instructor? Any work product you would care to share?

I notice he has one space left in his Autumn group workshop.

Thanks!

Jim

Hey Everyone,

I am officially 2 days from Maine! On Thursday morning, Chanthee and I do the drive up. I am pretty excited because this trip is going to be VERY different. It will be the first time we have not stayed in Acadia, focusing more on the back-woods. We will be staying near the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park. I hope to be driving out to the Maine Woods area, which they hope to turn into a National Park as well.

15 hours of driving on the way back (Sunday), so there will be a lot of living going on, LOL.

James

Have fun.

My wife Petra and I just returned from a two week camping trip to Southern Utah. It was the maiden voyage in our "new to us" RV. Initial plans called for us to split our two weeks away from home between Snow Canyon State Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument, but we ended up tacking on a visit to Capitol Reef National Park, as well.

Snow Canyon was great, but may be a tad too warm for August, James. When we first arrived, the daytime highs were around 100 F, but early morning walks were still pleasant with temps in the high 60's to low 70's. After a couple days, temps spiked to around 106 and it ceased being so pleasant. While camped at Snow Canyon, we took a day trip to Kolob Canyon, which is a part of Zion most people never see. Kolob Canyon, only about 35 miles from Snow Canyon, is lovely . . . and cool . . . but there is no camping except in the backcountry.

We left the heat of Snow Canyon for the cooler climes of Cedar Breaks National Monument. Cedar Breaks is like a smaller version of Bryce Canyon, except the Amphitheater at Cedar Breaks is about 2,000 feet deeper than Bryce's. At 10,400+ feet in elevation, nights were a bit chilly -- around 45 F, and there were still patches of snow on the ground above the 11,000 foot mark, even in mid-July. Although Cedar Breaks is most renowned for its fall colors, the spring wildflowers were in full bloom while we were there. The sub-Alpine meadows put on quite a show.

Since we had never been before, we decided to head over to Capitol Reef National Park. We dropped down to Bryce Canyon and caught Utah Highway 12. UT 12 follows along the edge of the Grand Staircase of the Escalante and offers scenic views that have to be among the most breathtaking available anywhere. At Capitol Reef, we camped in the Fruita Campground among the 100 year old orchards of fruit trees planted by the original Mormon settlers. The apricots were in high season while we were there, and campers are free to sample as much as they like without cost. If you want to take some with you when you leave, the cost is a whopping $1.00 a pound or $18.00 a bushel (about 35-40 lbs.).

Finally, our route home took us along Interstate Hwy 40, right past the Visitor Center for the Petrified Forest National Park/Painted Desert. We stopped just long enough for a cold drink at the Fred Harvey Concession before continuing on to the Canyon de Chelly National Monument to spend the night in their free campground before heading home.

All in all, an enjoyable trip. This has gotten kind of long, so I'll post some pictures separately.

I'm headed to Maine in October to shoot some light houses. Not as grand as everybody else's trips, but I'm excited. I'll be gone 4 days and will be around the Harpswell, Brunswick, Booth Bay area.

As some of you know, I suffer from mild agoraphobia, and I'm driving up, so I'm really excited about going, even if it's only 5 hours from my house. For me 5 hours is an eternity.

Hey PJ,

LOL, don't downplay Maine! It is one of my favorite places on the East Coast. Where are you going to be going? I am slowly growing my list of light houses.

James

Oh, I'm not downplaying Maine, I'm complaining that the best I can get up the nerve to go to is Maine. Hubby was amazed I am driving that far on my own.

I am not sure of the light houses yet. I am meeting some people in Harpswell, Me. and we will be car pooling from there. As soon as I get a list, I will let you know.

Penny,
good luck and have fun. I know what a big deal that is for you and I'm really proud that you're willing to attempt it. Can't wait to see your photos.

Jim

Thanks Jim! Your support means a lot. I'm making a couple of 2- 2 1/2 hour trips working my way up to the 5 hour trip.

Hey Everyone,
My flight leaves in about 7 hours. I need to shower and hit the sack. Please note that updates here will be slow until I get back.

Cheers
James