Fall Vista

The Wasatch Mountains do not have the abundant hardwood forests of New England and elsewhere in the East that have their spectacular displays of Fall color, but there are some sublimely beautiful views high in the mountains. In this image, we see Timpanogos, recently covered in snow which has almost all melted, poking up over a high ridge. We also see the spots of color contrasted against the evergreens and the trees that have yet to turn. I thought this an interesting perspective on Fall in the mountains.

Paragliding on the Wasatch Front

I caught this photo of a paraglider just as he was leaving an overlook of Utah Valley on the Squaw Peak Road. It was a cool and slightly windy day and we watched as he climbed up over the surrounding hills and then disappeared from our view. It looks like a challenge, but I would rather have something besides some thin lines to hold on to.

Mount Timpanogos Two Days Later

A couple of days ago, I posted a snow picture of Mount Timpanogos. I decided to post a follow-up photo two days later. Most of the snow has melted and what is left will probably melt in the next few days. It is not yet Winter.

Fall Gourds

I was attracted by a large box of pumpkins and gourds in front of a local supermarket. I always appreciate form and color. Here we have both an abundance. By the way, this is an image directly from my iPhone 7 plus. I decided to enhance the image to see what would happen using Adobe Lightroom. Here are the results.

 What do you think?

Spots of color

Part of the joy of spending time outdoors is noticing the small details that surround us. Because of the ubiquity of photography today, we are saturated with close-up photos with microscopically small details. We sometimes forget that we can enjoy flowers at a distance. The two spots of color caused by these paintbrush flowers create a tiny but sharp contrast to the rock face. Remember to look for the details.

The Second Day of Snow

This is the second day after the first real snowfall on Mount Timpanogos this year. The snow came down to us at about the 5000-foot level. It was like moving directly from summer to winter. Most of this snow will probably melt over the next few days.

Superstition Hoodos

I have been digging back into my archives and pulling out a few photos from years gone by. This photo of the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, Arizona caught my eye. It was taken back in 2007 and upon examination of the photo, I realized how far the technology had developed since then. My iPhone now has greater resolution than this photo taken with my old digital camera seven years ago.

Fall Leaves and Utah Valley

Looking down into Utah Valley from the hills gives a perspective of the change of seasons. We can see the first of the leaves changing here in the valley, but those on the hillsides have been turning for weeks. This year the weather has been cloudy with rain and snow so this photo from last year will have to do for now.

Fall Comes With Snow

After a couple days of rain and heavy clouds, the clouds lifted and showed the new snow on Mount Timpanogos. It may warm up again and melt most of this snow, but it will likely rain again and add more snow to the high mountains. This is always a lovely transition time during the year. if you look closely, you can see that one of the trees in the foreground has changed color.

Another Log Fence

I seldom post more than one photo of a subject at a time. But I like these photos of the old wood fences and the grass. I was fascinated by the amount and variety of grasses and other vegetation in these high mountain meadows. Technically, this area falls in between the Wasatch Mountains on the west and the Uinta Mountains on the east.

Early morning sunlight on Mount Timpanogos

This particular image starts a series of images that I will take using my current iPhone 7 plus and eventually with its replacement the iPhone 8 plus.  The idea here is to demonstrate the versatility and quality of the high-end smartphone cameras particularly those in the iPhone. With the new iOS 11 operating system, both cameras have increased functionality and features. Here is a list of the iPhone 7 plus camera specifications:

• 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras
• Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture
• Telephoto: ƒ/2.8 aperture
• Optical zoom; digital zoom up to 10x
• Portrait mode
• Optical image stabilization
• Six‑element lens
• Quad-LED True Tone flash
• Panorama (up to 63MP)
• Sapphire crystal lens cover
• Backside illumination sensor
• Hybrid IR filter
• Autofocus with Focus Pixels
• Tap to focus with Focus Pixels
• Live Photos with stabilization
• Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
• Improved local tone mapping
• Body and face detection
• Exposure control
• Noise reduction
• Auto HDR for photos
• Auto image stabilization
• Burst mode
• Timer mode
• Photo geotagging
• Image formats captured: HEIF and JPEG

I recently watched a video comparing the iPhone 7 plus to a Nikon digital SLR camera. The quality and features of the iPhone were equal to or exceeded most of the features of the much more expensive camera.

The old log fence

Log fences are fairly common in Utah. They always bring back thoughts of pioneer days. They don't appear to be overly substantial but many have survived for over 100 years. This particular fence has become completely overgrown due to the fact that there are no cows in the area. I love the texture of the grass and the contrast of the fence. This particular fence was located at almost 8000 feet in the high mountains of central Utah.

The Strawberry River

The Strawberry River of Utah originates in the Wasatch Mountains and ultimately ends when it runs into the Duchesne River near the town of Duchesne, Utah. We visited the upper part of the river during the salmon run where the river runs into Strawberry Reservoir. The river has been "rebuilt" or "restored" in the part shown in this photo. The sediment in the river was dredged and the banks restored with willows and grass.

Kokonee Salmon Run

Kokanee Salmon are a land-locked, anadromous variety of Sockeye salmon or Oncorhynchus nerka. We recently had an amazing time visiting the Strawberry Reservoir Fish Trap where the Kokanee salmon were running up the Strawberry River in central Utah to spawn. Here is a more extensive explanation of the salmon from Wikipedia: Sockeye salmon:

Completely landlocked populations of the same species also are known. Some sockeye live and reproduce in lakes and are commonly called kokanee, which is red-fish name in the Sinixt Interior Salish language and silver trout in the Okanagan language.[7][8] They are much smaller than the anadromous variety and are rarely over 35 cm (14 in) long. In the Okanagan Lake and many others, there are two kinds of kokanee populations – one spawns in streams and the other near lake shores. Landlocked populations occur in the Yukon Territory and British Columbia in Canada, as well as, in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming in the United States. Nantahala Lake is the only place in North Carolina where kokanee salmon are found.[3] The fish, which is native to western North America, was stocked in Nantahala Lake in the mid-1960s by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission in an attempt to establish the species as a forage fish for other predator fishes in the lake. This stock has remained and become a favorite target for anglers.[9]

The fish are normally silver color but only turn red when they are spawning. Once the male fish spawn, they die. The Fish and Game Department of the State of Utah supports a fish trap to help propagate the fish. Although I am not a fisherman, we had a really good time seeing the amazing fish and we even got to hold them.

Columbus Circle, New York City

There is a definite contrast between walking around in New York City and hiking on the Colorado Plateau. First of all, New York City is a lot more dangerous. There are a lot more people. New York City is a lot noisier. There are traffic lights. This is Columbus Circle. It is located right on the corner of Central Park in the middle of Manhattan Island. Central Park is New York's wilderness. I do not feel like I am coming home when I visit New York City. I do feel at home next to the Wasatch Mountains and while hiking on the Colorado Plateau.

Claret Cup Cactus

One of my favorite, although quite uncommon cactus, is the claret cup cactus or Echinocereus triglochidiatus.  There are a few varieties of this gorgeous cactus. But I am always surprised when I find one in bloom. When they are not in bloom, they are hardly noticeable. This particular cactus was blooming in the Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff, Arizona.

Bryce Canyon Overlook

Bryce Canyon is not a canyon. It is really a series of eroded amphitheaters along the edge of a mesa or high plateau. Many of the Utah of national parks and monuments have become impacted with millions of visitors. Bryce Canyon National Park is no exception. However, almost all of the visitors stay pretty much along the rim drive adjacent to parking areas. During busy times, parking is at a premium, but the trails below the rim remain almost unvisited. In addition, relatively few of the visitors drive past the first few overlooks. Considering the impact of the huge amount of traffic in such a small area, it is a mystery why the National Park Service has not instituted mandatory shuttle services in all of the national parks in Utah. This is especially true in Arches National Park. Bryce Canyon National Park does have a shuttle service but the park is still open to private vehicle traffic. In the case of both Bryce Canyon National Park and at Arches National Park mandatory shuttle service would cut down on the traffic and congestion in the parks. Mandatory shuttle service works well on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park and in Zion National Park.

Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is one of the more famous slot canyons in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. It is located on the Navajo Nation, just outside of Page, Arizona. Its proximity to a town and its dramatic lighting have made it iconic. There are likely millions of photos of the canyon online. You have to pay a fee to enter the canyon because it is "owned" and operated by a concession from the Navajo Nation. All slot canyons are inherently dangerous and Antelope Canyon is no exception. Not only do people get stuck in slot canyons, they also get killed when there are sudden flash floods. In the past 20 years, at least 68 people have been killed in flash floods in Arizona. See "A brief history of Arizona's deadly flash floods." One of the deadliest occurred in Antelope Canyon when 11 hikers were killed in August of 1997.

The High Climb

During my lifetime I have spent a considerable time outdoors and much of that time has been spent hiking and climbing. As I've gotten older, many of the activities that I have participated in while younger such as racquetball, tennis, softball, mountain bikes and other such strenuous activities have been replaced by hiking and walking with some recumbent bike riding. I guess I am at the age when they begin to wonder how many more mountain tops will I see?

Mountain Goat on a Ridge Line

The Rocky Mountain Goat or Oreamnos americanus is an introduced species in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Here is a short description of the animal from Wikipedia: Mountain goat:

The mountain goat is an even-toed ungulate of the order Artiodactyla and the family Bovidae that includes antelopes, gazelles, and cattle. It belongs to the subfamily Caprinae (goat-antelopes), along with other species including true goats, sheep, the chamois, and the muskox.

We have a herd of mountain goats that live right above us in Rock Canyon. This particular mountain goat was photographed near the summit ridge on Mount Timpanogos. Since they are an introduced species in Utah, some people consider them invasive and so enthusiasm for them is not universal.

Steep Trail in the Early Morning

It is quite a transition to move from the "normal" mostly level world we live in to the high mountains where the landscape becomes mostly vertical. We start climbing in the middle of the night and it is only when it begins to be light that we can see where we are. Climbing with a headlamp does not give you much of a perspective since you can only see a few feet in front and nothing at all to the sides of where you are walking. Life is sort of like that. But in climbing, you get the dramatic long view as the sun comes up and in life, you seldom get the long view.

The North Side of Squaw Peak

Squaw Peak is a prominent, cliff faced mountain visible from most of Utah Valley. From the north side, it appears to be a tree covered, inconspicuous bump on the ridge line. This is a good example of perspective. When you are standing down in the valley, Squaw Peak has much more importance than it does when you climb the mountains and look back down on the valley. This is analogous to many of life's problems. Some problems appear to be monumental but with the passage of time and some hard work, they turn into small bumps on the ridge of life.

The Sun is Red

I took this unaltered photograph from my front yard looking to the West towards the mountains as the sun was setting. This is very close to what I saw. The sun was bright red because of the smoke from wildfires in the area.

Open Invitation

Since I virtually live right across the street from a National Forest, there is always an open invitation to take a hike in the Wasatch Mountains. This is the trailhead to Buffalo Peak. The mountain is actually visible out my front window but the trailhead is about a half-hour drive from my home. We are presently in the last few days of summer and the temperatures are still very warm but Fall is right around the corner. We will be trying to take advantage of the warm weather while it lasts.

Rain Forest Floor

As I travel around the world, I find that the sharpest contrasts are caused by the amount of rainfall. I recently posted a photo from Death Valley and now I have one from a Canadian Rain Forest. The contrast is striking; all due to the amount of rain and, of course, the temperature. This photo was taken in the MacMillan Provincial Park's Cathedral Grove off Highway 4, between Qualicum Beach and Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. The trees here are over 800 years old.

The Barrens of Death Valley

I always look for images that approach the surreal or abstract. It has been so hot for so long this summer in Utah and the rest of the western United States, that I thought another photo of Death Valley would be appropriate. It is almost as if this ridge of darker rocks was created for the purpose of the image rather than the other way around. You might notice that each of the ridge lines has a trail where tourists have walked.

The East Side of the Mount Nebo Ridge

You might want to click on this image to see it in a larger size. Mount Nebo is very large and it took a panoramic photo to show the whole ridge line. These are really accessible mountains and the road driving into them, the Mount Nebo Loop, had a nearly constant stream of cars, including about 25 Porches in a long line.

A Mountain View

It has been some time since I talked about WalkingArizona. I chose the name "WalkingArizona" because I had spent most of my life in Arizona and a lot of that time walking or traveling around the state. In reality, WalkingArizona is not an activity but a state of being. Even though I now live in Utah, I am still WalkingArizona. The other day, I was thinking about the desert. I guess in response, I decided to take a trip into the Wasatch Mountains. We never know what the future will bring; I may be walking someplace else but in my heart, I will always be WalkingArizona.