Earlier this week myself and another hiker headed out into the Alaska Basin for the first time. While still in the Teton Mountains, it’s technically just outside of the National Park located inside the Jedediah Smith Wilderness bordering the western edge of the park. August has been described as the best time to go for the dramatic wildflowers displays.

We hiked into the Alaska Basin via the Static Peak Divide through Grand Teton National Park on August 18th and while the wildflowers were on the decline, they were still out in amazing displays! It was almost as if Jackson Pollock was painting from the sky in purples, reds, blues and yellows on a canvas of green. It’s an incredibly dynamic place with an obvious abundance of wildflowers surrounded by enormous peaks, all pouring water into the basin.

Finding a good black and white photo isn’t always as easy as many people might think at first. The most important thing to remember is that color photos will always convert to a better black and white image than a photo shot as a black and white in the camera. Why is that? Because the camera is simply making an arbitrary conversion and once it’s saved, that’s what you get. On the other hand, if you start with a color image and proceed to make the black and white conversion in a program such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, you have full control over the intensity of each color. Using these tools you can decide if you want an intense, bold look, much like Ansel Adams, or scale it all back for a more subtle and softer tonal shift.

With that being said, however, not every image you take will make a good black and white. Even successful color images don’t always translate well to black and white photos. It requires an image with a striking composition with many complimentary colors working together to pop out important subjects. This will give you a great amount of contrast that will really separate the lights from the darks, or vice versa. As you can tell with the last photoblog post and this one, cottonwood trees against a red, sandstone canyon make for a spectacular black and white photo because as we all (should) know, red is the complimentary color to green, and thus, the two against each other will create an infinite amount of dramatic compositions. This is the primary reason I found so many great photos from Coyote Gulch in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to convert over to black and white. Had the cottonwoods been changing color for the fall season, they wouldn’t have made very good black and whites at all since yellow and red are so close to each other on the spectrum.

As for this black and white night shot in Coyote Gulch, a rising moon created an incredible band of light stretching through a small part of the canyon itself. It made a great color image, but it makes for an even better black and white.

I recently went back through and converted a number of my shots from last April’s road trip into black and white photos. I wound up giving the conversion to four from Coyote Gulch in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, including this one. This was one of my favorite shots of the whole trip and in going back through this one, I was delighted to see that it would actually work as a black and white as well.

Coyote Gulch is probably one of the most memorable places I visited and I’m planning on getting back there this fall, both to revisit it, and also to spend more time down there exploring even farther into the canyon. It’d be nice to also reach the confluence of the Escalante River as well.

On the first leg of my trip, I hit an unexpected cold front. Since I was only a couple of hours away from Zion National Park, I decided that that would be the best place to wait it out for a couple of nights since it was much lower in elevation than where I was, and thus, warmer. The next day I made the best of it and spent the entire day hiking around Zion Canyon, warming up at Weeping Rock, where this photo was taken, then moving on to Hidden Canyon, The Emerald Pools and finally, after a nice lunch and break, heading up Angel’s Landing.

To put it simply, don’t let the weather ruin your day, or especially your entire trip. Sure it may rain for a bit, but rain is always moving on and leaves plenty of dramatic weather and scenery in its wake. Some people pout in their tent, some people pack up and go to a hotel. Personally, I love finding intense weather because the photo opportunities are endless and all of a sudden, familiar sights look completely different. Allow the weather to open up the possibilities that its there for. See the familiar sights in brand new ways. Marvel at the drama heavy clouds with sunlight poking through can bring. "Bad" weather isn’t just nourishment for the ground and vegetation of the area, it’s nourishment for your photography. Even if you’re not a photographer, getting out there and smelling the rain, watching water pour over cliffs, seeing creeks and rivers rise and flow with more power, it’s there for you to witness to get you back in touch with the whole reason you’re probably taking a trip out there. It gets you back in touch with nature in ways only dramatic weather can provide. Live it up because the next time a storm comes through, it’s going to look completely different. That’s the beauty of storms and big cold fronts: they provide an unending beauty that’s new and unique with each incoming storm.

One thing to remember when shooting a dramatic sunrise or sunset is to look all around you, including the exact opposite direction. Most people are so fascinated by the sun rising or setting over the horizon that they could be missing the best part of the show taking place right behind them. Such was the case while I was watching sunrise at Yavapai Point at Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim in northern Arizona. I captured a couple of quick shots of the sun itself once the it was immediately above the horizon and then went against the masses to an overlook roughly 30 yards or so west and was all alone in catching this dramatic scene, leaving behind dozens of people staring into the sun that had already come up.

So the next time you’re watching or photographing a dramatic sunrise or sunset, make sure you check all around and see what’s happening where no one else is looking. You might just get the best shot of the moment!

My last night out of the trip was spent in Colorado National Monument, a location I had only briefly seen one or two photos of and not heard very much about. After visiting there for a night, I’ll definitely be going back! It’s an isolated, elevated region with a large variety of rock formations, canyons and thus, plenty of hiking trails!

Colorado National Monument sits above I-70 near Grand Junction in western Colorado and thanks to its relatively high elevation, is secluded from much of the noise of the valley it overlooks in many places. Erosion is also a key player, as it is with most places in the region, carving out enormous canyons and leaving some rocks standing in the form of giant monoliths, such as Independence Monument standing in the background just beneath the sun. Despite only spending one night there, I was blown away by what I saw. However by this point in my trip was beginning to feel the tug of getting back home and was anxious to see Jackson Hole again. This was also the night after I took the shot of the Milky Way over Capital Reef National Park so despite my excitement for more clear night skies, I knew the light pollution from the valley below would interfere. Given that I decided to get a good night’s sleep and get up for a good sunrise, which I was happy to see.

Another place I’ve driven by numerous times but hadn’t stopped in yet was the Calf Creek Recreation Area roughly ten miles south of Boulder, Utah on Highway 12. For being right next to a highway, it’s a quiet and scenic campground tucked away in a canyon carved out by Calf Creek. Also found in the campground is the trailhead to Lower Calf Creek Falls. The hike is about three miles to the falls and well worth it! Photos from the falls are coming soon, but the hike itself follows the creek as the canyon narrows and for the more observant, there are even petroglyphs across the canyon in a few spots.

Also found near the campground is the Escalante River Trailhead where numerous trails start, as well as the Hogsback of Highway 12. I’ll have shots from the latter coming soon as well because it’s quite a sight to see. The highway literally straddles the top of a ridge with a steep drop on either side of the highway.

If you’ve got the time, Calf Creek Recreation Area makes for an excellent stop along Highway 12 in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. There’s plenty to do and see in just that immediate vicinity.

During the course of my trip, I had plenty of time to myself which, looking back in hindsight, isn’t something I’m particularly used to. In most of my earlier life I yearned for the company of others. Before moving to Jackson Hole I was living with my girlfriend at the time. Currently, even if it’s just a few, I interact with people on a daily basis. Even if I’m working at the computer, I still occasionally connect with other people via email, Twitter and Facebook. While it’s great to have camaraderie among friends and family, whether in person or digitally, we’re still inundated with other peoples’ thoughts, even if we share our own opinion of them in agreement of disagreement.

On my recent road trip, spending roughly two weeks by myself in the southern Utah desert, I noticed that I seemed to have a better flow of thoughts, ideas or personal revelations that I was greatly inspired to write down. Perhaps I was afraid that such a powerful thought in my own personal development would be lost and forgotten, increasing the motivation to mark it down on something more permanent than my short-term memory. Regardless, I was able to find time at a campsite here and there and get them written down, this being one such moment.

In this particular instance, I wondered why I was so driven to pen down these particular thoughts with a motivation that I don’t usually experience. It dawned on me, especially on this trip, that I was on my own time all 24 hours of the day. I was by myself, which meant that I wasn’t sharing any thoughts with anyone else, or as it is with standard employment, engrossed in doing someone else’s work. In allowing my thoughts the freedom to express themselves and grow, I began to see how historical figures such as John Muir, Henry David Thoreau and Benjamin Franklin, just to name a few, were able to distinguish themselves. They had all the time they wanted to devote to themselves and their ideas, thus allowing increasingly intelligent thoughts to evolve. They weren’t contradicted by anyone at the point of that thought taking form. They were free to explore it, to expand upon it and to nurture it. In modern times, we tend to want to share a thought as soon as we think it, and chances are there’s someone nearby either physically or digitally that we can share it with. Most times, the thought gets rejected for one reason or another. "It’ll never work." "That’d cost too much." "Nobody would go along with that." These are all typical responses we get when we share what seemed like such a good idea just seconds ago. If it’s not one of those responses it’s a personal criticism or fear that keeps us from even speaking about it and letting it grow. Fears of criticism, poverty and death are three of the most common reasons people refuse to try new things.

Famous historical figures and authors, however, never let those fears or even the typical life that society deems successful weigh them down. If they did, they broke away from it and started over, exploring places they loved and writing down any and all thoughts that crossed their mind. They had more time in any given moment than most people nowadays know what to do with. This allowed any revelations they did have to develop and to grow into something more. I was fortunate enough to be able to tap into this freedom during my two weeks on the road. When you’re able to disconnect from computers, cell phones and espcially any responsibilities you have in your day-to-day life, there’s a sense of pure freedom that you open up that allows in truer and more fulfilling thoughts than you might even think you’re capable of. These thoughts allow you to tap into the feelings that allow you to overcome fears, appreciate nature in a new way and restore a child-like innocence and curiosity that brings you into a complete state of bliss.

It seems that in modern times, people are so determined to find a respectful employer that pays well, that they’re unknowingly willing to sacrifice one of the most important parts of being human. They devote so much time and energy to doing someone else’s work for so much of the day that when that day is done, they want nothing more than to either drink it all away with like-minded friends, or to just sit in front of the TV so they don’t have to spend the energy thinking for themselves. In doing so, they’re slowly letting that stream of powerful thinking trickle away.

This is why I find extended, solo traveling not just enjoyable, but essential to harnessing that very energy and thinking that makes us human. It allows you to see life for what it’s really for: to discover what’s out there; to erase any form of an agenda and to let life blow you away with one surprise after another! That’s living!

After getting a bit of a late start from Phoenix, I realized that despite visiting the Grand Canyon over a dozen times, I somehow don’t have many good shots from there. Since it’s only a four hour drive from there, I decided to make that my first destination on my way back to Jackson Hole with the specific intent to get some sunset, sunrise and even a few night shots. Sunset left a little to be desired and I’m still debating the moonlit shots, however sunrise definitely didn’t disappoint and was a great show! The canyon walls lit up nicely shortly after the sun came up and watching them glow in the sunlight was especially nice to see.

I didn’t have many plans or destination on my road trip, but one thing I was determined to do was backpack into Coyote Gulch, even if only for a night. I had seen a few photos and knew I had to get back there. On my way down to Phoenix, I missed my opportunity due to a big storm that had come through and threw off my chance to get there at that time. On my way back, yet another storm had come through, but I had luckily gotten trapped in the area because of that very weather system. The next day I headed out there after checking with the Visitor’s Center in Escalante, Utah about the road conditions.

One way into Coyote Gulch is to backpack in from the Hurricane Wash Trailhead in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It’s roughly 33 miles down Hole-in-the-Rock Road which begins just east of Escalante, Utah. Backpacking into the end of Coyote Gulch is about 13 miles, however I went in only seven or eight to get to where I wanted to go, at least for this trip. The hike down Hurricane Wash isn’t too interesting until you reach the boundary for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Right around that point the canyon walls begin to grow and a couple of miles later you meet up with Coyote Gulch where there’s plenty more water running, thus maintaining a very riparian environment in a somewhat narrow canyon. It really gets interesting when you come up to Jacob Hamblin Arch, a massive arch towering above the creek. Right around the corner from that is this overhang that will literally make your jaw drop as you walk in and fully experience the scale of the rocks above hanging overhead. It’s truly an erosional masterpiece and will definitely make you appreciate where you are. It also happened to be my preferred place to camp for the night.

If you’re looking for some kind of sense of scale, those cottonwood trees are mostly fully grown and my tent is a tiny black spot on the right side of the hill that goes up from the center.