- 4,822
- Concord, CA
- kylehnat
By now, many of you have figured out that I don't like to let my camera gather dust. Unfortunately, the winter months here tend to keep me and my trusty Canon inside 
. Never fear--sunshine is here! Oh yes, it's time for pictures once again! My first photo journal of the year takes place not in my home state, but that must mean there is something outside of Washington that's worth capturing 
. In mid-April, I spent a week in Arizona, and while picture-taking was not my main objective on this vacation, I did have plenty of time to get out and about once I was done abusing a Caddy CTS-V for three days.
I set sail on Sunday, April 12th. I got to Sea-Tac plenty early, so I had lots of time to sit down, stare out the window at the driving rain, and smile at the fact I was headed for sunshine. Indeed, after a 2.5 hour stay in the Eskimo bird, I was in the sunny, 80-degree oven of southern Arizona. As usual, I had a few hours to kill before I could check into my hotel and dump off my stuff, but I did have a plan for Sunday afternoon. While the Phoenix area is in a flat, dusty basin, there are hills surrounding the whole area, and many parks and hiking trails to explore. My first stop was White Tank Mountain, just west of the metro area. Lots and lots of people were enjoying Easter picnics around the parks, so it was a bit crowded. Still, I found a decent parking spot, and headed out for a short hike. No palm trees out here--only cacti and rattlesnakes.
At the end of the trail, there is a "waterfall" which only runs after a heavy rain. That probably leads to flash flooding, so I'll take the dry version:
Hmm...I didn't know Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck lived in the Arizona desert. Makes sense.
Monday through Wednesday, I was occupied at the driving school. I had planned to drive up to the Grand Canyon on Thursday, but the weather up north was atrocious (below freezing and snowing). I decided on sun and stayed in Phoenix during the day, driving up to Flagstaff in the evening, and seeing the Grand Canyon on Friday instead. Sadly, this nixed the trip through Monument Valley which I had originally planned for Friday, but it did allow me to take another hike, this time up South Mountain. This hill rises about 1000 feet above the valley floor, and offers awesome views of downtown Phoenix. It's also incredibly steep and swarming with yellow jackets. I made it up about 700 feet before I turned around.
After that, I drove up to Flagstaff. When I left Phoenix, it was 75 degrees, and 140 miles up the road, it was snowing and 31. Pretty wild. The next two days were sunny and reasonably warm, though.
On Friday, it was time to see the Grand Canyon. Anyone who says it is over-hyped and clichéd is a liar. It really is a must-see. The other side of the canyon doesn't even look real--it looks like a painting. It's so big, it's hard to believe that the piddly little river at the bottom carved the whole thing. I had a hard time capturing the feel of the canyon in pictures--it's just too damn big!
The main tourist section is right after the park entrance on the south rim. It's crowded, but you don't have to walk too far in either direction to get away from almost everybody.
This picture was an absolute steal. According to Wikipedia, there are fewer than 300 California condors in the world. This one just happened to fly right over my head, and I just happened to point-and-shoot at the right time. I didn't realize how big it was until it flew over a crowd of people, and made off with a 5-year-old kid. Lol, n0t rly. They are big, though.
Next, I took a 45-minute drive over to Desert View. At this point, the sun was starting to get low, and the color of the canyon changed to a brilliant gold.
Not a bad use of a week, I think
.
. Never fear--sunshine is here! Oh yes, it's time for pictures once again! My first photo journal of the year takes place not in my home state, but that must mean there is something outside of Washington that's worth capturing . In mid-April, I spent a week in Arizona, and while picture-taking was not my main objective on this vacation, I did have plenty of time to get out and about once I was done abusing a Caddy CTS-V for three days.I set sail on Sunday, April 12th. I got to Sea-Tac plenty early, so I had lots of time to sit down, stare out the window at the driving rain, and smile at the fact I was headed for sunshine. Indeed, after a 2.5 hour stay in the Eskimo bird, I was in the sunny, 80-degree oven of southern Arizona. As usual, I had a few hours to kill before I could check into my hotel and dump off my stuff, but I did have a plan for Sunday afternoon. While the Phoenix area is in a flat, dusty basin, there are hills surrounding the whole area, and many parks and hiking trails to explore. My first stop was White Tank Mountain, just west of the metro area. Lots and lots of people were enjoying Easter picnics around the parks, so it was a bit crowded. Still, I found a decent parking spot, and headed out for a short hike. No palm trees out here--only cacti and rattlesnakes
.
At the end of the trail, there is a "waterfall" which only runs after a heavy rain. That probably leads to flash flooding, so I'll take the dry version:
Hmm...I didn't know Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck lived in the Arizona desert. Makes sense.
Monday through Wednesday, I was occupied at the driving school. I had planned to drive up to the Grand Canyon on Thursday, but the weather up north was atrocious (below freezing and snowing). I decided on sun and stayed in Phoenix during the day, driving up to Flagstaff in the evening, and seeing the Grand Canyon on Friday instead. Sadly, this nixed the trip through Monument Valley which I had originally planned for Friday, but it did allow me to take another hike, this time up South Mountain. This hill rises about 1000 feet above the valley floor, and offers awesome views of downtown Phoenix. It's also incredibly steep and swarming with yellow jackets. I made it up about 700 feet before I turned around.
After that, I drove up to Flagstaff. When I left Phoenix, it was 75 degrees, and 140 miles up the road, it was snowing and 31. Pretty wild. The next two days were sunny and reasonably warm, though.
On Friday, it was time to see the Grand Canyon. Anyone who says it is over-hyped and clichéd is a liar. It really is a must-see. The other side of the canyon doesn't even look real--it looks like a painting. It's so big, it's hard to believe that the piddly little river at the bottom carved the whole thing. I had a hard time capturing the feel of the canyon in pictures--it's just too damn big!
The main tourist section is right after the park entrance on the south rim. It's crowded, but you don't have to walk too far in either direction to get away from almost everybody.
This picture was an absolute steal. According to Wikipedia, there are fewer than 300 California condors in the world. This one just happened to fly right over my head, and I just happened to point-and-shoot at the right time. I didn't realize how big it was until it flew over a crowd of people, and made off with a 5-year-old kid. Lol, n0t rly. They are big, though.
Next, I took a 45-minute drive over to Desert View. At this point, the sun was starting to get low, and the color of the canyon changed to a brilliant gold.
Not a bad use of a week, I think
.
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