Sunday, January 15, 2012

Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend

Signature shot of Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation in Utah and Arizona.  From left to right, these formations are the West Mitten Butte, the East Mitten Butte, and Merrick Butte.  Monument Valley has been feature in numerous films, including those by director John Ford and actor John Wayne.  These movies include Stagecoach and The Searchers.  Monument Valley also made an appearance in Forrest Gump and Johnny Depp is currently filming The Lone Ranger here.


More buttes at Monument Valley


See why they are mittens?


Another good shot


...and a different angle


West Mitten along the 3 mile Wildcat Trail


Sentinel Mesa


Merrick Butte


1 of the 2 dogs that followed us the whole trail


The other dog that followed us


More Merrick Butte


Side of West Mitten


East Mitten


East Mitten through the tree


From left to right: Big Indian, Saddleback, King on His Throne, and Castle Rock (I think)


Three Sisters


See 2 pictures ago


West Mitten with sun shining through crack


See last picture


Glen Canyon in Page, AZ


Outside Upper Antelope Canyon


One small step for man...


...one giant leap for mankind


Entrance


Various crazy shots of Antelope Canyon in Page












"Monument Valley"


The Gang









"The Skull"










Sand "waterfall"


"Abraham Lincoln"



"The Owl"


"The Wave"






"The Wall of Fire"




"The Sand Dune"



An amazing picture


The other side of the canyon


Outside Antelope Canyon


"The Boat"






Horseshoe Bend in Page.  An amazing turn in the Colorado River











Awesome sandstone formation






1,000 ft between me and the Colorado River



Page


Cedar Tree Hills


Painted Desert near Hopi Reservation


Monday, October 17, 2011

Durango

A train for the Durango & Silvertion Narrow Gauge Railroad, one of the last steam locomotives still in use.  This line carries passengers between Durango, CO and Silverton, CO, a mining town locating 45 miles north of Durango.  Filmmakers used this line to film Polar Express in 2004.



Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) Museum.  This prop car was used in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.


Presidential car from old train


D&RG model


Inside 1923 locomotive


Steam-powered car from early 1900s


1923 D&RG locomotive


More of museum, including old fire engine on left


Outside


Durango, population of roughly 17,000 and elevation of roughly 6,500 ft.


Old train station


Main Road in Durango


Strater Hotel, built in 1887 by a Cleveland pharmacist named Henry Strater.  Roughly $100-115 per night for a one person depending on what day of the week...not too terrible actually.  Ghost stories include of a little girl who runs around and a man in 19th clothes in the theatre who both disappear.  Other stories include the appearance of a 19th century bar girl, as well as accounts of unseen people touching workers and guests.


View of San Juan Mountains from Strater


Inside the Strater.  This was the nicer of the 2 hotels.


General Palmer Hotel, the other main hotel downtown.  Built in 1898 by Civil War General William Jackson Palmer from the Philadelphia area.  Palmer worked with railroads across the country and also has a park named after him in Colorado Springs.


Hogsback Trail in the San Juans, 2 miles





Awesome pic




Some of the trees looked on fire compared to the green




View of downtown


Hogsback ridge that we climbed!  Got very steep...  Here's a good picture from flickr that shows the way up.  (I did not take a picture myself for some reason, so I have a link for you to see.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottlindsey/5051996245/in/set-72157624971765445


More downtown



Perins Peak, 8337 ft. above sea level.  There is apparently a difficult 5 mile trail that takes you past one of the largest former coal mines of the 20th century.  Didn't have time for this, but definitely gonna hit it up next time.


San Juan Mountains


Not sure what snow peak this is, but it looks tall!


Fort Lewis College on bluff above Durango


One of my favs


Downtown looking towards New Mexico in the south(ish)


Great colors on this slope of Perins Peak



Duango & Silverton Narrow Gauge arrives!

Sunday, October 2, 2011