Regensburger Photography

Tag: Utah

  • Coyote Buttes

    I love traveling to southern Utah in the winter. The light has a warmth that blends masterfully with the red rock landscape of of southern Utah. One of my favorite places to visit is the Coyote Buttes in the Paria-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness. Located on the Arizona/Utah border, this area boasts some of the most interesting geology and landscapes the U.S. has to offer.

    North Coyote Buttes and the Wave

    A trip to southern Utah wouldn’t be complete without trying to visit North Coyote Buttes and the famous Wave formation. The trick–the BLM has set up a permit system whereby only 20 per day (10 by advance on-line lottery and 10 by next-day in-person lottery) are permitted to hike in the area. The scene at the BLM office Kanab on Friday when I showed up was surreal–193 people were vying for 30 permits. Luckily, my number got drawn and I got to hike the area with my son. What a cool experience.

    The Wave is the centerpiece of this small chunk of wilderness. It is a collection of sandstone swirled in almost inconceivable directions. The area also has many other things to explore including Top Rock above the Wave and the Boneyard across the canyon from it. Due to wind and weather, I only had the opportunity to explore the Wave this time around. But I still got my $7 worth.

    The Hike

    The hike to the Wave is fairly straightforward despite having no marked trail for much of it. The hike starts at the Wire Pass trailhead off of House Rock Valley Road. The trail follows the wash for the first half mile and then proceeds up a sandy embankment (marked by a sign to the right stating you are entering the permit area). As you descend back down and cross another small wash, the fun begins. You have to aim for a low saddle (about 11 o’clock to your left) in a series of sandstone formations that cuts across the path in front of you. The saddle is a fairly short climb and takes only about 5 minutes to ascend. From the saddle, you can then pick out the route fairly easily. You can see a signpost at a 45 degree angle to your right. Eventually, you are aiming for the right side of the Twin Buttes that can be seen off to your right. Once you reach the Twin Buttes, the crack in the wall (a dark vertical shadow on the mostly white Top Rock) becomes visible. The Wave is located below this crack. You simply keep your route straight at this crack. The last difficult obstacle occurs just before the entrance to the Wave. You must cross a sandy wash and then ascend a steep sand dune just below the entrance to the Wave. The entrance is through the little slot canyon of wavy sandstone. The hike is just over 3 miles long and takes under 1.5 hours each way. Be sure to aim for the left side of the right most set of buttes (amongst many) on the return. These are the Twin Buttes. A fence line can be seen descending the right side of the butte.

    South Coyote Buttes Paw Hole

    The South Coyote Buttes is a landscape worthy of exploring Coyote Buttes is subject to a permit and lottery system established by the BLM to prevent overuse in the area. In the winter, it issues permits for both North and South areas for the following three days (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) on Fridays. I secured a permit for South Coyote Buttes for later that day after the North/Wave lottery had ended. This wouldn’t leave me enough time to explore both Paw Hole and Cottonwood Cove so I opted to explore just the Paw Hole region. Paw Hole doesn’t have the color variety of Cottonwood Cove, but it does have some bizarre rock formations that make for great photo compositions.

    I parked my car along the entrance road and started hiking around 1 pm. I explored the buttes to the right of the entrance to begin with. There is no discernible path through the tall buttes but I found a low point slightly to the right of the fence line and climbed past the initial set of buttes. Back behind this area is a cool little canyon with a mini wave to it. I continued uphill to the north. The landscape was mostly uninteresting for the next 1/2 mile or so, however. I then came upon an area that featured some buttes with crazy fins on the side and a large alcove. This was fun to explore and I marked a point to return to near sunset. Next, I hiked another 1/2 mile or so to a region that had some cool box work. Finally, I stopped at the summit of the Paw Hole region. This area has a feature I like to call batwing arch. It has box work or lacy rock with a hole in the middle giving it the appearance of a batwing.

    The Hike

    The Paw Hole entrance is located 14 miles down House Rock Valley Road and then up a jeep road to the left another 2.5 miles. There are several areas to park off the road if you get concerned by the sandy conditions. Once at the trailhead, you have two choices. You can either skirt the buttes to the left and then finally ascend once you reach the buttes with the pronounced fins on them or you can stay to the right and pick a trail through them. Don’t go perfectly straight from the trailhead. There is no obvious route through the buttes form here. If you choose the right most path, there is a small wave and canyon behind the big butte just to your left once you’ve crossed over the first set of buttes. Then, you keep steeply climbing the next couple set of buttes. I particularly like the box work that forms a couple of Xs on the sides of the next series of buttes. At around the 1 mile mark, you can see an alcove off to the left and the previously mentioned buttes with pronounced fins. Stay to the right and climb through the brush (there is a steep drop to your left). At mile 2, you will reach a series of buttes with amazing box work. The last of these contains batwing arch. From this point, you can continue on to Cottonwood Cove. Go straight for about 1/2 mile and then veer right to miss the canyon in front of you. At around 3.5 miles, you will arrive at the first of the multicolored features in Cottonwood Cove. Explore at your leisure. Retrace your steps to the trailhead at Pawhole or arrange a guide to pick you up at the Cottonwood entrance.

  • Coyote Gulch

    I backpacked into Coyote Gulch in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah this past week.  I had been wanting to do this trip for the past ten years or so.  I failed once trying to squeeze my pack through the crack-in-the-wall route so this time I simply hiked in through Hurricane Wash.  I walked 25 miles in two days but it was worth the effort.  Coyote Gulch is an amazing place.  It features several waterfalls, a large arch, and towering canyon walls. It is also a very peaceful walk through a verdant canyon in the middle of a desert.  Below is the trail description.

    Hurricane Wash

    The guidebooks warn that this hike is rather dull to start and I think that is a little unfair.  While the first couple miles are rather unremarkable, parts of Hurricane Wash are actually pretty scenic.  The wash itself is 5.5 miles long to the confluence with Coyote Gulch.  The wash is sandy for the first four miles.  Luckily, an overland trail avoids the wash for the first couple of miles, meaning you’re walking in sand for only about 2 miles of the trip.  The canyon walls pop up after about two miles and this is where the hike starts to get interesting.  The trail passes the Glen Canyon boundary at mile 3.0.  Shortly thereafter, the canyon enters a short narrows section which is quite pretty.  At mile 4.0, the landscape changes.  Tamarisk and reeds dominate and a trickle of water becomes evident.  You pass by a large rock in thee stream bed that looks like it has been blasted from the hillside and then a fenced gate at around mile 5.0.  Finally, you come to the confluence.  This area features a much wider stream and and several canyon faces greet you downstream to the right. On the way back, I found out how the wash got its name.  The wind rips through it when a front is approaching.   

    Coyote Gulch

    The wading in the stream now begins in earnest.  The trail criss-crosses the stream multiple times throughout your journey through the gulch.  You’ll need wading shoes unless you want to get your boots wet.  I opted to hike in tennis shoes and neoprene socks.  You pass a couple of very large rock alcoves which have a nice orange color to them.  At around mile 7.0, you come to the first main feature of Coyote Gulch–Jacob Hamblin Arch.  The Arch towers above you to the left.  The arch is a good photo around two hours before sunset or at an hour after sunrise on the reverse side (but alas I went through it around 1pm).  There are multiple campsites on either side of the arch and one directly below it.  This is a good spot for a star shot, but I didn’t bring my Canon on the trip due to weight.  I continued downstream from here and soon came to the Swiss Cheese falls.  This is an area in the stream with some great fluted rock that the stream flows through.  I camped here under another large alcove.  Watch for falling rock here.  The rubble pile is impressive!  

    The next main feature in the canyon is Coyote Natural Bridge another mile or so downstream.  This is another large arch (bridge since it is over the stream).  This is more of a midday shot since the light doesn’t reach down into this part of the canyon except for that time.  At this point, my recommendation is to turn around and go back to camp unless you are up for a very long walk.  If I had to do it over agin, I would have stopped here and turned around and done the waterfall section as a day hike from Crack in the Wall.  Why? To be blunt, the next section of canyon is very dull and a long walk through reeds and tamarisk, and reeds and tamarisk, and reeds and tamarisk.  There is nothing to see for 2.0 miles.  Finally, you come to the first of the waterfalls past Cliff Arch.  To reach this place requires hiking around a boulder field to the left and then crossing the stream and scrambling above the boulder field to the right.  It is a pretty waterfall to be sure.  Some trees frame it and the canyon provides an amazing backdrop.  The trail then continues for about .75 miles to the next falls.  To reach this one, you need to descend the boulders to the right.  I then walked to another waterfall a short distance from this one.  I stopped here.  The route down below this falls looked difficult and I had hiked almost 12 miles to this point and had a 4.0 mile walk back to camp.  I will have to do the rest of the 2.0 miles of the gulch next time.  

    Driving Directions

    To reach Hurricane Wash, take the Hole in the Rock Road 5.0 miles east of Escalante or 18.0 miles south of Boulder.  Drive 33 miles down the worst washboarded road you’ve ever seen until coming to the parking area for Hurricane Wash.  Follow the trail down the wash and have fun! You don’t need 4×4 for the road, but a tougher vehicle may be nice for the bumps.  

  • Utah Fall Color

    I spent a long weekend in northern Utah shooting fall color. The maples are spectacular this year near Heber City and on the Nebo Mountain Loop.  With heavy snow and generally bad weather wreaking havoc on theColorado fall scene, I headed across the border to Utah.  I had always wanted to see the maples there and finally had the chance.  I visited several of the canyons, including Pine Creek, Big Cottonwood Canyon, and Provo Canyon.  The best color was on the Deer Creek Overlook which is located between Salt Lake and Heber City.  I also drove the Nebo Mountain Loop south of Provo which also had some dazzling color, especially near the Bear Canyon Campground.

    Heber City is a pretty little town on the back side of the Wasatch Front across from Salt Lake City.  It is a perfect place to explore the various canyons to the west such as Cascade Springs, Pine Creek, and Big Cottonwood.  I walked around Cascade Springs which is a natural spring and creek.  A nature trail winds through the area. Dispersed camping is available along the road past the springs.  This portion of the road road is quite rough so bring the 4×4.  I found some cool places to shoot maples.  The color was quite vibrant in this area.  From there, I explored the Deer Creek Overlook.  This was located down the main road just a couple of miles from the springs.  This is a great place to watch the sunrise.  Too bad there were so many clouds that morning.

    That afternoon I did the Nebo Mountain Loop.  This road loops from Payson to Nephi a few miles south of Spanish Forks.  It has a number of highlights including great views of bald Mountain and Nebo Mountain. The best color on the loop is found near the southern end by the Bear Canyon campground.

  • Southwest Black and Whites

    For a while now I’ve been meaning to do a series of black and white photographs of the Southwest.  I’ve made a few trips to the National Parks of Utah recently with this in mind .  This series has photographs from Arches, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks, and Valley of the Fire State Park.   In particular, I tried to find images that featured trees.  Many of the trees in these parks are old or dead.  Their twisted and gnarled shapes make for some wonderful compositions.  Perhaps my favorite trail was the Navajo Knobs trail in Capitol Reef. This trail has volcanic rock and a plethora of dead junipers that make for perfect black and white compositions. 

    Black and White Conversion Process

    I like to create contrasty black and white images to highlight these features.  I start with a color digital file.  I use the high contrast red filter in Photoshop to achieve this effect. I start with the presets of the filter and then adjust the individual color levels accordingly.  I often lower the yellow percentage just a little and lower the Cyan and Blue levels even more to darken the sky.  

  • Calf Creek Falls

    I decided to hike to Calf Creek Falls in the Escalante National Monument near Escalante, Utah this past weekend. Cloudy weather had put a damper on my plans to do some hiking along the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, so I stopped at the trailhead for the falls.  Calf Creek  Falls is a beautiful reward after a somewhat easy 3-mile hike through a pretty, riparian canyon.  The trail follows Calf Creek as it meanders through a deep canyon.  Along the way, many species of trees and birds can be spotted.  A number of Claret Cup cacti were blooming with their scarlet flowers as well.  The only drawback to the hike is that is features walking though deep sand the land mile or so.  The falls is tucked away at the end of the canyon.  

    The trailhead for Calf Creek Falls is located about 15 miles form Escalante or 13 miles south of Boulder Town along Highway 12.     

  • Capitol Reef

    I made a short trip to Capitol Reef National Park this past weekend.  The cottonwoods were just leafing out so it was a great time to be there.  I explored some new places and went to an old standby.  Overall, it was a fun trip but I wish the weather had been better so I could have explored Escalante National Monument.  Coyote Gulch will have to wait.    

    Sheets Canyon

    This is a short hike to a pretty slot canyon on the east side of the park.  Sheets Canyon is located off the Notom Road.  The trailhead is located just before the pavement ends, about 12 miles down the road.  The hike wanders through the Sheets Canyon wash for about a mile before the walls narrow.  There are some very interesting rock formation in the canyon.  The narrows stretches for about 1/2 mile and then the canyon widens.  The walls are quite high in this area so it is still an interesting through this part of the canyon.  There are a few chokcsotnes you have to scramble over in the narrows section but nothing too difficult.  

    Cohab Canyon

    The trail to Cohab Canyon is located near the Fruita barn just before the main campground in Capitol Reef.  It climbs steeply up a series of switchbacks before leveling off at the entrance to Cohab Canyon.  Just before the entrance there are some interesting rock formations and trees that make great photography subjects.  The canyon itself, has pink or orange walls, and is quite pretty.  The walls are pockmarked with holes, alcoves, and other cool features. In about 1/2 mile, the trail veers to the left and ascends to a view of Fruita and the campground below.  The one way total is just under 2 miles.     

    Navajo Knobs Trail

    The Navajo Knobs trail leads to a panoramic overlook after a hard 4.7 mile hike.  Luckily, the views are pretty spectacular most of the way so making the top isn’t a requirement to get a great view.  The trail starts about a mile from the visitor’s center along the main park road.  It climbs steeply and intersects with the Hickman Bridge trail in about half a mile.  Veer right at the junction and continue to climb up to a great view of Pectol’s Pyramid across the valley.  At mile 2.5, the trail comes to a view of the Fremont River and you are looking back across at the visitor’s center.  From here, the trail descends for about 3/4 of a mile which of course leaves a steep ascent back up a long ramp.   At this point, the views are amazing.  One last side canyon has to be routed around before reaching the top.  This is a steep and long hike but the effort is worth it.  Views can be had in any direction from here.   

    Sulfur Creek

    Sulfur Creek features a neat waterfall after a short 1 mile hike.  Take the trail to the right of the visitor’s center and veer around to the back of it.  When you come to the creek, head toward a power line straight across the creek.  You can also head left down stream but the walk is much longer and wetter this way.  After climbing a short rise you will come to a lime kiln on the right and then the trail cuts back down to Sulfur Creek.  The waterfall is about .75 of a mile from the visitor’s center.  It isn’t particularly large but the scene is pretty with the read rock of Sulfur Canyon framing the shot.  

  • Winter in Canyonlands National Park

    My son and I recently spent a couple of days in Canyonlands National Park–one in the Island in the Sky District and one in the Needles section.  I like visiting Utah and Canyonlands in the winter because the skies are often clear and the crowds are thinned out and the Parks less busy.  On the first evening, we took in sunset at Green River overlook and then headed to Mesa Arch to shoot some star trails.  Since we were the only ones at Mesa Arch, it gave a completely different feeling than the normal sunrise time where 20 or more photographers jockey for position under the arch.  On the second day, we headed to the Needles.  Unlike Arches, the Needles is virtually deserted in the winter.  The rangers don’t collect fees and the visitor’s center is closed.  Not surprisingly, there were only a handful of cars in the park.  We hiked the trail to Druid Arch through the Needles area.  We got a late start and didn’t quite make it to the arch, but the hike along the trail provided some great photo ops.  Much of the Druid Arch trail winds along a wash and is lined with many dead junipers.  I took a bunch of photos in hopes of getting a few good ones to convert to black and white.  On the way back, we were treated to golden light on the rock formations.  I stopped at Pothole Point to catch the last rays of the sun on the canyon walls in the distance. The point provides just enough elevation to get above the junipers and give a clear view.     

     

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