Recently my friend Dia and I spent a few days in a cute airBNB near Abiquiu Lake. The place we stayed was in the middle of the high desert up on a rocky mesa. The views from the home were so beautiful. We had wonderful first evening enjoying a glass of wine and exploring the views from the mesa.
Kelly and DiaDia enjoying her wineBest friends!Gorgeous view from the mesaI especially liked the little rock pool that is shaped like a fetish bear with the TeePee in the distance.
I had wanted to do some sunset and/or night photography that first night, but thunderstorms moved in preventing any photography. So we stayed in and enjoyed the kiva fireplace and a yummy dinner.
Lovely kiva fireplace at our AirBNB
The next day we decided to explore the Ghost Ranch. I have long wanted to hike the trails at this ranch. You may be familiar with Ghost Ranch as this was the place the famous painter Georgia O’Keefe loved to visit and paint.
Wide open vistasKelly and Scarlett had hiked very high up the trail.
We decided to hike the Chimney Rock trail as it wasn’t too long and offered the best views of the area. After a short, steep climb, we quickly came upon the main attraction of the hike, Chimney Rock.
Chimney Rock formation
Dia and her dog Buddy decided to hang out here and enjoy the view.
Dia and Buddy
Scarlett and I decided to go further up the steep trail. The views from up high were just stunning.
Scarlett posing for me with Abiquiu Lake in the distance.
While exploring Ghost Ranch, the clouds continued to build. By the time we left, the clouds had formed beautifully over the grand vista of the Ranch.
The setting sun lit this mesa up so beautifullyI especially loved how the clouds formed over this butte. Just amazing!
We returned to our airBNB and enjoyed another wonderful dinner by the fireplace. That evening the weather cooperated much better. So Dia and I went out to take some more photos of our gorgeous views.
The evening light was so ethereal.Such a beautiful sunset.
Not long after the sun set, a bright full moon rose into the sky. We both had great fun photographing the moon and the lovely light of the blue hour.
I love photographing dead trees for some reason. Beautiful full moon!So cool!Amazing color!
The next day we headed home. The day was overcast and rainy. We knew the Aspen at the Santa Fe Ski Area were in full color, so we decided to brave the weather and drive to the ski area to get some fall photos.
I’ve often said photographers love bad weather. And this day showed just why. The low clouds on the moutains made my photos more dramatic. Plus the soft light and wet leaves, made the gold color just glow!
Low clouds over the mountain.Gorgeous golden glow!Stunning!The white trunks are so lovely amidst the golden spen leaves.
We had a fabulous time while visiting the Abiquiu area. It was such a peaceful, relaxing trip. I would gladly go again to this area to escape the stresses of life.
Back in July my friend Dia and I spent a long weekend at Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I had never been there before, so I was really looking forward to a long, relaxing weekend hiking and soaking in the hot springs.
On our way we stopped in for lunch at the Purple Adobe Lavender Farm in Abiquiu, New Mexico. (Pronounced Ab-eh-Q) It was a beautiful place to stroll and the lunch was delicious.
Purple Adobe Lavender Farm
Wonderful lavender!
Kelly enjoying a wonderful lunch
We also enjoyed shopping in the little store.
Beautiful store
Shopping at the cafe
Mmmmmmm…
As we drove down the road, we decided to pop in and check out the famous Ghost Ranch. When people hear Ghost Ranch they usually think of the artist Georgia O’Keefe who loved to paint the beauty of the desert here. We didn’t spend long, but I did take some time to take a few photos.
Great old western wagon
Storms over Abiquiu Lake
Old hand-hewn log cabin
Beauty of the Ghost Ranch
As we neared Chama, New Mexico, we passed an Osprey nest. Of course, I had to turn around to get a photo. 🙂
Female Osprey on the nest
While I was photographing the female on the nest, the male showed up with lunch.
Male Osprey with a meal
We stayed at the beautiful Springs Spa and Resort. They have 25 different soaking pools that vary in temperatures from 96 degrees to as hot as 111 degrees. HOT! The hottest pool was called the Lobster Pot. I couldn’t get more than my foot in before I was yelping in pain!
The Springs Resort and Spa
After checking in we decided to go have lunch and let Scarlett run around a bit. Of course, she was thrilled to play in the river.
Scarlett stretching her legs after a long drive.
We ate at a restaurant across the river that had a great view of the resort. We couldn’t wait to get in those pools!
View of the resort and the San Juan River
Looks fabulous doesn’t it?
Of course, we had ourselves a giant margarita at lunch to kick off the relaxing weekend.
Yum!
One of the things I really wanted to do while staying at the resort was take night photos. I don’t get many opportunities to do night photography, so this was a real treat to have a unique setting.
I first photographed the resort’s hotel. Such a beautiful place.
While photographing the hotel, a pair of girls were playing the outdoor chess game. I was thrilled they consented to let me take their photo. I think it came out nice.
Outdoor chess game under the stars
From there we toured the pools. The first pool we came to overlooked the resort. I liked that there were some people relaxing the in pool. I think they added interest to the view.
Soakers enjoying the beautiful evening
Here’s some other shots I got touring the pools.
Sunken foot bridge through the warm springs
I loved the travertine formations that builds up with the flowing waters of hot springs
I took a few shots from the bridge across the river and from the other side of the river. Beautiful with the reflections in the water.
Gorgeous at night
Definitely a special place
The next day we went on a couple of short hikes. I really wanted to see the waterfalls in the area. I never seem to tire of photographing water.
The views during the hike were spectacular.
Our first hike was to Treasure Falls. It’s not a very long hike, but really beautiful. Of course, where there’s water, there is always wildlife.
MacGuilvray’s Warbler
Adorable chipmunk
American Robin with a mouthful of moths
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Northern Flicker digging for grubs
This year the southwest had experienced a pretty severe draught at the beginning of the summer. Because of this, the waterfalls were pretty thin. But I think they were still beautiful.
Lower part of Treasure Falls
Gorgeous!
My favorite shot of the entire trip was taken at this waterfall. I hiked all the way to the base of the falls to discover a tranquil pool.
Tranquil pool
To my delight, I spotted an American Dipper. It’s always a real treat to see one of these birds. I love how they dip and bob along the water’s edge and dive into the pools looking for food.
American Dipper
Looking for goodies in the falling water
The other hike we did was to Silver Falls. Dia was my co-pilot and was responsible for finding the trailhead. She led me on a one-hour 4WD goose chase!!! DIA!!!!! I was so busy stressing over the drive, I didn’t take any photos! LOL!
We finally realized we had driven past the falls. We turned around and found the trailhead. This was also a short hike, but very steep! We followed Silver Creek the entire way. There were small waterfalls along the trail.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got to the main waterfall. All I can say is WOW! It was spectacular! I think it was about 5 stories tall! The sounds of the falls was almost deafening. I can only imagine what they would look like if it hadn’t been a drought year. Dia and I spent quite some time here enjoying the view and taking a few photos.
Lower portion of Silver Fall
Silver Falls
WOW!
Just spectacular!
Lower portion of Silver Falls
My beautiful friend Dia
Dia took a picture of me at the falls. I look terrible after a stressful Jeep drive! LOL! My headband says “Jeep Hair, Don’t Care!” 🙂
We spent the rest of the afternoon and the next morning soaking in the pools. It was sooooooo relaxing. We spent some time shopping the great shops on main street before we left town. We found lots of goodies!
On the way out of town I spotted a Black-Billed Magpie. I wish we had these birds closer to home.
Black-Billed Magpie
When we drove through Chama we spotted a little foal in a pasture along the highway. We just had to stop and say hi.
Dia made new friends fast 🙂
Beautiful!
This guy was so new he still has his dried umbilical cord
The drought was about to be over on this trip. The monsoons started in earnest on our drive home. I stopped to take a photo of the storms over Abiquiu Lake. Monsoons in the desert can be very dramatic!
Storms over Abiquiu Lake
All the rain made the Rio Grande turn red.
Rio Grande
I hope you enjoyed reading about my lovely weekend at Pagosa Springs! I’m so ready to go back!
Recently I was invited to a night photography workshop held near the Pecos National Monument. I have dabbled in night photography a couple times in the past with poor results. Mostly because my camera I was using at the time was not meant to do night shots. But also because I just didn’t know what the heck I was doing. :-\
So when I was invited to do a workshop that was going to be hosted by several people that were much more experienced at it then me, I jumped on the opportunity. I invited my friend Valerie to join me. We love going out together for camera time.
We drove to Pecos and arrived late afternoon. I had believed the Pecos National Monument was open until 5:30. But sadly, they closed as soon as we got there at 4:30,. Winter hours had begun. 🙁 We weren’t going to meet our group until 6 so we had a 1.5 hours to kill.
I decided to drive up Highway 63 to see what might be interesting to see. We stopped at an old historic church for a few brief photos. Usually these old churches are locked whenever I am there. But on this day, it was open! Such a beautiful sanctuary.
Gorgeous chandeliers
Further up the road we crossed the Pecos River. We just had to stop. The setting sun was glorious on the water with the stunning fall colors.
Pecos River
Next stop was Monastery Lake. I’ve driven by the turn off for this lake several times this summer without stopping. So it was nice to stop in this time. It was a small little lake that seemed popular for fishing. Lovely fall colors surrounded the lake.
Monastery Lake
Fishermen along the shore
Beautiful shore
We figured we better start back to the meeting place. But I had one more stop to make. I had seen this cool old garage as we pulled out from the church earlier. So I quickly pulled into the driveway and snapped a few pics.
I loved the patina of the paint
There were a couple of dogs in the driveway that seemed friendly enough. But when it came time to leave, they were determined to chase the car and run in front of us. I couldn’t go very fast for fear of running them over. We had to drive down the road slowly for a ways before they finally gave up. Whew! They almost made us late for our workshop!
We had to be at the meeting spot on time or we would be locked out. We were allowed to shoot at an old ranch that isn’t open to the public. We drove up to the gate with moments to spare!
After a quick meeting, the group broke up into smaller groups around the ranch. Valerie and I decided we wanted to go down to this bridge to get shots of the bridge, river, moon and milky way. Several of us went to the bridge – including an experienced night photographer. Yay!
We had to wear red headlamps to save our night vision. I took a quick pic of Valerie for fun. I thought I took a selfie but I guess it didn’t take. 🙁
Valerie bundled up for the cold night ahead
So we made it to the bridge, got some great advice from our expert in the group, and set up our tripods and cameras. We checked our apps to see where the Milky Way was going to be and pointed our cameras that direction. And there was a sliver of a moon getting ready to set. The sky was the most beautiful purple hue.
Beautiful purple skies
The sun set quickly and I took my first photo of the Milky Way. It was thrilling! I took a 20 second exposure with a 20 second high noise reduction setting. I was anxiously waiting to see what I got. And then it appeared on my camera screen. I was so excited to see my first photo come out so beautifully!
My first Milky Way shot!
The group then decided to try light painting the Pecos River. I have tried light painting in the past with OK results. I realized later than I used too much light to highlight my subject. On this night we literally just lit the river a couple of seconds over a 20 second exposure. I think it turned out nice.
Light painting of the Pecos River
We then light painted the bridge we were standing on. It was a little more difficult as the bridge was white. It really reflected the light. We only had to very briefly shine the light. Even then the bridge is pretty bright. But I like the photo I got.
Bridge over the Pecos River
We were really concentrating on the south side of the bridge. When I turned around and looked to the north, I saw this great deciduous tree silhouetted by the lights of Santa Fe in the distance. I just had to capture it with the purple skies and wonderful light. I was very pleased with my shot. We tried light painting the tree, but I wasn’t as happy with those pics.
Beautiful skies
By this time, several hours had passed. It went so quickly! We needed to move to warm up. By now the temperature was 32 degrees and we were getting cold standing still. We headed up the hill to the old ranch house. There’s this giant steer head sculpture on the fireplace. We took several exposures of this view but I wasn’t happy with most of them. This is probably the best shot I got.
Steer Sculpture
By now we were very cold. It was time to go home. On one hand I wanted to stay longer, but on the other I was ready to leave. Those heated seats in my Jeep were pure heaven!!!
I had a great time on my first night shot outing. I’m definitely ready to do more!
At the end of Day 6 we had arrived at our cabin at the Zion Mountain Ranch. I woke up early the next morning to go birding and hopefully see the buffalo. The very first bird I saw when I started walking was a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. It was searching the pastures for breakfast.
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
As I headed to the back of the cabin area toward the large pasture surrounding the property, I heard lots of deep grunting. When I came closer to the pasture I saw this huge herd of buffalo. It was a beautiful sight. You could hear the grass tearing as they ate big mouthfuls of it. And they grunted while they ate. They were so close that I had trouble getting photos because I had my big zoom lens on my camera.
Beautiful buffalo
Cute baby!
You can see how close they are to the cabins in this photo. One woman was enjoying her morning coffee to the wondrous sight of all the buffalo. I think I took over 500 photos of these magnificent animals.
Perfect morning breakfast scenery
My favorite photo was of this bull staring straight at me with red eyes.
Now I just couldn’t resist taking this buffalo moment…….
She’s looking at me thinking….how embarrassing…
Hanging out on the periphery of the buffalo herd was this uniquely colored bull. I loved the colors of his coat and the shape of his horns. He was quite a distance away and would never face me, so this was the best photo I could get.
I soon moved on and found a few other birds to photograph. The birds were far and few between which surprised me.
European Starling
Western Bluebird
Green-Tailed Towhee
Mountain Bluebird
Around the farmhouse, the chickens were gearing up for the day. I liked the white rooster…he looks like he’s enjoying that stretch.
Silky Rooster
Bantam Rooster
We had decided the evening before not to stay a second night at the ranch. When we looked at the amount of hours we were going to have to drive to get home from the ranch, we thought it best to drive to Page, Arizona, the next evening and cut about 2.5 hours off our travel time the last day. This meant we only had until about 5 pm to stay at Zion before leaving for Arizona. While eating lunch, I searched the internet for the best hiking trail to take for our visit into Zion. We wouldn’t have time to explore any more than one trail. We eventually chose the Emerald Pools trail. It’s a 3-mile out and back hike that takes you to three different pools with stunning scenery and waterfalls as you climb.
Trail to the emerald pools…it starts out paved but eventually turns into a single track.
As we started the hike, the sun was shining brightly overhead and it was pretty hot. Tim was ahead of me on the hike by this time because I was taking so many photos. I looked up and saw him standing above everyone. He loves being different from the masses. LOL!
Can you see Tim?
The first pool is very beautiful with a long waterfall filling it. I bet that waterfall is stunning during the spring runoff.
The first emerald pool
I liked that the trail took you around the pool and behind the waterfall.
After the first pool, you start climbing more aggressively. This quickly gives you a view from above the waterfall.
Beautiful even at a trickle
Gorgeous!
Climbing above the waterfall.
The second pool you see is just above the waterfall that fills the first pool…or would that actually be the third pool as it is downstream….hmmmm… I didn’t take many pics of the second pool because it was filled with people. It was very shallow and on bedrock so it made for a cool stop for hot hikers.
Heading to the top pool the hike became more steep. The views got more narrow as you headed into a canyon. As we neared the upper pool, the sun went behind the cliff and it made the hike much more beautiful and cooler.
Cliff surrounding the upper pool
Our favorite pool of the hike was the upper pool. Well worth the climb!
Kelly and Tim at the upper pool
What a beautiful setting
We spent quite a while enjoying this beautiful place and visiting with people from all over the world. I enjoyed the mystery the shadows created.
Soon we were heading back down. The sun was fully hidden from the trail by this time. I couldn’t believe how it transformed the trail. What was beautiful in the sunshine turned to breathtaking in the shade.
So many colors in the rock
The bottom pool was totally transformed.
With the sun gone I could appreciate the delicate stream of water
Emerald pool indeed
I loved the colors that became more rich now that the sun was gone.
Such a peaceful setting
Soon we were back at the trail head in the sunshine once more. We saw a lizard soaking up the sun. He had gorgeous coloring.
Tiger Whiptail
I wish we could have spent more time here but sadly the day had grown late and we needed to head to Arizona.
Kelly next to Virgin River
I love the drive that goes through the lower end of Zion on Highway 9. The scenery is stunning. It was difficult to do it justice from a moving car. Here are a few of my better shots.
I love the crisscross geology of this sandstone
So majestic!
Beautiful sandstone layers
A giant arch in the making
The highlight of the drive along Highway 9 through the park was coming upon some Bighorn Sheep right next to the road. They are very used to people and didn’t care one bit that I got out of the car to take photographs. At one point I was only about 15 feet away from some of the females.
We first saw this group of Bighorn Sheep climbing along the sandstone cliffs
We rounded a corner and saw some right next to the road. Beautiful!
A young one running to catch up with the others
This female was grazing right next to me!!
A majestic ram!
All too soon we were on our way to Arizona. I was sad to leave this beautiful part of the country. Some day I will be back to explore all Zion has to offer.
This day was one of the funnest days of our trip. We covered a lot of miles and saw some stunning scenery.
We left Ely, NV, and started heading to Utah. Before we left the area, I had Tim stop again at the Comins Lake. It was such a great place for birding.
This morning I saw completely different birds than I had seen the evening before. Which I loved!
Sagebrush Sparrow
Solitary Sandpiper
Eared Grebe
Yellow-Headed Blackbird
Sage Thrasher
Barn Swallows
Vesper Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
After birding for a short while, a Great Blue Heron came flying in. I love these elegant birds.
Great Blue Heron
He wasn’t too sure about me walking along the shoreline. So he flew to the other side of the lake. I captured a few photos in flight. When I was editing the photos, I saw an elusive warbler flying in the photos as well. Looked like a Yellow Warbler – so bright! Wish I could have gotten some good photos of that warbler.
Great Blue Heron – see that bright yellow warbler!!!
I also saw a tiny bird feeding along the edge of the reeds. It’s obviously a juvenile. But I had a heck of a time identifying this bird. My conclusion is that it’s a juvenile Virginia Rail. But if someone knows the correct identification of this bird, I’d appreciate knowing.
Juvenile Virginia Rail
Too soon we were on our way. I never want to leave a good birding spot! We started heading further south. One of our planned stops on this trip was Cathedral Gorge State Park. It’s a small park comprising about 1600 acres, but just beautiful! We had a good time exploring all the small slots formed in the rocks. I could easily spend a day investigating all the cracks and crevices. Very unique!
Cathedral Gorge State Park
Unique geology
Tim exploring
Just beautiful!
Interesting holes and cracks
Kelly exploring the slots
View from inside the slot canyon
My handsome husband!
Kelly inside the deepest slot canyon
Tim spotted a lizard among the formation. Yay!
Plateau Fence Lizard
We next headed east toward Utah. We headed up a scenic highway called Cedar Canyon that was truly breathtaking at every turn. We climbed very quickly with some steep grades at times. One of the most scenic highways I had ever seen.
River along Highway 14 Cedar Canyon
Gorgeous rock formations along the scenic drive
We soon had gone from 4,800 foot elevation at Cathedral Gorge to 10,000 feet. The views were so expansive!
Views from 10,000 feet
I saw on the map that there was a National Park just ahead of us: Cedar Breaks National Park. Of course we just had to stop in. And I am so glad we did. Just breathtaking!!!
Cedar Breaks National Park
Stunning!
View from 10,000 feet
From 10,000 feet the bottom of the canyon is 2000 feet below
The views looking down into that canyon were breathtaking. I would have loved to see what the views looked like from down in the bottom of that canyon.
While there I saw (and heard!) and Clark’s Nutcracker. These birds are big and loud. Sadly it flew away before I could get a photo.
Further up the road was another turnoff that showed a different view of the park.
Tim and Kelly
At the parking area of Cedar Breaks there were lots of wildflowers with butterflies busily feeding. Along with the familiar butterflies, I actually got a new one!
Hoary Comma
Mourning Cloak
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell – a new butterfly for me!
Heading down the other side of the mountain, we saw a beautiful lake, mountain meadows and small ponds.
Red-Tailed Hawk
Sheep grazing in a high mountain meadow
Navajo Lake – a high mountain lake formed by lava
American Avocets
Mallard female
We stopped at one pond that was full of ducks. As we watched the ducks an osprey flew over looking for some lunch. He circled a couple times but didn’t see anything worth trying for and flew away.
Osprey
We finally made it off that mountain and to our destination of the Zion Mountain Ranch. It’s an actual working buffalo ranch. The buffalo were there but way far away. I had hopes of seeing them up close before we left.
We stayed in a private cabin overlooking the horse pasture. A very peaceful setting.
Our cabin at Zion Mountain Ranch
cozy…..
Tomorrow we see Zion!
P.S. I just learned this was my 100th post!!! 🙂
