A quest even longer than the one for the Moenave dinosaur footprints.
Another long-term quest involved Arches National Park, near Moab, UT. I went there during a 1977 field trip. The shutter jammed on my Miranda Sensorex II camera (and then somehow unjammed itself). I had photos from Mesa Verde and Canyonlands, but nothing from Arches.
In 1979, I had a six-week summer job south of Farmington, NM. On one weekend, I went back to Arches. Same camera, same problem, but it didn't "fix itself". (It sounded normal, so I wasn't aware of the problem until I started getting unexposed slide film back from K-Mart.) Two visits = zero photos.
After getting married in 1984 and moving our growing family back to my native Georgia, ever seeing Arches National Park again seemed like it would probably never happen.
In the intervening years, after some major "life changes", my daughter's family moved from Atlanta to Phoenix in late-May, 2015. After helping them move, by ferrying their SUV and their dog across country, a friend and I did some western sightseeing.
After returning home in latter-June, I was immediately restless in the almost-empty home, as my wife had passed away and my son was working. I rented a car and hit the road, determined to engage in photography and any desired rockhounding on my own schedule.
After my daughter and grandsons decided to take shelter in Atlanta from the Phoenix summer heat during the summer of 2016, when they returned to Phoenix, again I ferried their car and dog, this time by myself. On the return trip from visiting Phoenix, I was determined to cross "Arches National Park photos" off of my Bucket List. I did! It only took 39 years from the first disappointment!
Figure 1. Double Arch.
Figure 2. Delicate Arch.
Figure 3. Turret Arch
Figure 4. Windows Arch.
Figure 5. Herd of Elephants.
Figure 6. The Three Gossips.
Figure 7. Courthouse Towers.
Figure 8. Park Avenue.
Figure 9. Moab Fault Zone exposure across from the park entrance.
Delicate Arch is one the favorites, but it was early August and I just didn't feel like taking the direct hike (was it 3 hours or 3 miles?) to stand beneath Delicate Arch. (In the August afternoon heat, neither option sounded sensible.)
I had spent the morning driving from Beaver, Utah and stopping often for scenic photos along I-70, so I didn't arrive at Arches until the afternoon. That was OK it was the digital age and I conquered the demons of my old Miranda Sensorex II. [Actually, in the 12 years or so that I had the camera, the only time the shutter jammed was those two times I was far away from my then home in El Paso.]
I had spent the morning driving from Beaver, Utah and stopping often for scenic photos along I-70, so I didn't arrive at Arches until the afternoon. That was OK it was the digital age and I conquered the demons of my old Miranda Sensorex II. [Actually, in the 12 years or so that I had the camera, the only time the shutter jammed was those two times I was far away from my then home in El Paso.]
No comments:
Post a Comment