The name Perry and Adventure have always gone hand in hand. John Muir is quoted as saying "The Mountains are calling, and I must go." I too have felt the call of the mountains through my life. I have had some pretty wild adventures, and I have always wanted to document them well, so others can follow in my footsteps.
Arches and Canyonlands National Parks are two places that I've visited time and time again and I still have a new adventure every visit. As a Christmas present this year my sister Melissa gave us a week stay at her home in Moab and that made for an awesome basecamp for our adventures.
Trip Summary: Adventurers: KP, Mary, Bennett, and the neighbors Dustin, Danie, and Sage Romrell Distance: 205 miles each way The Hikes: Devils Garden loop (5 miles) Delicate Arch- 3.1 miles, Mesa Arch-1 mile, Windows and Turrett Arch 1 mile. National Parks: Canyonlands and Arches- 0 New- All Time Total: 47 parks down, 12 to go
Courthouse Towers of Arches National Park- we had the park to ourselves tonight, so we drove passed a view times to capture the taillights along park road. the moon gave more than ample light, as flashlights weren't even necessary.
Playing with my flashlight and long exposure at Balanced Rock turned out pretty cool.
Night photography in the winter means no Milky Way photos, but the moonlight still made this night shot interesting. Arches National park on the Balanced Rock trail.
I put this photo on social media, and pointed out how Bennett made sure to notice all of the details. He spent his whole time at Arches playing in the dirt.
Petrified Dunes in Arches and the La Salle mountains as a backdrop
The snow capped La Salles and the spires in Arches made for quite the contrast
Dustin and I drove faster than the recommended speed to make it to Mesa Arch before Sunrise. It paid off
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands makes for a perfect place to watch a sunrise
if you want to know how to capture a photo like this, turn off the Auto mode on your camera. Canyonlands is not a place for Auto mode.
Choose the smallest aperture possible, and the adjust the other settings to compensate. With a fraction of the sun peeking through you get this star look which makes all your sunlight pictures more interesting.
Canyonlands really does provide some of the most spectacular views of the world below
The suns rays lit up the canyons below. It made me think of Mustafa telling Simba that everything the light touches is their kingdom.
This summer has been a crazy one with PT school starting in June. Despite the busy school schedule I have still had the chance to get out on some adventures and take a few photos.
The first leg of this trip was to Leadville for the 100 mile MTB race. I rode 8:13 which was better than I had anticipated. The first half of these pictures are from Mayflower Gulch which is near Leadville.
After the race I headed from Colorado to Tennessee for three weeks, and then back to Colorado. The second time to Colorado I visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and then met up with the Perry Boys for the Man Trip 2016, through the San Juan mountains, and then by Mesa Verde on my way home.
An abandoned mining building in Mayflower Gulch near Leadville
More buildings in Mayflower Gulch, near Leaville
Wildflowers in bloom in mayflower gulch
The wildflowers give the rustic mining cabins a nice trim.
Mary and Bennett practice walking at 12,000'
Photographer error ends up in a very interesting photo. the stars look like they're falling because of a bump in the camera. the light in the clouds is lightning striking. the Milkyway in the background- Great Sand Dunes National Park
The morning fog rolling over the sand dunes was quite an experience
Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
The road that leads into Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Perry Boys sitting around the campfire listening to the BYU football game
4 Generations of Perry came to the man camp.
The sunset and rainbow over the ranch cabins where Grandpa was staying
The horses at the cabin where grandpa was staying.
The cebola river. I caught 14 itsy bitsy fish on this trip
Mt. Umcompaghre towers over the San Juan range, the highest peak in the San Juans at 14, 308'
Abandoned mining building on Cinnamon Pass
Waterfall cascading at Cinnamon pass
The air is thin at 12,640
Animas forks above Silverton. this may be my favorite valley in Colorado
Aerial Views of the road up Cinnamon pass
The winding road up Cinnamon Pass. A bucketlist drive for sure
Dad posing for the pictures at Animas Forks
The view from the pass between Silverton and Durango on the Million dollar highway
Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde National Park
Wild Turkeys were the only visitors we saw at the Spruce Tree house
More cliff dwellings from Mesa Verde National Park. More than 600 cliff dwelling and 4600 sites can be found within the park alone. The 4 corners area is rich with history. (pictured is Tower House)
A view through a window in the Sun Temple clifftop dwelling.
The Sunset was a very stereotypical Southwest Sunset. Beautiful in the simplicity.
The Perry Fam had its second annual spring desert rendezvous, and it was just as fun as last year. My dad and I kicked off the adventure by driving 20 minutes north to Kanarraville, where we laced up the running shoes and made the trek up Kanarraville Creek Canyon. I set up my camera on the tripod near the end of the trek, and it fell victim to the flow of the water. It fell over and killed it for good. someday in the future i'll get a new one, but for now, enjoy the last of my good photos, it'll be all iPhone until PT school is over.
The mouth of the narrows section of the canyon. Right about here is when the snow started to fall hard
We jumped over the creek multiple times, but we weren't able to avoid getting wet any further after this point.
I balanced myself on two rocks in the middle of the stream for this one... my dad took a picture of me taking this picture. Likely a foreshadowing of what the day had in store.
Kanarraville Creek Canyon is one of the coolest things i've driven passed 100 times and never known about.
The water was so frigid, Dad walked along the edges as much as he could even though he was as soaked as can be.
I usually don't have someone that can be the subject of a photo, so it was great to have dad along to put the canyon walls into perspective. also notice the snow making this picture look almost blurry.
The last corner before the falls. I will be back here soon, but I will probably wait until its over 30 Degrees.
Had to take a moment for a Father-Son adventure photo
We were so frozen, and the cold water was so cold icy it stung our feet, so we decided to stop here, and not climb the ladder.
A few last photos to capture the beauty before we headed back to the house.
Mid-Day usually isn't recommended for great light, but the thick clouds and deep canyon made the light usable for a few great photos.
And this one was the last photo my camera captured. right after this moment, I attempted to shoot it again. I pressed the shutter button and turned to walk away, and felt like the camera had moved. I turned right back around to see the camera making its final descent into the icy water. I grabbed it as fast as I could but the damage was done.
