Cable Mountain - Zion National Park

Zion National Park is a fantastically beautiful place.  We find ourselves there at least once a year to hike, climb and photograph like crazy.  Zion is characterized by colorful sandstone cliffs in reds, oranges, yellows and even purple.  On our honeymoon trip to the park, we decided to try a few new hikes off the usual beaten paths, which led us to Cable Mountain.  Back in the early 1900s, a sawmill was operated on the rim, and a cable car was built atop Cable Mountain to transport the lumber down to the canyon floor.  The original cable system was hit by lightning and burned down in 1911, only to be rebuilt and operated until about 1930, when it was abandoned due to a lack of lumber supply.  The ruins of the cable structure still stand on the top of Cable Mountain today.

The view across the canyon on the way up to Cable Mountain, seen on the left.

The ruins of the cable system still stand precariously on the very edge of the canyon rim.

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped meander in the Colorado River near the Arizona-Utah border. We stopped by on a rainy travel day from the Grand Canyon up to Zion. It's a short hike from Highway 89 up sandy slopes and sandstone to the lookout point, and well worth it!

Happy Monday, folks!

We're moving!

You may have noticed a few changes here on the blog. Since we got married back in October, and I'm no longer Erin Lang, I'm now doing all the paperwork and account updating to change everything to my new name, Erin Filliater.  It's not all set up yet, but starting very soon, I'll have separate sites for weddings and fine art photography, and my blog is moving to http://www.erinfilliater.blogspot.com.

In the meantime, check out my new wedding site, Wedded Bliss Images:

Happy Wednesday!

Winter at the Grand Canyon

On our way out of the Grand Canyon, it snowed, rained, and sleeted.  For most people, this means staying inside and curling up on the sofa with a good book or at least a good DVD.  For me, it means moody, interesting photographs, and of course, a lot of running around in the rain and snow.  Many props to my driver/assistant/wonderful husband, who makes last-minute left-hand turns, carries gear, and shelters me and my camera while I change filters and lenses-- you're the best!

Bright Angel Trail and Plateau Point

The Bright Angel Trail is one of two main thoroughfares into the Grand Canyon from the South Rim Village. The trail itself is wide, nicely graded and well-maintained, and sees hundreds of visitors and a couple mule trains each day, even in the off-season. It passes through colorful cliff bands, ranging in hue from white and grey to pink, coral, orange, and purple. Along the way, there are two rest houses and a campground. The Indian Garden Campground, at 4.5 miles from the top, is the day hike turn-around point for most people, though we decided to go a bit further out to Plateau Point, where you can finally see the Colorado River meandering through the Inner Gorge.

The trail picks its way through cliff bands, then down to the bottom of the Garden Creek Canyon.

Bamboo grows alongside Garden Creek.

Grand Canyon

When I was 16 years old, my parents took me and my four siblings on the summer vacation that I like to call the "Whirlwind Tour of the West." Seven of us packed ourselves into the old Chevy Astro van, hitched up the little pop-up camper, and spent two weeks driving across the western US. We stopped at national parks along the way, managed to somehow find a preserved sod house off the highway in Iowa (which also featured an anatomically-correct buffalo sculptured from barbed wire), and ended up at the end of the first week at the Grand Canyon. We did the usual tourist attractions in the South Rim Village, and then one day, we hiked a little way down the Bright Angel Trail into the canyon. And that's when I was hooked. The ranger told us the trail kept going, all the way to the bottom of the canyon, and I just knew I had to get there.

Ten years later, my husband and I bought a tent, sleeping bags and enough freeze-dried food to feed a small army and took up backpacking for the simple reason that I had to camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And we did, at the Bright Angel Campground, for two nights. We had such a good time, that we decided to go back on our honeymoon, where we learned a lot of new things about backpacking in the canyon... Especially in regards to water. But enough reminiscing, here's the photos!

 This was the view from our very-briefly-occupied campsite as the sun went down.

After we came back up from our backpack, we took a rest day and walked the Rim Trail, where the bighorn sheep like to eat in the winter. This one wasn't bothered by the camera at all.

More from the Bright Angel Trail on Monday! Happy weekend!

Back from Vacationland

Well, we're back from our fantastic adventure-filled honeymoon, and now I have tons of photos to sort through! Our travels took us to the Grand Canyon, up through southeastern Utah, and then, unexpectedly, back over to Death Valley (we just couldn't stay away!).

Here's a teaser from the Grand Canyon-- more photos to come as I get through them.  Enjoy!

Honeymooning!

We'll be out on our honeymoon (finally!) for the remainder of November.  Check back for photos from the Grand Canyon, Zion, and eastern Utah in December!

Happy Thanksgiving in advance!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are quite possibly my favorite flower-- bright, colorful, big and pretty darn tough, they grow on the side of many a road in California.  The weather's cooling down, so think warm, sunny thoughts and enjoy!

On Display in San Ramon

For the month of November, I'll have three pieces of work on display (and for sale) in the Lindsay Dirkx Brown Art Gallery at the San Ramon Community Center at Central Park (map).  For those of you in the Bay Area, stop on by and check out "Iris," "Desert Waves" and "Independence," as well as a variety of paintings and mixed media pieces by the members of the Livermore Art Association!

Desert Waves: Ibex Dunes, Death Valley National Park

Death Valley

Death Valley is one of my favorite places on earth. It's a uniquely beautiful landscape packed with adventure and solitude. For my fiancée Josh's birthday last weekend, we made the long drive down to tackle a few peaks that had eluded us on previous trips, and I'm proud to say we finally made it to the top of Telescope Peak! Third time's a charm, apparently.

Telescope Peak is the tallest peak in the park, towering nearly 12,000 feet over Badwater (on the valley floor). The views stretch for miles and miles from the top (hence the name!), from the High Sierra and Whitney Range in the west, all the way to Mount Charleston, just outside of Las Vegas, in the east.

Pinto Peak is a little-climbed peak in the Panamint Range with a pre-California Desert Protection Act jeep road to the top. The old road is slowly being reclaimed by nature-- at one point, a three-foot-tall Joshua tree stands in the center of the tracks, newly joined this year by two smaller friends-- and meanders along several winding ridges to gain the peak. It's so infrequently visited that the original trail register from 1961 is still at the top, and only 15 or so people per year sign the new register even today.

Both nights we stayed up at the Mahogany Flats campground, which requires a drive up a steep, rutted 4x4 road. The campground is perched on the ridge between Telescope and Wildrose Peaks, and offers some nice, though wooded views east and west.

Now for the photos y'all have been waiting for-- sunset and sunrise from 8,133 feet. Props to Josh for finding a good vantage point for sunrise!

Sunset near Del Valle

The road up to Lake Del Valle Regional Park in Livermore has some great vantage points for shooting across the Tri-Valley area, especially at sunrise and sunset. I headed over the other night to try to catch the harvest moon, but was thwarted by a low, thick cloud cover. By the time the moon rose above the clouds, the intense colors I was hoping to capture were gone. Maybe next time around.... All was not lost, though-- the clouds made for an especially interesting sunset among the hills and oak trees.


Mount Diablo rises up from the valley in the distance.
Have a terrific Tuesday!

Altamont Cruisers Nostalgia Day Car Show - Part 2

As promised, here are more photos from last weekend's show... Enjoy!

I love classic Chevys.

Yet more flames!

Shiny chrome and beautiful paint jobs were definitely the order of the day.

Have a fantastic weekend, folks! I'll be nailing down those last pesky wedding details-- only 22 days!

Altamont Cruisers Nostalgia Day Car Show

Each year, the Altamont Cruisers Car Club holds their Nostalgia Day Car Show in downtown Livermore, and donates the proceeds to local organizations benefiting the Tri-Valley youth. Their motto is "Cruisers Against Drugs", and they've helped fund programs such as D.A.R.E. for the past 20 years. About 700 or so classic cars invaded the streets of downtown, making for some fantastic photo ops, if you didn't melt first (it was 103 degrees out!).

Classic cars are a lot of fun to photograph-- they have strong curves and lines, elaborate hood ornaments and trim, lots of shiny chrome, and fantastically bright, bold colors. I spent about three hours shooting, and ended up with a lot of photos I really liked, so we'll have a couple car posts this week.

Now, without further ado, here's the reason you're really reading this blog!

This is one mean-looking grill. Who knew orange could be so intimidating?

The lineup down Second Street.


1955 Chevy sedan hood ornament.
The Chevy fuel injection emblem.

Classic wood steering wheel and dashboard.

As with most classic car shows, there were flames of all colors everywhere!

1960s Ford Mustang 289 emblem, with flames, of course.

And, last but not least for today, Sarah, this one's for you. Congrats on the new Camaro!