Alaska Sunday XVI

Trip Log - Part I

May 20 - May 31

This is the first month's log of our trip which Bilbo Baggins would have titled,
"There and Back Again - The Beginning".

Quite a few people have asked me in e-mails about our route, known as 'The Drive from Texas to Alaska and Back'. There is not much commentary included in this log, just sequential locations, dates, and mileages when available. The Alaska Trip Log will be divided into four months (parts) and posted on the next four consecutive Sundays. Past and future posts of Alaska Sunday (apart from the trip log) will have more detailed information and more photos of each specific area.

UPDATE: The log will contain 2 weeks per post. I didn't realize how time consuming it would be to look at trip records, mileages, and sorting photographs for each post. Not to mention deciding which photographs to post.

So here is a condensed version of the trip, with a few photos out of the 18,000 that we kept. A few of the photographs have been published, but are re-posted here to give a flavor and progress of the trip, and to see the landscape change.

Be sure to click on the photographs for full screen views.

5/20 Ft. Worth,TX to Santa Rosa, NM 498 mi
5/21 Santa Rosa, NM to Flagstaff, AZ 495 mi

Painted Desert - Arizona
Enriched colors due to
Perfect angle of near horizontal light and a rain shower

5/22 From our Campground in Flagstaff to Grand Canyon and back to Flagstaff, stopping at Marble Canyon and Vermillion Cliffs along the way. 445 miles

Marble Canyon - Colorado River
from the bridge over the river at Lees Ferry
Those small yellow dots on the river are the large tour rafts

Vermillion Cliffs (a Stitched Panorama)
Note Hwy 89A (bottom right) for perspective & scale

Grand Canyon in the Rain
North Rim

5/23 Flagstaff, AZ to Bakersfield, CA 480 mi

Mojave Desert
Looking Toward Death Valley

5/24 Bakersfield, CA to Oakhurst, CA 200 mi

5/25 Yosemite (Adventure in the Sierra Nevada High Country) 124 mi

Half Dome - Yosemite
Glacier Point Road
Perhaps Ansel Adams stood on this very spot
and made a Black & White Photograph

5/26 Oakhurst, CA to Redding, CA 332 mi

5/27 Redding, CA to Trinidad/Arcata to Klamath, CA 190 mi of serious winding road

The Pacific at Trinidad/Arcata
Hazy Day
Time to turn North on Hwy. 101

5/28 thru 5/31 Coastal Redwoods, Fern Canyon, Pacific Overlooks, and Area 460 mi

The Pacific at the Klamath River
A Perfect Day

Fern Canyon
A Magical Place of Five-fingered Ferns
(Enlarge and scroll up and down)

Please comment and tell us which photograph you like best and why.

3224 miles logged during the 12 days of May
Next Sunday's Trip Log will be for the Month of June....
Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska
A lot of ground to cover and sights to see in the next 30 days.

Photographs by Troy and Martha

Painted Desert

Sub-title: 'Alaska Sunday' - a Travel Adventure

Sorry for the delay in posting Alaska Sunday. I just joined the Friday Sky Watch and with the excitement of that, it completely slipped my mind. Trying to visit all 100+ members and looking at their blog sites and photos was overwhelming. And then visiting all of my favorites…. Whew.

On our circuitous route from Texas to Alaska (our second day of the trip), we stopped by the Painted Desert looking for the once-in-a-lifetime photo op. We got more than we bargained for. We arrived there in the late afternoon just at closing time. It had just recently showered, and the ground was still barely damp. The colors were saturated, vibrant and almost alive. The low angle of the sun behind my back also contributed to the strong colors.

It was serendipity…. right time, right place, the sun was just breaking through the clouds, right angle of reflected light, increased saturation due to rain, and color was everywhere. Notice in the background that the colors appear normal for the desert. With the picture magnified, you can see the various shades of reds, pinks, yellows, ocher, oranges, and white.

The only Photoshopping was a slight adjustment in levels. No further saturation was needed.

We had been to Painted Desert before and had gotten the usual touristy photos. (Nothing even close to this).

So, there is no exciting adventure today, just a photograph (or two) for your enjoyment.

Painted Desert (Using a Nikon for a Brush)

Be sure to click on the Photograph for the full effect

Photo by Troy

Sunset that Day

Photo by Martha

Needless to say, we arrived at out trailer park late that day. It was a Good Day.

'Alaska Sunday' is a collection of photographic remembrances of our driving trip from Texas to Alaska.
18,000 miles, 16 weeks, 16 western states including Alaska and four Canadian Provinces.
No chronological order, just anything of interest that got in front of our cameras.

Troy and Martha