Utah Climbing and Falling

Well, not exactly falling, just fall.   We got another snow storm here in the Wasatch Mountains.  This is the third early season snow this year, so I’ve got my hopes up for a great season; and that means lots of photos!

I decided to wake up early (for a weekend) and spend some time in Little Cottonwood Canyon taking photos of the fall leaves, the early snow, and the beautiful river.  I haven’t had a chance to do any autumn photography in Utah, and the season is definitely coming close to an end.  I was a little disappointed with the leaves near the top of the canyon.  I think some of these early freeze cycles make the aspen leaves go from green to brown, and skip over their usual brilliant yellow.  Lower in the canyon, I was able to find some aspen grooves as well as some maple trees that had not been affected by the freezing temperatures.  

Next was the river.  I’ve always been fascinated with the slow exposure photos of moving water.  I’m surprised I don’t make it a point to take more water photos.  This morning I did.  I spent a few hours seeking out good angles that would capture the fall leaves, as well as the flowing water and new fresh snow.  Unfortunately, the photos that turned out the best were without the new snow. I think they would have looked great with the snow, but I was just moving too slow and the new snow melted in the lower portions of the canyon.

So I was feeling pretty good about all the photos I had taken.  Recently, the rest of my life has been busy enough that photography, or at least actively going out and shooting, has had to take a back seat.  It was really fun getting out and having about 4 hours to shoot photos.  But to make the day even better, we went down to Rock Canyon near Provo to climb at the Superbowl Wall.  This is a great south facing cliff which makes for perfect winter conditions.  It was probably no more than 50 degrees, and we were climbing in t-shirts.  Here’s a shot of Ericka Prechtel on “The Higher, Harder One”, which in the book is 5.11b/c, but it was extended, with a rating of 5.12b.  Just a bit harder. 

And your reward for a hard day of climbing?  A beautiful sunset over Utah Lake.  It makes you forget that it’s just a shallow muddy pool of polluted water.

~ by cruxphoto on October 8, 2007.