These 2 photos are from Friday in Arches National Park, where the first thing we did was to take the big hike up to the most famous arch. I put up some of my other arch photos first. There are 3 reasons for that:
1. It's too famous. Makes the photo seem like a cliché. This is the arch on the Utah license plates. It's Arches National Park, not Arch National Park. I wanted to show you some other arches — hence the earlier posts with Sand Arch and Broken Arch.
2. It was brilliant midday light, not the best for photographs. We'd gotten there sort of early, but the hike took a while, so I wasn't that enthusiastic about the photo op. I am proud of myself for making the hike, which was tough and scary in places, but that's nothing to show you in a post.
3. It was kind of a Disneyland up there. So many people, lots of kids, lots of posing under the arch. I'd have liked a more pristine encounter with nature. This was more of a party atmosphere. That's fine, and I congratulate all the people who got up there with little kids... and the kids too if they did their own walking. There are a lot of people who are really game when it comes to taking the family on a strenuous hike. So many babies in backpacks. So many toddlers who walked part way and then had an adult willing to carry them. It's really nice, but it's not something I photograph.
Posts
35 comments:
We spent the afternoon in Tubac AZ, an art colony south of Tucson.
No pictures just a cute little village with about 100 art galleries. That's one gallery for every ten residents.
Sometimes its the people at these things that are the most interesting. Even to photograph. Its what I like to do, when I work up the courage. Street photography.
But you need that quality of "cara dura" as my grandma would say.
But you can talk first. Who knows what you can hear from strangers. Imagine if someone got to chatting with you, for instance.
Did the the trip seem like playing a large Miniature Golf Course?
We talk to other people all the time. I just don't want to photograph them for this blog. I think it's an imposition, especially on children. I don't use conversations as a means to an end when we are out meeting strangers.
That thing looks like it could fall at any minute. You should have tried to push it over like a good Boy Scoutmaster so it doesn't hurt anyone.
STAND BACK! GLOBAL WARMING IS GONNA KNOCK THAT THING DOWN! STAND BACK, I SAY!
.3 is why you hit the trails, shedding strollers, yobs, and Japanese grandmothers like autumn leaves.
@cracker
It was a 3 mile walk with many difficult features.
Agen Vimax Asli, Vimax Asli, Vimax Asli Tangerang, Obat Vimax Asli, Vimax Asli Bogor, Agen Vimax Asli, Obat Pembesar Penis Vimax Asli, Jual Vimax Di Tangerang, Jual Vimax Di Bogor, Obat Pembesar Penis, Vimax Asli Canada, Vimax Asli Denpasar, Vimax Asli Canada Di Tangerang, Vimax Asli Bali, Toko Vimax Asli Makassar, Vimax Asli Purworejo, Obat Pembesar Penis Bogor. Vimax Asli Karawang
Wow, it's changed how crowded it is! Late winter used to be the best time to go because it wasn't too cold and there were no crowds.
I never took a photo that crowded there in summer!
It feels like our national parks aren't growing with the population. There's only one delicate arch, but in places like Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, etc there are plenty of areas still in the parkd that could be "developed" with the same low impact trails to thin out the crowds.
In Arizona, a lot of schools are on spring break. I imagine its the same in surrounding states. That may explain the unusually large crowd for a Friday in late winter.
When you get home, don't put your car in the garage.
Leave it outside, so all the vermin and snakes and such can slither out and move down the neighborhood.
You don't know what it's like to go into the garage and be confronted with a snake who crawled out from the frame.
Aiyee!
Is that a vertical crack at the right of the top of the arch? Tempus fugit.
I daresay any chassis snakes are going to be chagrined if they get home in time for this snow storm, if you are having that out in the Midwest.
The description of the crowds reminds me of Diamondhead. You walk up to the peak with swarms of people, and are crammed into a small space with dozens for a great view of Honolulu and the Pacific.
They key there is to arrive early when the light's good light and there aren't any tour buses. There's also an alternate route to the arch (not marked, but not hard to figure out), that gets you away from of the crowd and offers some different views. But pristine nature is a lot easier to find pretty much everywhere else.
BTW, if you love the area, you should check out this youtube video. I don't know if he somehow obtained permission to fly drones in the National Parks or just got away with it (I suspect it's the latter), but the results are jaw-dropping:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0kvaYE91iY
It was kind of a Disneyland up there.
Sounds like Mt. Washington in New Hampshire's White Mountains. 3000 vertical foot hike over rough trails to get to the summit, where you join all the people who came up by car, or up the cog railway. Kinda anti-climatic.
My wife and I were lucky to be at the grand canyon over 4th of July 4 holiday in 92 when fugitive Danny Rae Horning was on the loose somewhere in/around GC and the village. Some of the major trails including South Kaibab had been closed for a couple days. Not knowing whether it would be open we went to the SK trailhead at 5am on July 6. It was open and we proceeded to hike down SK without seeing another soul until the bottom. I've always been grateful to Mr. Horning for that experience - one very few people have probably had in last 50 years (DRH ended up kidnapping two 2 EU tourists in GC Village about 30 minutes before we got back to the top and was chased down and arrested near Sedona).
Arches is almost always crowded now, but this weekend was the start of spring break in much of Utah.
The hike to Delicate Arch is deceptively difficult. Lots of heat stroke cases have been treated under the first clump of juniper after the long slickrock section.The narrow ledge you follow on the final approach is in the shade during the winter and turns icy after a snow. We had to gather sand from a wash to create some purchase for the feet when we took my parents up on a February afternoon.
Kids tend to really like the hike. There is just enough interesting stuff to keep them focused on what they are doing instead of how tired they are. Our oldest made it the whole way under her own power a few days before her third birthday. We put her in the backpack for the hike down and she was asleep almost immediately.
From the Fauxhaus Blog:
In a previous Fauxhaus Blog from Saturday I mused upon attractive young girls that are fortunate enough to grow up into attractive young women:You can also look at Emma Watson as one of the lucky ones.
Now, in the news today: Emma Watson Reveals Her Breasts – and the Problem with Feminism I am nothing if not timely: sorry, but America is following where I am leading.
So today we ponder why young models and actresses have themselves photographed nude. Is it as simple as that men want them to? If only it were that easy. There are still plenty of young models and actresses that have not appeared nude, that have not followed in, say, Miley Cyrus' footsteps. And Miley gets photographed nude A LOT. The Patriarchy does not always get its way.
Is it about art and the freedom of expression? Perhaps: many of these kinds of photographs ARE 'arty', some even so arty the breasts are all in shadows and it is hard to even make out the nipples. But this Art: would the Artistic Merit not belong to the Photographer? The model is, after all, a model: she is a bowl of fruit on a table, a bowl of fruit with breasts instead of apples or lemons. But most men don't masturbate to apples or lemons, so perhaps the Photography is part of the Patriarchy. Unless the Photographer is a woman. The Patriarchy can be tricky that way, but it is SILL the model's choice to reveal her breasts and/or buttocks.
Is it a form of Feminism? A statement that the Body belongs to the Woman, and she can do what she wants with it -- it is her choice? If it is, then I agree with THAT kind of Feminism: Feminism you can masturbate to can only help foster mutual understanding.
But many Feminists would disagree, probably because they don't like men masturbating: it makes women sex objects, or something like that. But are not Men allowed to have THEIR CHOICE to masturbate? Who will stand proud and erect for them?
No: in the end it comes down to what it always comes down to: Daddy Issues. Daddy's Little Girl is Not a Little Girl Anymore! I Can Do What I Want With My Body! It's My Body and You Can't Stop Me, Daddy! Then, of course, the crying and the runny nose.
Which brings us to today's poll:
What are your thoughts on Emma Watson showing her breasts?
1. I don't care. It is her body, and she is free to do what she wishes.
2. It shows the Power of the Patriarchy: the pressure to cater to men's brutish instincts is nearly impossible to overcome for a young woman who isn't a lesbian.
3. I'm all for it. I have wanted to see her breasts since the first "Harry Potter" movie. Oh shit: she was eleven then. I mean the "Harry Potter" movie when she was eighteen. That one.
4. I have the see the Photographs to make a judgement. They may indeed be Art.
5. I have the see the Photographs to make a judgement. I hope they are not too 'Arty'.
6. I can now stop Photoshopping Emma's head onto other girl's naked bodies.
I am Laslo.
If I can be there, others can too.
"Arches is almost always crowded now..."
Arches provided the best example for me of loving the National Parks while having a *much* lower opinion of the National Park Service. We were entering the park one day and the line behind us filled in the entire entrance drive out to the highway. People were getting discouraged and leaving. Why was the line so bad? Because they had closed one of the two entrance stations. When we got up there, I pointed out that people were starting out their 'National Parks Adventure' with a really lousy experience, and the guy said that, well, of course they had to close one station for a lunch break. As if it wasn't possible -- it didn't even dawn on anybody -- to get one of the dozens of other park employees on duty that day to sub in for an hour. And why do they insist on giving advice and directions to people at the entry station? The visitor's center is Right. Over. There. And how about a way to waive people through who already have a pass? Sheesh.
Hiked to Delicate a few years ago. I loved the hike, esp the final pitch.
One of the things the locals will tell you about the hike to Delicate Arch, the site is so popular, you will never hike it alone. Middle of the night in the middle of winter - you will not be alone. We hiked it before sunset and hiked back as it was getting dark. Amazing the number of hikers heading in, in the dark... (without flashlights...)
While there, witnessed a young Japanese girl wearing a bright red satin party dress and inappropriate footwear. It's a delicate place, filled with international spectators, 24/7.
The surprise of the arch is the location. The hike is long compared to the others, and the arch is perched in this precarious steep stone bowl. Besides the arch itself, all the other features around it make it extra-beautiful, including the view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Althouse wrote: 3. It was kind of a Disneyland up there.
Interesting. I didn't peg you for the type who'd ever been to Disneyland. It's a place best visited as a child or with children.
Anyways, it's a very funny image: Althouse wearing mouse ears.
"MarkW said...
"Arches is almost always crowded now..."
Arches provided the best example for me of loving the National Parks while having a *much* lower opinion of the National Park Service. We were entering the park one day and the line behind us filled in the entire entrance drive out to the highway. People were getting discouraged and leaving. Why was the line so bad? Because they had closed one of the two entrance stations. When we got up there, I pointed out that people were starting out their 'National Parks Adventure' with a really lousy experience, and the guy said that, well, of course they had to close one station for a lunch break. As if it wasn't possible -- it didn't even dawn on anybody -- to get one of the dozens of other park employees on duty that day to sub in for an hour. And why do they insist on giving advice and directions to people at the entry station? The visitor's center is Right. Over. There. And how about a way to waive people through who already have a pass? Sheesh."
Substitute "Parks Service" with "DMV" or "Post Office"...hell with any government service.
I am thinking global and acting local.
I am also preparing for a blizzard. Boston is supposed to get "24 inches".
tits
Trying hiking/climbing to the summit of Longs Peak in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It's a 8-10 hour commitment for most (depending on how long you stay at the top). 30 years ago, it was butt-to-butt foot traffic in several places.
I've always thought this arch looks like a cowboy's lower body, his pants, bow-legged and ready to shoot.
Congratulations on doing that difficult hike. I did it in '99. Definitely couldn't do it now.
Chickel - Longs is still popular. Actually, the popularity of 14ers hiking is becoming a little Disneyland. Sadly. Not even the easiest 14er is easy. I've hiked Princeton, Torreys, Grays, Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Handies, and Uncompahgre.
Longs is not on my list. My mother hiked Longs with a group a few decades ago and they probably made it to around (of just below) 14,000, but did not summit due to high winds. You probably started the hike at some ungodly hour like 2am. eeee yuck. No thank you.
This summer Sherman and Huron are on the list. (tho - accomplishing one is more realistic)
"The narrow ledge you follow on the final approach is in the shade during the winter and turns icy after a snow. We had to gather sand from a wash to create some purchase for the feet when we took my parents up on a February afternoon."
That would have freaked me out. I found it very hard to walk there without ice, and the ice on the Navajo Trail at Bryce Canyon really made me crazy. (We had our Kahtoola microspikes in the car, but left them there.)
"Interesting. I didn't peg you for the type who'd ever been to Disneyland. It's a place best visited as a child or with children."
I had 2 children! My parents and my sister lived in the Orlando area, so I took them to Disney World many times. (Also Universal Studios, which they liked more. And MGM and Epcot.)
I've never been to Disneyland. Only Disney World, but it sounds better to write "Disneyland."
Also I was a child at one point. I could have gone then. In fact, the Walt Disney TV show was a huge deal when I was growing up in the 1950s. Everyone knew Disneyland from TV. It was continually promoted on shows we watched all the time.
I remember an overland backpacking hike;' three days in backwoods Yosemite, culminating in climbing the “easy” route to the top of Half Dome. When we got to the top, sure enough there was a nice little California nudist party going on. It was a bizarre experience, after only encountering nudist black bears for three days.
Post a Comment