childers-jk
Over/under never perfect
First off let me say thank you to all of you who offered suggestions and ideas for the trip. It was a really great experience, one trip I know we’ll take again.
First off the weather was not the greatest. It was cloudy most of the time, except for a short stint of sunlight on Sunday morning. That meant that I wouldn’t be using the Fuji Reala that I bought, but I chose the Fuji 400 instead. I also loaded the b/w with Ilford HP5, although there was so little light that there wasn’t much in the way of contrast.
The sightseeing there is awesome. The affect of nature to carve such wonderful statues out of rock is amazing. We (my wife and I) were definitely looking forward to the sights. We did most of the short, less that 2 mile, hikes in the park, while avoiding the extremely strenuous hikes up the sheer cliffs. We did most of the short trails and took some excellent shots in the Virgin River, near the end of the road where the Riverside Walk starts.
On Sunday there was a short spot of sun in the early morning, and I was quick to dress and run out for some early morning shots, but it was very cold, and the ice had to be scraped off the truck, so I didn’t get all the great shots I wanted. After a warm breakfast at the Pioneer restaurant in Sprindale, we headed off for Bryce canyon. Due to my wonderful map reading ability, I severely underestimated the distance. My 45 min to 1 hour drive took almost 2 hours, not to mention that once we got up to the top of the plateau, we had to deal with 2-3 inches of snow and the snow plows were right in front of us. However, the sights were great with a light covering of snow, the scenery was really beautiful. I hope the snow shots come out, as the clouds made exposure a little tricky; also, I left my tripod in the hotel room!!
Anyway, once we got to Bryce canyon, a few short hikes from the parking areas to the observation areas was really worth the cold. It was a great study in contrast to have the red, yellow, and brown, capped with a light coat of white snow. As since the snow was so new, the colors were really crisp. We stayed until sundown and drove back to Sprindale for diner at Oscar’s Café.
Let’s just say it was a great experience, and one that I will always cherish. The following is a summary of the place we stayed, the restaurants we ate at and some recommendations.
Hotel: Best Western Zion Inn – Definitely one of the nicest places to stay in Springdale, Thanks to Aggie at apug.com for the suggestion.
Restaurants: The Switchback – Right next door to the Best Western, ok for breakfast, but a little fancy for dinner, good coffee. The Pioneer Restaurant – Good place for home-style food in a casual atmosphere. They have vegetarian and other specialty items on the menu as well. Oscars Café – a little small, quite café tucked off the main road, but definitely worth the stop in. It can get a little crowed, but the food and the micro brew is worth it. I might suggest the Uinta Hefeweizen.
And with that if any one is planning a trip there and needs any other information, the web is a great resource and I will be more that happy to help in any way.
Thanks again to all of you who aided me with information, and I will post some pics once I get them developed.
Thanks,
Jeff
First off the weather was not the greatest. It was cloudy most of the time, except for a short stint of sunlight on Sunday morning. That meant that I wouldn’t be using the Fuji Reala that I bought, but I chose the Fuji 400 instead. I also loaded the b/w with Ilford HP5, although there was so little light that there wasn’t much in the way of contrast.
The sightseeing there is awesome. The affect of nature to carve such wonderful statues out of rock is amazing. We (my wife and I) were definitely looking forward to the sights. We did most of the short, less that 2 mile, hikes in the park, while avoiding the extremely strenuous hikes up the sheer cliffs. We did most of the short trails and took some excellent shots in the Virgin River, near the end of the road where the Riverside Walk starts.
On Sunday there was a short spot of sun in the early morning, and I was quick to dress and run out for some early morning shots, but it was very cold, and the ice had to be scraped off the truck, so I didn’t get all the great shots I wanted. After a warm breakfast at the Pioneer restaurant in Sprindale, we headed off for Bryce canyon. Due to my wonderful map reading ability, I severely underestimated the distance. My 45 min to 1 hour drive took almost 2 hours, not to mention that once we got up to the top of the plateau, we had to deal with 2-3 inches of snow and the snow plows were right in front of us. However, the sights were great with a light covering of snow, the scenery was really beautiful. I hope the snow shots come out, as the clouds made exposure a little tricky; also, I left my tripod in the hotel room!!
Anyway, once we got to Bryce canyon, a few short hikes from the parking areas to the observation areas was really worth the cold. It was a great study in contrast to have the red, yellow, and brown, capped with a light coat of white snow. As since the snow was so new, the colors were really crisp. We stayed until sundown and drove back to Sprindale for diner at Oscar’s Café.
Let’s just say it was a great experience, and one that I will always cherish. The following is a summary of the place we stayed, the restaurants we ate at and some recommendations.
Hotel: Best Western Zion Inn – Definitely one of the nicest places to stay in Springdale, Thanks to Aggie at apug.com for the suggestion.
Restaurants: The Switchback – Right next door to the Best Western, ok for breakfast, but a little fancy for dinner, good coffee. The Pioneer Restaurant – Good place for home-style food in a casual atmosphere. They have vegetarian and other specialty items on the menu as well. Oscars Café – a little small, quite café tucked off the main road, but definitely worth the stop in. It can get a little crowed, but the food and the micro brew is worth it. I might suggest the Uinta Hefeweizen.
And with that if any one is planning a trip there and needs any other information, the web is a great resource and I will be more that happy to help in any way.
Thanks again to all of you who aided me with information, and I will post some pics once I get them developed.
Thanks,
Jeff
