matthewsaville
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 p.1 #6 · Camping at Reflection Canyon under the Milky Way | |
Bob Altic wrote:
Nice series. Like #1 and 2. Been thinking about the Rokinon lens for a while. Very convincing!! I would be really, REALLY careful about going out the rear exit of the tent!! Thanks for sharing, it looks like you had a great time. Best, Bob
Yes, I would rate the campsite 0/10 for sleepwalkers. Much like The Diving Board, which I visited 2 years ago and would also love to return to.
My Rokinon 14 is unfortunately highly scratched and almost completely un-shootable if sun touches the front element. I think I might have the older, un-coated version, either that or I have the coated version and it is just not a very good coating lol. In any case, I would recommend it for backpacking even if you already own the Nikon 14-24, t's just that nice of a lightweight option. I'm also keen on the Rokinon 12mm fisheye, for when you need to go even wider...
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tntcorp wrote:
hey matt - very nice and unique images and a heck of a camping trip.
there is no access to the water source on the canyon floor? all that water out of reach...?
Indeed, no word about water access down the cliff, out of all the folks I've contacted including Rainer Grosskopf who I believe was one of the very first to access this place by land instead of by water. (Rumor has it that Michael Melford did in fact climb up to that spot from a boat, in 2004 or 2005 when he did the NG article)
I would definitely not recommend this trip for more than one night, and with less than ~2 gallons of water per person at that. However, there is one water hole that may retain water much longer than the others, the GPS coordinates are out there if you hunt for them. We really, really scrambled all over that place, too.
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rparchen wrote:
Wow, epic set and wonderful images. I've been down to that area and it's not easy...I made it about half way and decided that I had far too much gear with me and not enough water. I WILL make it back next year and will be better prepared. Your hard work paid off! My favorite are images 3/4. Awesome!
Next year, the water pot-holes may not be as plentiful, it takes quite a lot of rain for them to fill up and really last. I would closely monitor the weather conditions in the weeks / months leading up to a trip, and if necessary be prepared to hike back out after just one night.
We cached two liters of water about half way down, and that actually really helped us confidence-wise on the return trip. Though we filtered over two gallons of water just because we could, and wanted to stay well-hydrated as long as possible just in case something else happened.
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rparchen wrote:
The problem is that you're up on sheer sandstone cliffs with no easy access down to the lake. I've read some blogs about a water source being about a mile away but it's still no easy task to fill up.
Yes, if you're willing to hike quite a bit there can be water found here or there, but depending on which path you find you may wind up stuck in a slot canyon, or drinking brown muddy water from the deeper pothole that can retain water for longer than the others.
http://www.astro-landscapes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screenshot-2016-04-25-16.43.42-1024x537.jpg
(Here is my GPS Log for the ~36 hours we spent there, It involved a LOT of exposure to sheer drops of 300-500+ ft, I do not use this as any sort of trail guide!)
On Google Earth however, you can clearly see which potholes do have water in them, but I think that satellite image was created right after a very heavy storm in the spring of 2015, because a lot of them have changed dramatically in 2016.
Thanks everyone for the comments!
If the water level in Lake Powell drops below 3590 next April, I will definitely be attempting to time the milky way and some moonlight and return for a night. We'll see what the weather brings.
I will be posting a full adventure report from the whole trip soon on my blog, Astro-Landscapes.com. Take care,
=Matt=
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