The first surprise? No, not the lightning bolt at left, but the sign at the entrance to the valley road. "Gate will not open before 8 AM." I interpreted this masterpiece of vagary to mean that the gate will be opened whenever they're ready, and they won't be ready before 8 AM (it opened at 7:45 the next day). So I set up to shoot sunrise from the overlook at the Visitors Center.

I was a marked man. At that hour, the many native guides who provide tours in the valley are hunting their day's quarry. It was a slow morning, and with my tripod, cameras, and multiple lenses, I was like the only pretty girl at the county dance. And I didn't want to do the two step with anybody after witnessing yesterday's Whirlwind Dust Tours. I just didn't see how bouncing through the dust with a dozen polyester clad tourists would enhance my visit, or my photos.

When I first told them I just wasn't interested in the standard tourist rides, they'd say, "no, I will give you the Photo Tour" (by industry standards, that means it's the same thing, but it costs 50% more). Finally, I started playing one off the other ... "no thanks, I'm probably going out with Jim tomorrow." This seemed to work pretty well ...

For all but one. When I fed Tom my now standard line, he semi-sneered, "Jim doesn't know how to handle photographers." He claimed he could show me places that had made other photographers happy. His approach was different from the rest, somehow more inviting, but I was resolute. The gate finally opened, and the White Whale and I made the first cloud of dust into the valley.

Why the hurry? I wanted to get into the southern half of the park while the morning light was still good, and instead I'd spent 45 minutes of daylight fending off guides, waiting for the gate to open. But the quick start got me well ahead of the tour groups, and allowed some solitude.

The play of light & shadow is fascinating, as in these shots of the formation called The Three Sisters. Like the Grand Canyon, it seemed ever changing.

I was at John Ford's Point, shooting the view of The Three Sisters above left, when I felt a couple of drops of rain on my arm, even though there was full sunlight. Instinctively, I looked opposite the sun, and there was a double rainbow. I shot frantically for a few minutes, and when I was done, it vanished. I heard a voice behind me say, "that was nice, wasn't it?"

It was Tom, the native guide. He had stopped with his tour truck, which contained only one couple, and came over to chat while they looked around. He told me about some of the commercial shoots he had worked on, and how he'd taken up an interest in photography after he found three cameras in one month out in the desert. He figured someone might be telling him something.

When he asked what I planned to do next, I told him I was just killing time until I checked out of my hotel. He paused, looked me in the eye, and said, "we're going to look at petroglyphs and ruins and arches .... I think you should follow us." With that, he turned and walked away.

Despite my earlier misgivings, I got in the White Whale and followed him. I couldn't pass up (and you shouldn't either) seeing Petroglyphs, Ruins, & Arches. I suppose if you're not interested in seeing arches that are shaped like a human eye, or thousand year old drawings of Kokopelli, you could go on to Day 7. But you'll miss some cool stuff.
 

 1   2   3   4   5   Day 6   7   8   Red Rock Road Trip 
 Antelope Canyon 
 Petroglyphs, Ruins, & Arches 
 PhotoDude on Photo Safari