3 Month US Photo+hiking tour

D.P. · 6 Jul 2011 at 12:35

Friday I set off for 3 months of travelling around the US with the main focus on photography, hiking and site seeing (and applying for jobs with a few interviews thrown in I hope).

First stop is Yellowstone National Park (NP) for 9 days, not much more to say really. Being my 1st time I will mostly do all the classic sites but most days I will be doing 15-18miles of hiking in the hopes to maximise wildlife and avoid the crows. Once I have YS sussed out I will return in the future with a better plan of where to find more unique shots (not in mid summer anyway!)

Next up is Grand Tetons for 4 days, again more wildlife but I am hoping for some classic landscape shots. Again, 1st time so I will be trying to capture the classic and treating the trip as a recon for future missions. However, more 15-18mile hikes should get me away from tourists.

Then I drive down to Utah, see the great salt lake, stop at a wildlife refuge and stay in the Wasatch mountains. In Utah I will do a tour of Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Escalante, kodachrome basin and Canyonlands park with the aim focussed on landscape.

I then fly east and help my girlfriend move into her new apartment in Richmond, VA. I hope to make trips to the oats for some birds in the marsh areas, and then to the Appalachians in Shanandoha NP.

Then I fly to a conference in San Antiono, texas and have some photography trips organised along the coast, mostly birds.

After that there is no clear plan except a trip to Oregon where I will combine the coast, forests and cascade volcanoes. I hope to then get in a trip to California and maybe Colorado.

Annoyingly I failed to find a good priced 2nd hand Nikon 300/4.0 so hope my 70-200 2.8 VR with 1.4TC will suffice on a crop body. Will have almost no internet access but I will try and post some straight form camera highlight when I get a chance.

booyaka · 6 Jul 2011 at 13:06

sounds amazing - enjoy

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 6 Jul 2011 at 14:49

All the best. Good luck with your endeavours and remember to stay safe!

ElDude · 6 Jul 2011 at 15:02

Aw, I'm all jealous

Capt Doufos · 6 Jul 2011 at 16:53

You are doing in 3 months what I did in less than 3 weeks! I am sure you will get a much deeper experience. I would love to be able to do it for 3 months we barely scratched the surface. I'm sure you will have a fantastic time.

some photos www.doufos.co.uk/lightroom/midwest if you are interested and panoramics here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18197454

ScarySquirrel · 6 Jul 2011 at 16:59

Massively jealous.

Have fun dude, sounds amazing.

Phate · 6 Jul 2011 at 18:06

Mate this is going to be great, best of luck and stay safe - you should keep a blog

D.P. · 6 Jul 2011 at 20:00

Capt Doufos said:
You are doing in 3 months what I did in less than 3 weeks! I am sure you will get a much deeper experience. I would love to be able to do it for 3 months we barely scratched the surface. I'm sure you will have a fantastic time.

some photos www.doufos.co.uk/lightroom/midwest if you are interested and panoramics here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18197454

Well, most of the Wyoming and Utah parks will be done in about 3 weeks (the only time my girlfriend can afford) so it will still be quite fast paced, apart form yellowstone which we have a good 7 days. Most of the Utah parks we only have a couple of days but I have been to them before and intend to skip the main tourist stuff. The rest of the trip is only half planned and I will be mostly alone so will have plenty of time.

D.P. · 6 Jul 2011 at 20:01

ElDude said:
Aw, I'm all jealous

The perks of being unemployed

The downer being I can't afford a suitable long lens

I hope 200mm*1.4TC*1.5 crop will suffice. I know it will be fine for Bison, elk and muledeer, but I reall would like some rare stuff like beavers, otters, moose, black or grizzly bear, wolves - there you need all the reach you can get.

D.P. · 6 Jul 2011 at 20:04

Phate said:
Mate this is going to be great, best of luck and stay safe - you should keep a blog

Since I wont have much internet access I decided against a blog but I might try a proper right up when I am finished.

Phate · 6 Jul 2011 at 21:14

D.P. said:
Since I wont have much internet access I decided against a blog but I might try a proper right up when I am finished.

Doesn't matter if you can't upload it - writing as you go will do

ElDude · 6 Jul 2011 at 21:35

D.P. said:
The perks of being unemployed
The downer being I can't afford a suitable long lens I hope 200mm*1.4TC*1.5 crop will suffice. I know it will be fine for Bison, elk and muledeer, but I reall would like some rare stuff like beavers, otters, moose, black or grizzly bear, wolves - there you need all the reach you can get.

I might be joining you in a year then. 15,000 job cuts in the next year in our place! I'll have redundancy to spend on a tour

D.P. · 7 Jul 2011 at 09:37

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-us-canada-14057707

"Yellowstone National park grizzly bear 'kills hiker'"

Was planning a big hike in the same area!

neil_g · 7 Jul 2011 at 09:47

i think the key parts of that story are that its the first fatal attack since 86. also that the bear was protecting it's cubs.

bucket loads of common sense required and research on bear behaviour. also might be worth finding out if their are mountain lions in the areas you are going.

D.P. · 7 Jul 2011 at 11:28

neil_g said:
i think the key parts of that story are that its the first fatal attack since 86. also that the bear was protecting it's cubs.

bucket loads of common sense required and research on bear behaviour. also might be worth finding out if their are mountain lions in the areas you are going.

While I am not that worried in general and know full well that bear attacks a rare, the fact that it was a mother protecting the cubs is not a comforting fact. Everyone knows not to get close to a mother bear with cubs. What seems to have happened is they were walking along the trail and then all of a sudden found themselves close to the bear which immediately started an attack. This could happen to anyone. Also worrying it seems only about 1.5miles from the trail head in one of the busiest parts of the park, our hikes might take us 10 miles into the backcountry of remoter parts.
And although the 1st fatal attack attack since 1986, there was a fatal attack right next to yellowstone last year when a grizzly went on a rampage and attacked 3 people. Furthermore, not-fatal attacks seem quite common.

I'm more worried that my GF will be too afraid to do some of our hikes we have planned. I carefully elected hikes renowned for wildlife which implies that there are higher bear risks as a side effect. We will hike with bear bells and will sing loudly when in dense forests (of course this can limit the wildlife photography but I don't want to startle any moose or bears). One thing I don't know is whether I will buy some bear spray. I have spent plenty of time in bear country before so know most of the tips and rules.

I'm not worried about mountain lions, they are very rare and almost never ever attack a human (mostly only pets and children when alone).
I'm most afraid of ticks, I know several people who caught limes disease and had their life turned upside down. Also snakes in utah. Although I have no fear of them in general, a problem is a lot of what I will photograph will be at sunrise or sunset with a hike to or from a site in the dark making spotting a rattle snake much more challenging. In the day it is fine, you hear and see them quite easily, and vice-versa. At night time when tired walking down from a sunset shot of Delicate Arch is when one might take an unfortunate step.

neil_g · 7 Jul 2011 at 12:58

cool glad you seem to know what youre doing

eurgh dont mention snakes, or creepy crawlies for that matter lol

Oxygen · 7 Jul 2011 at 14:24

Have a great time bud, you will have an amazing time in Yellowstone.

I've just come back after 2 weeks in the states visiting Vegas, Page, Zion, Bryce, Teton, Antelope Canyon (upper & lower), Monument Valley and Yellowstone. Stayed in West Yellowstone and drove into the park 5 days, hiked and explored the upper and lower loop. Bears are active and sightings cause long tailbacks, but not as long as the Bison (buffalo jams as the locals call them). My advice is get into the park early as we spend 50mins going 2 mile one day as the Bison moved between a valley with the young calves. It's a magical place so am jealous you have so much time there.

Bear spray is definitely required for hiking at the moment and make sure to have it on your belt for immediate action. Attach some Bear bells to your packs and sing a few songs so that they hear you well before they see you. The news articles say that couple came upon the bear twice, that's crazy. They should have turned around and gone another route when they first saw the bear, not continued. Never forget this is a wild animal after all.

Would love to hear about your travels in a blog as folks suggested above.

Royal Fleet · 7 Jul 2011 at 14:34

When in Utah, you should try and fit in Zion NP as well. I preferred it to Bryce, but I know people who thought the opposite.

Hiking the narrows in Zion has been one of the best travelling experiences I have ever had.

Columbo · 7 Jul 2011 at 16:31

D.P. said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-us-canada-14057707

Was planning a big hike in the same area!

Just make sure you get a decent shot of the grizzly mauling you please..!

Seriously the trip sounds awesome, we had something similar planned about 4 years ago but the Mrs forgot to take her pill before we booked it... :mad:

Jealous as hell.

D.P. · 7 Jul 2011 at 17:26

Oxygen said:
Have a great time bud, you will have an amazing time in Yellowstone.

I've just come back after 2 weeks in the states visiting Vegas, Page, Zion, Bryce, Teton, Antelope Canyon (upper & lower), Monument Valley and Yellowstone. Stayed in West Yellowstone and drove into the park 5 days, hiked and explored the upper and lower loop. Bears are active and sightings cause long tailbacks, but not as long as the Bison (buffalo jams as the locals call them). My advice is get into the park early as we spend 50mins going 2 mile one day as the Bison moved between a valley with the young calves. It's a magical place so am jealous you have so much time there.

Bear spray is definitely required for hiking at the moment and make sure to have it on your belt for immediate action. Attach some Bear bells to your packs and sing a few songs so that they hear you well before they see you. The news articles say that couple came upon the bear twice, that's crazy. They should have turned around and gone another route when they first saw the bear, not continued. Never forget this is a wild animal after all.

Would love to hear about your travels in a blog as folks suggested above.

We will be camping right in the centre and will be leaving the camp-ground 5am to find wildlife so the morning queues wont b a problem. Bear bells and bear canisters we have, just need to buy the spray (funny because in Canada they advice you not to carry it with you).

I wish I could add Antelope canyon but I wont be able to fit it in on my first part of travelling. Reading about I think I would prefer going at a quiet period, soudns like too many tourists in the summer. Although the same can be said for most parks. I would really love to return in winter to Utah because I practically live for skiing and the Wasatch is one of the greatest places on the planet for skiing, and then the parks in winter are stunning and empty.
Utah is an amazing place, shame that 70% of the populace are Mormons and good beer is hard to find due to state laws