WORKSHOPS
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah May 11-14/16, 2012
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Initially dubbed "Wayne Wonderland" in the 1920's, the formal designation of Capitol Reef National Park in 1971 protected a vast region of water-sculpted canyons and spectacular sandstone formations along the Waterpocket Fold in south-central Utah. Due to its location off the main travel routes, Capitol Reef has far fewer visitors than Utah's other national parks and offers an ideal setting for photography with its wide variety of landforms. We'll explore the hidden recesses of the park and discover deep narrow canyons with clear streams shaded by cottonwood trees; colorful eroded formations reminiscent of Arizona's Painted Desert; waterfalls; natural bridges; breathtaking overlooks and 100 million years of exposed geologic history. The 75-mile long serrated sandstone ridge known as the Waterpocket Fold is one of the most spectacular geologic formations anywhere on the Colorado Plateau and forms the backbone of the park. It was uplifted during the Laramide Orogeny from 40-70 million years ago and forms the eastern edge of a long monocline which extends from the slopes of 11,000-foot Thousand Lake Mountain in the north to Glen Canyon in the south. The name "Capitol Reef" refers to the many dome-like formations of Navajo Sandstone along the Fold's crest which resemble the US Capitol building. The term "reef" was coined by early settlers to the region to describe these high, impenetrable barriers of jagged sandstone which impeded their travel. For this workshop, we will visit some of the same locations as our other Capitol Reef workshop in October, but we will also visit new places to take advantage of the different sun angles at this time of year. Join us and get off the beaten path to explore and photograph this remarkable landscape.
| 3-DAY VERSION | 5-DAY VERSION |
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Register now with a $200.00 deposit. We will charge your card for the balance 30 days prior to the workshop. (See cancellation policy below.)
WE JUST RETURNED FROM THIS WORKSHOP WHERE WE HAD SOME GREAT WEATHER AND ENTHUSIASTIC PARTICIPANTS.
STAY TUNED FOR NEXT YEAR'S DETAILS - WE'LL BE POSTING ALL THE INFORMATION SHORTLY.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
We’re offering two versions of this workshop; a 3-day version based out of the small town of Torrey and an extended 5-day version where we’ll car camp for one additional night in the remote northern reaches of the park known as Cathedral Valley. See the workshop schedule below for more information. Note: One of Jim's images from the Cathedral Valley area was recently used as the opener in Sunset Magazine's National Parks issue.
Dates
3-Day Version: May 11-14, 2012
5-Day Version: May 11-16, 2012
Based in: Torrey, Utah
Maximum # participants: 8
Photography Skill Level: All levels - Jim will work with each person to meet their individual needs.
Lodging: Each participant is responsible for booking his/her room in Torrey. We're using Austin’s Chuckwagon Motel as our base. Rates: $75.00/night. It’s close to restaurants and occupies a beautiful shady grove of large cottonwood trees in the center of town. They are filling up fast so you'll need to reserve a room ASAP if you'd like to stay here. The motel is closed between Nov 1 & March 15 but they take reservations year round. Email or call them and ask for Michelle. Tell her you are with our group and she will do her best to help you out. You can reach her at 800-863-3288 or info@austinschuckwagonmotel.com
Other nearby lodging options:
Sandstone Inn– One mile east of town center
Red Sands Hotel – One mile east
Howard Johnson- Two miles east
Best Western – Three miles east
Rimrock Inn – Three miles east
Physical Difficulty - Moderate: Most of our photography vantage points will involve short walks of less than 1/2 mile from our vehicles with minimal elevation change. We will also have several moderate hikes; the longest involving a total round-trip distance of 4 miles along a canyon bottom with a total elevation gain of around 300 feet. Participants should be in good physical condition and feel comfortable hiking off trail over uneven terrain. For specific details on every hike, see the workshop schedule below.
Upon registration, participant will receive a detailed clothing and gear list and other pertinent information.
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WORKSHOP ITINERARY
6:00pm - Meet at Austin’s Chuckwagon Motel in Torrey, Utah.
6:30pm - Dinner and orientation.
6:15am - Depart motel and drive to our trailhead in the Waterpocket Fold in the heart of Capitol Reef National Park where we’ll hike to our photo location beneath a massive 125 foot-tall natural bridge. This will involve a 1.5 mile round-trip hike along a maintained trail with an elevation gain of 450 feet.
9:30 - Arrive back at our vehicles and return to Torrey for breakfast.
11:00 – Depart Torrey and drive into the heart of the spectacular Waterpocket Fold to spend the afternoon exploring and photographing a seldom-visited, deep, narrow canyon beneath soaring walls of Navajo Sandstone. Once we are deep in the canyon, we’ll find a comfortable spot to relax for a while so Jim can discuss some of the important techniques we will be using over the next 3 days. This hike entails a moderate two-mile round-trip off-trail walk along a sandy canyon bottom with little elevation change.
3:30 – Arrive at our vehicles and return to Torrey.
5:00 – Early dinner in Torrey
6:45 – Depart Torrey for our sunset location to capture last light as it illuminates a soaring 500-foot tall sandstone tower carved from the Moenkopi Formation. This will involve a short walk from our vehicles of less than ¼ mile with minimal elevation change.
9:00 – Arrive at our motel in Torrey.
Sunday May 13
5:45am – Depart Torrey and drive to our trailhead along the Waterpocket Fold where we will hike along a cottonwood-lined stream into one of the most beautiful canyons in the Park. Reaching our photo location will involve a moderate off-trail hike along uneven terrain along the canyon bottom with small ups and downs with a round-trip distance of 4 miles and an elevation gain of 300 feet. Our early start will allow us to photograph a beautiful section of the canyon in warm reflected light before harsh mid-day light floods the canyon.
11:30 - Arrive back at our vehicles for lunch.
1:00 – After lunch, we’ll drive along the Fremont River to a location where we’ll explore and photograph a colorful eroded landscape reminiscent of Arizona’s Painted Desert. We’ll be surrounded by kaleidoscopic-colored slopes of red, white, blue, gray, green and maroon Bentonite Clays of the Morrison Formation. This will involve a short walk of less than ¼ mile from our vehicles.
3:00 – Drive back to Torrey. If we have the time or inclination, we can stop along the way to photograph a beautiful cottonwood grove along a small stream below the imposing Wingate Sandstone formation known as “The Castle”. Multiple layers of water-sculpted sandstone are exposed in this area. This will involve a short walk of a few hundred feet from our vehicles with little elevation change.
5:00 – Early dinner in Torrey.
6:30 – Depart Torrey for our sunset location. Our vantage point is perched high on the rim of a deep canyon and provides a breathtaking panorama of the Waterpocket Fold and surrounding region. Reaching this location with involve a short walk of 1/3 mile from our vehicles with little elevation change.
9:15 – Arrive at our motel in Torrey.
Monday May 14
7:00am – Breakfast at a restaurant in Torrey.
8:00 – Depart Torrey for our morning photo session at a beautiful waterfall along the Fremont River deep in the Waterpocket Fold. This setup involves a very short stroll from our vehicles.
10:00 – We’ll visit the historic pioneer town of Fruita located beneath high cliffs of Wingate Sandstone where lush groves of cottonwood trees and apple orchards thrive in an oasis along the Fremont River. The original settlers’ homes and barns are well preserved and offer opportunities for interesting photographs.
12:30 – Lunch at a restaurant in Torrey.
2:00 – Depart Torrey to visit one of the most unique pictograph panels anywhere on the Colorado Plateau located along an obscure; seldom-visited canyon. Perhaps you’ll agree that these ancient pictographs seem to depict some type of ritualistic hunting scene. The late afternoon light will provide good conditions to photograph this ancient rock art. This involves an easy stroll from our vehicles.
5:00 – Dinner in Torrey.
6:15 - Depart Torrey for our sunset location along the west side of the Waterpocket Fold. We’ll capture last light as it illuminates a wonderland of Navajo sandstone domes, fins, towering cliffs and eroded slopes of the colorful Chinle formation.
9:15 – Arrive at our motel in Torrey. End of 3-day workshop.
Tuesday May 15 – Extended 5-Day Version
After an early breakfast in Torrey, we'll pack our vehicles and head east through the Waterpocket Fold to begin our journey to Cathedral Valley, a remote location in the northern reaches of the park with some of the most spectacular formations on the Colorado Plateau. This region is only accessible with high-clearance 4WD vehicles. Our 60-mile round-trip route begins with a watery crossing of the Fremont River and then proceeds along a high bench with spectacular views of the seldom-visited northern Waterpocket Fold. Our ultimate goal for this overnight excursion will be to capture first light on Wednesday morning as it illuminates the Temples of the Sun and Moon; two massive Entrada Sandstone monoliths which rise 400 feet straight up from the floor of Cathedral Valley. There are no established campground facilities in this section of the Park so we'll set up a car camp in the heart of Cathedral Valley near the Temples of the Sun & Moon. Everyone registering for this extended version will need to provide their own tent, sleeping bag and pad or if you don't want to hassle with these items, we can rent them for you here in Salt Lake and bring them with us. A two-person tent would cost $46.00 for the 5 days; sleeping bags would also be $46.00 and a standard 72" sleeping pad would be $22.00. Just let us know well in advance if you want to reserve these items for you. Regarding meals for this part of the workshop, we'll pick up sandwiches and other food items in Torrey for the next 24 hours and store them in an ice chest. In order to reduce the number of vehicles, we will encourage everyone to car-pool. Sedans may be left in Torrey or at the river crossing at the beginning of the Cathedral Valley 4-WD Road. If we do not have enough 4-WD vehicles within our group to accommodate everyone, these vehicles may be rented in Torrey.
7:00am – Breakfast in Torrey. After breakfast we'll check out of our rooms and stock our coolers with provisions for the next 30 hours.
9:00 – Depart Torrey for Cathedral Valley. After we ford the Fremont River we'll be traveling into one of the most remote locations in Utah. We'll stop along the way to photograph anything which catches our attention such as colorful exposures of red and white-striped Bentonite Clays and expansive views out across the northern end of the Waterpocket Fold beneath 11,000-foot high Thousand Lake Mountain. We'll pass beneath the canine-shaped towers of Needle Mountain and the spires of Cathedral Mountain on our way to the appropriately-named "Temple of the Sun". We'll likely see few other vehicles along the way. This day will involve a few short strolls to overlooks and vantage points.
2:00 – 3:00 Arrive in Cathedral Valley at the base of Temple of the Sun; scout the area for tomorrow morning's photo and set up camp.
5:00 – Early dinner.
6:30 – Drive to a sunset location to capture last light as it illuminates a pinnacle of Entrada Sandstone.
5:15am – Climb out of our tents to set up for our sunrise photograph at Temple of the Sun. This will involve a short stroll from our vehicles.
7:30 – Breakfast at our vehicles.
8:30 - 9:30 - We'll pack up camp and begin driving 13 miles back to the paved road via a different route overlooking Caineville Reef. It's about 30 minutes back to the main highway if we don't stop along the way for any photos. This area contains beautiful formations of Bentonite Clays while Caineville Reef provides a dramatic backdrop so we could stop along the way for an hour or two depending on group interest as we proceed back to the main highway. Either way, we should be back at the main highway by 10:30 to 11:30. Once we reach the paved road, this will be the official end of our workshop. Once on the highway, it's about 4 hours back to Salt Lake for those needing to catch a flight home.
OUR CANCELLATION POLICY
When you register more than 30 days prior to a workshop, we will charge your credit card for the deposit only. We will then charge your card for the remaining balance 30 days before the workshop begins. If you cancel more than 60 days prior to the workshop we will refund 75% of your deposit. If you cancel within 30-60 days of the workshop, we will refund 50% of your deposit. If you cancel within 30 days of the workshop, and we can fill your spot, we will refund 90% of the full workshop fee. If we cannot fill your spot, we will refund 70% of the full workshop fee.
TRIP INSURANCE
In the event of a medical, family, or other emergency, we strongly recommend purchasing trip insurance. For these same reasons, we may also need to cancel a workshop on short notice. If we cancel, we will refund 100% of all monies collected from you.
