Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape Photography Locations => Topic started by: Jim MSP on August 08, 2014, 09:35:05 am
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I want to see stop and see Canyon de Chelly National Monument in early Oct on my way from MN to AZ . It looks like the entry point is Chinle, AZ. I probably need to make a reservation soon, as the town only has a couple of motels.
Also, it appears I will need a guide. Can anyone recommend (or not) a tour guide for an all day jeep tour?
Thanks,
Jim
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Contact Alain Briot. He has an article running on the main page of the LuLa site.
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Contact Alain Briot. He has an article running on the main page of the LuLa site.
I will. Thanks.
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I will. Thanks.
His listed email [email protected] bounced back to me.
Does anyone have an updated one?
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I found [email protected] and am trying that one.
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Main motel/hotel is the Thunderbird next to park which also has food. Others are in town, not too far away. Get there the afternoon before to drive the rim and take a look. You need a high-clearance 4wd and the skills to drive through sand, water, quicksand at times.
Guides are (were?) at the HQ and are by the hour and are first come, first served. Never have had a bad guide in the 4 times I've gone through the years, including the time we were caught in the flash flood and came out the following afternoon...with a guide on her first trip. Spectacular!
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Main motel/hotel is the Thunderbird next to park which also has food. Others are in town, not too far away. Get there the afternoon before to drive the rim and take a look. You need a high-clearance 4wd and the skills to drive through sand, water, quicksand at times.
Guides are (were?) at the HQ and are by the hour and are first come, first served. Never have had a bad guide in the 4 times I've gone through the years, including the time we were caught in the flash flood and came out the following afternoon...with a guide on her first trip. Spectacular!
Thanks for the info. I'll look at the Thunderbird. I'll also try to reserve a guide & jeep ahead of time, though I cant imagine that Oct 2 will be busy.
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On one trip our guide was Sally Tsosie, a retired elementary school teacher who grew up in the canyon. We used our own 4-wheel drive vehicle and she carried on a delightful conversation as we drove. Several times she would say things like, "the archaeologists say that ...., but my grandfather told me ....."
I believe that she will drive her own vehicle, but I'm not completely sure.
On another trip Adam Teller was our guide and he used his own 4x4 truck. He was also excellent, but Sally was really quite special.
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On one trip our guide was Sally Tsosie, a retired elementary school teacher who grew up in the canyon. We used our own 4-wheel drive vehicle and she carried on a delightful conversation as we drove. Several times she would say things like, "the archaeologists say that ...., but my grandfather told me ....."
I believe that she will drive her own vehicle, but I'm not completely sure.
On another trip Adam Teller was our guide and he used his own 4x4 truck. He was also excellent, but Sally was really quite special.
Perfect - I will look them up.
Thanks very much for the names.
Jim
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Jim, the 4-WD tour can be pretty rough on a vehicle, with possible deep mud/sand/water crossings. I'd recommend taking the guide's vehicle unless you have a high clearance truck-based (not a crossover SUV type!) 4-WD vehicle and are into a bit of an off-road adventure, that to me would compromise the visual and informational aspects with the driving concentration needed.
Pete
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Jim, the 4-WD tour can be pretty rough on a vehicle, with possible deep mud/sand/water crossings. I'd recommend taking the guide's vehicle unless you have a high clearance truck-based (not a crossover SUV type!) 4-WD vehicle and are into a bit of an off-road adventure, that to me would compromise the visual and informational aspects with the driving concentration needed.
Pete
Pete - thanks. No question in my mind, we will take the guide's 4-WD jeep. Besides, mine (not 4-WD) will be filled with stuff.
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Jim, the 4-WD tour can be pretty rough on a vehicle, with possible deep mud/sand/water crossings. I'd recommend taking the guide's vehicle unless you have a high clearance truck-based (not a crossover SUV type!) 4-WD vehicle and are into a bit of an off-road adventure, that to me would compromise the visual and informational aspects with the driving concentration needed.
Pete
My wife and I spent several months touring every Anasazi ruin we could reach. Towards the end, I ripped the front bumper off my 4WD Silverado 2500 trying to get to a really remote site in the Hovenweep area.
It was totally worth it.
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My wife and I spent several months touring every Anasazi ruin we could reach. Towards the end, I ripped the front bumper off my 4WD Silverado 2500 trying to get to a really remote site in the Hovenweep area.
It was totally worth it.
Another good reason to have someone else drive.
BTW, do you have a link to your photos for your visits?
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Sadly, no. It was mostly 4X5 stuff, and I've never gotten around to buying a decent scanner. Pathetic, I know.
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Here's a little teaser for you:
(http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/framah/D55T0069copycopy_zps8404b933.jpg) (http://s65.photobucket.com/user/framah/media/D55T0069copycopy_zps8404b933.jpg.html)]
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Here's a little teaser for you:
(http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h216/framah/D55T0069copycopy_zps8404b933.jpg) (http://s65.photobucket.com/user/framah/media/D55T0069copycopy_zps8404b933.jpg.html)]
I should report you for publishing a photo that makes me drool about being there.
What a super shot. Where were you exactly for this shot (north or south rim drive?)? And dawn or dusk?
I still need to look up sun rise & sunset times for Oct 2 when I plan to be there.
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Jim,
I have a few images on my website about halfway down the landscape gallery if you care to look there. There is one of The Window which is a nice 4 hour adventure out and back, as I remember, passing beyond Spider Rock. Click on the image and there is a little description of getting there. Fall color is usually late October.
Deb Lem was my last guide but I no longer have her number.
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Another good reason to have someone else drive.
BTW, do you have a link to your photos for your visits?
Spider Rock, from a pretty crappy flatbed scan of a 4X5. Not my best work ever.
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Many great memories and great photos from my several visits to Canyon de Chelly with many friends and colleagues through the years. Thanks for sharing some nice photos, everyone!
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Another 4X5 from a few miles down the Canyon from Spider. Not the greatest light that time of day.
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Jim,
I have a few images on my website about halfway down the landscape gallery if you care to look there. There is one of The Window which is a nice 4 hour adventure out and back, as I remember, passing beyond Spider Rock. Click on the image and there is a little description of getting there. Fall color is usually late October.
Deb Lem was my last guide but I no longer have her number.
Great photos, thanks. I'll try to find Deb.
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Spider Rock, from a pretty crappy flatbed scan of a 4X5. Not my best work ever.
Thanks, a fine shot; just enhances my desire to visit.
Jim
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Another 4X5 from a few miles down the Canyon from Spider. Not the greatest light that time of day.
It seems quite important for this canyon, perhaps more than many others, to be there when the light is right.
Jim
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It seems quite important for this canyon, perhaps more than many others, to be there when the light is right.
Jim
Yes, exactly. And you can't get to the canyon floor without paying for a guide, which obviously imposes limits on what you can shoot, and what options you have for using the light to your advantage.
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Yes, exactly. And you can't get to the canyon floor without paying for a guide, which obviously imposes limits on what you can shoot, and what options you have for using the light to your advantage.
I am planning to hire a guide.
My current plan : arrive day 1 in time to shoot near sunset.
Day 2- shoot near sunrise from the top roads; hire a guide for an afternoon & sunset trip into the canyon.
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Hi,
There was a trail that you could hike to White House ruin from the rim but you must stay within certain limits while at White House. I haven't been in a few years.
White House gets afternoon sun and can be shot from the rim.
Spider Rock is best also at sunset as are all the overlooks on the Canyon De Chelly side.
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Thing is, even if thieves abscond with all your camera equipment or something, it's still so worth going there just to see the place that you won't mind very much.
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Don Libby and I used Timothy Halwood as our Navajo guide in Canyon de Chelly several years back. Twin Trail Scenic Tours, (928)349-5560.
http://kendoophotography.wordpress.com/?s=canyon+de+chelley
ken
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Don Libby and I used Timothy Halwood as our Navajo guide in Canyon de Chelly several years back. Twin Trail Scenic Tours, (928)349-5560.
http://kendoophotography.wordpress.com/?s=canyon+de+chelley
ken
Ken - thanks. I'll try to contact them as well, and see who is available. From what I have gathered, there is a large turnover of guides.
Jim
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I should report you for publishing a photo that makes me drool about being there.
What a super shot. Where were you exactly for this shot (north or south rim drive?)? And dawn or dusk?
I still need to look up sun rise & sunset times for Oct 2 when I plan to be there.
I was at the beginning of the canyon at a pullout. The road in the lower left of the photo is where the tour vehicles enter the canyon.
I assume that it was the southern side as that is the moon rising. I got there before the day of the full moon, scoped out where the moon rose. On the day before the full moon, I set up in the pullout and waited.
If you shoot on the day BEFORE, you will still have sunlight on the sides of the cliffs as the moon is rising.
Full moon for this October is on the 8th.
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I was at the beginning of the canyon at a pullout. The road in the lower left of the photo is where the tour vehicles enter the canyon.
I assume that it was the southern side as that is the moon rising. I got there before the day of the full moon, scoped out where the moon rose. On the day before the full moon, I set up in the pullout and waited.
If you shoot on the day BEFORE, you will still have sunlight on the sides of the cliffs as the moon is rising.
Full moon for this October is on the 8th.
Thanks for this detail. I will be on Oct 2, probably a few days too early.
JIm