West Colorado/SE Utah – Savoring the Experience

A couple of weeks ago, I took a photo road trip with an old friend.  This was the third trip we have taken in the last couple of years.  Before telling the story of our recent trip, I needed to offer the rest of the story.  These trips were far more than the photos we took but also about the experience and not taking for granted the amazing beauty around us…which is the foundation for this blog.  Here’s the story:

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As I was retiring from the Air Force, I was forced to ask myself what I want to do when I grow up.  Foregoing the boring details of that process, what emerged was a strong desire to share my love of the outdoors with others but not a clear path on how to make this a follow-on career.  After several years of chasing various career options related to the “outdoor industry”, and some good advice by family and friends, the solution emerged.  The simple solution was to separate my professional career as a pilot from the passion of sharing the outdoors.  This turned out to be the perfect arrangement!

Photography seemed like a logical medium for communicating that passion for the outdoors.  The challenge with photography is trying to capture not only what I see in nature but, to a greater extent, how I feel when out with nature.  “MyTravelingEye” became a medium to share these amazing places.  Admittedly, writing a blog post is a rather disconnected way of communicating but it does present a means to tell a story.  This story was one where photography brought two old friends together after 20 years to experience some amazingly cool moments…and a whole lot of laughs.

Gayla and I were stationed in Virginia in the mid-90s.  We lived on a small cul-de-sac and developed lifelong friendships with several wonderful families.  Our kids were all the same age and they made us feel like family during our 3-year assignment there.  Bobby and Judy lived across the street.  They owned a dental lab and like most small business owners, worked tirelessly to keep their business running smoothly.  Over the years, technology improved and better processes began to offer them more personal time.  In his new-found spare time, Bobby caught the photo bug and began capturing amazing wildlife photos in the tidewater area of Virginia.  Bobby and I reconnected through social media a couple of years ago and quickly began sharing our mutual passion for photography.  In our conversations, he confided that he had never seen the Rocky Mountains.  In his own words, “I live two miles from where I grew up”…this is where the story begins.

In the spring of 2016, Bobby and I met in Denver for a loop through Southeastern Utah and Western Colorado.  I didn’t share much about our planned itinerary in advance hoping to surprise him with some amazing scenery as we moved from place to place.  We were planning to camp in Moab, Utah the first night and wanted to be in Moab for sunset.  There wasn’t much time to waste as we headed west along I-70 but we did stop east of Glenwood Springs at a roadside rest area where Grizzly Creek joins the Colorado River.  There were some great places along Grizzly Creek to photograph the water flowing over and through the rocks with impressive canyon views.  This was when I realized that this was Bobby’s first time in the mountains and his first time to experience the beauty of a waterfall.  Something I certainly always appreciated but admittedly taken for granted.  His response to the experience, “Are You [expletive] Kidding Me (AYFKM)”?  A truly profound description this experience and nature’s beauty! 😊

The drive along Hwy 128 offered a great view of the Fisher Towers with the snow topped La Sal Mountains backdrop.  It is also clear to see the incredible impact the Colorado River has made cutting through the beautiful red-rock canyons leading into Moab.  Certainly, another AYFKM moment with many more of these moments to happen on this trip.

We spent a couple days in Moab enjoying the signature sunrises and sunsets in Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  The pictures tell the story.

We headed back into Colorado through Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Telluride, enjoyed a spectacular view of Mt. Sneffels along Hwy 62 approaching Ridgway and spent the night near Ouray, CO.

We then headed north joining Hwy 133 into Marble, Colorado.  As we rounded the corner in this small town, there was a classic BBQ joint worthy of the infamous AYFKM response…we had to eat there.  But, in the interest of time, we got the food to go trying to keep a schedule getting into Aspen.  We could eat on the road.

Realizing it would be difficult to eat BBQ on the road, we elected to stop at a roadside pullout and enjoy dinner.  As we were sitting on a rock enjoying a BBQ sandwich gazing down an incredibly majestic valley, I looked over and the expression on Bobby’s face made it clear to me how powerful these experiences can be.  The photo schedule no longer mattered, this was the moment that needed to be savored, which we did.  To top it off, we looked over to see a small herd of elk below us in the valley and a lone black bear…a couple more first-time experiences!

This is definitely one of those trips where the goal of sharing my love of the outdoors with others was fulfilled.  Photography was the activity that brought two friends together, but experiencing nature turned out to be what made this such a memorable trip…and the first of many to follow.