RonHardestyPhotos.com Blog

What a surprise this morning n Kanab, UT! With my age and sex, I need to get up more than once during the night. About 5:00 a.m. I got up and looked outside. It was just a beautiful sight!

Nan, Shelby, Buddy and I have been here for a few months. That being said, we landed here on the way to Yellowstone National Park. The week of Jan. 20th we are headed back to Phoenix for a while.

Its a GREAT sky on Christmas Eve. It kinda wants to make you look for Santa Claus!

It was taken in Kanab, UT.

Buffalo in Zion National Park

What a pretty picture!

Snow at Zion National Park in Utah! We woke up to a few inches of snow this morning (Kanab RV Korral in Kanab, Utah). We went from Kanab to Zion National Park about 15 miles away.

Nancy and I moved here because its the center of the universe regarding photographic opportunities. Bryce National Park (NP), UT; Grand Canyon NP, AZ and UT; Zion NP, UT; Antelope Upper and Lower Canyons in AZ. They’re all less than 100 miles or so from Kanab, UT.

It Was Just Supposed To Rain Just A Little… I was tired of getting up everyday and saying what a beautiful day it was… No kidding! EVERYDAY … was blue sky and just perfect… When Thanksgiving arrived it sounded like we were going to have something wet fall from the sky… BUT OH NO!

Last night it looked like there was going to be some snow in Cedar City, UT.

I’ve been in Arizona or Utah now for the last 2 winter’s and this is the first REAL precipitation I’ve seen!

Today I was in Page, AZ. Kinda scouting the area for photographic possibilities.

This area is Navajo Indian Land/Reservation. To go almost anywhere, you need a “guide”. It can be a “tour” guide or one of the people on the Navajo Indian Tribal staff.

One of those (there is about 4) is: Slot Canyon Hummer Adventures. It was funny how I found them, that will be later.

Traveling east, we arrived in town. Incredible views on the way, over a dam etc. We traveled more than an hour and I was really sick and tired.

SCHA is on the way in to town and we bypassed it to get in to and get something to drink.

We arrived at the city center (5 blocks or less after SCHA). The other tours (I think) were within walking distance. We went to each one and:

• They were all very nice
• The rates were similar for the total time out and in the canyons
• They each seemed to have a photographer that they showcased
• Transportation did vary. From pickup trucks that had like an umbrella over the bed where you sit -OR- Suburban’s that were enclosed with a lot of people.

So far, so good, but nothing outstanding -OR- maybe they were all outstanding.So, we got into the car and decided to get something to eat before we traveled back to Kanab. After making sure we didn’t win monopoly, We got to talking and I decided to go back to the 5th tour business that day. It meant going back in to town. But maybe just maybe this would be just the guy I’m looking for.

I walked into SCHA . I’m the only person in the building it seams. First, nice difference! Here is a guy that isn’t trying to sell you on his book/photos or how he takes pictures, what camera equipment he uses. He tells me about his rates… blah… blah… blah

He owns a bicycle store. Mostly mountain Bikes dah! We got to talk about my Trek Mountain Bike that I have (I want to sell it because I’m not supposed to ride it Dr. orders).

Anyway, I started to tell him what I needed besides his services.

1. I would like to know if it snows in the canyons would he call me? The answer was YES!
2. I ask him about going out in a small group. The Answer was YES! Come on a Sunday
3. He then asked me IF I was in a hurry on these trips or could he also video some stuff he wants?

Found IT! I found a business that wanted to possibly do business with me. Yahooo!

Finding someone that was willing to do non traditional business was a God Send.

Oh! I forgot. His transportation is a HUMMER! Air Conditioning! The ONLY REAL 4WD engineered from the ground up for these conditions. The other trucks and suburban’s had 4WD added on.

So, go to his website: Slot Canyon Hummer Adventures and talk to him about your next adventure! You’ll be really glad you did!

We arrived in Kanab, UT today. It’s kinda the center of a number of National Parks. Bryce Canyon, Zion , Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Rainbow Bridge, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Antelope Canyon, X Canyon, Slot Canyon, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, Vermillion Cliffs, San Francisco Peaks, Sunset Crater/Tad Nichols Overlook Horseshoe Bend and other’s are about an hour’s drive away.

We’ve been to Zion National Park already.

If your traveling through Zion National Park with a trailer please be advised: there is a hight, width and length restrictions. If your a little to high, wide or long they will assign a pilot car for a $15 up charge and get you through the park. ELSE you’ll have to drive AROUND the park. I learned the hard way. It was a 30 mile turnaround to get back to the major roadway and then an additional 20 miles. So, let me say it this way. It’ll cost you at least 50 miles out of the way because you didn’t check before you drove.

We’ve been in Las Vegas now for about a week. We’re here for a Photoshop seminar. After being in Phoenix for as long as we were, we thought Las Vegas would be a easy as far as the weather goes. It turns out that we feel that Las Vegas feels hotter than Phoenix even tho the temperature is lower, go figure…

The convention was at the Mandalay Bay. We could hardly find our way around that “city”. It was fun. Used a lot of energy trying to stay focused all day. Going to sleep was easy.

We’ve been in Sedona, AZ. now for a few months (a long story… Planned was to be here only 60 days or so). Anyway, we wondered why the town wasn’t at its height in tourists. Its the Monsoon Rains!

On the other side of the road, where it evens out, is the height at which my trailer sits.

This was sandy, dry, arrid before the rain this afternoon. This part of AZ. hadn’t seen rain in months. This happened in a couple of hours and OH! MY! the lightning and thunder!

Living in Sedona, AZ is a wonderful experience. On Sunday evening (07/15) I could see by the clouds that we were going to have a “busy” night with lightning and thunder.

Days before this the weather reports stated that we were in the “Monsoon” season. I had never heard of such a thing in the U.S.

Anyway, we had quite a night. A number of us had gathered at the “airport” in Sedona. Its on a mountain and you can see forever, as the saying goes. This is just one of the images I was lucky enough to capture. I’ll be putting together a “slideshow” to show this collection. Its really amazing!