Recapitulation

The night before I left on my "Canyonlands" adventure, my son asked if I was excited. "Yes," I replied. He, after all, had watched all day as I rushed around, packing my bag, making last minute arrangements, etc.... There was no denying the fact.

Then I paused for a moment, considering the deeper implications of my answer (lest he should get the wrong idea) and added, "Unfortunately, it will all evaporate too soon... it's hard to get overly excited about such things anymore." (How's that for a wise-ass, old-fart answer?)

Now, just over one week later, the adventure is over and the realities of my day to day life are, once again, about to come back into focus. Off to work, dealing with projects, both unfinished and unstarted, caring for ailing loved ones (myself included) and everything else that makes life so grand. Little is left of my Canyonlands journey but a pocketful of shared experiences, a few personal insights, and a 7 gigabytes worth of flash memory.

Now, about that flash memory. I took around 1200 photos, in all, between my pocket camera (which I used far more than anticipated) and my aging DLSR. The pocket cam captured the JPEGs, and the DSLR the RAW. It will take weeks to get through the processing of the RAW images, as so many will also require HDR conversions. A tedious chore, to be sure, but also a labor of love. Even though I can see already that not many of them will be that good.

And really, what else do I have left?

To be honest, I'm not yet sure. Some things just take longer to digest than others. A trip such as this could take months, or even years to fully develop. The memories and insights, like the unprocessed RAW files, are not yet realized. They're in there, just like all the ingredients in that spaghetti sauce, but they have yet to be printed, framed, and mounted.

The image presented here was taken at Labyrinth camp B along the White Rim 4wd trail. A hot, dry, and windy place where the ground is so hard that rocks must be used to anchor ones tents. It is a truly desert environment where shade from the mid-day sun is a premium commodity. This is an HDR image, one of the first I saw fit to muck with. As usual, I have attempted to keep the HDR tom-foolery to a minimum in order to present a more natural looking image.

Of logs and blogs

Today's image is an oldie. I took the shot some several years ago while visiting my aunt and uncles cabin.

There a week left yet before I embark upon my "great adventure." Some may see it as a trip to the desert filled with little more than lizards, rocks, and canyons, but for me it stands out as one of those "adventures-of-a-lifetime". A phrase whose very meaning has become suspect of late.

Now, I've had my fair share of adventures by some folks standards. I've floated rivers, hiked and climbed in high mountain places, probed the depths of many of Arkansas' wild cave systems, and a few other things along these lines. Nothing too outrageous, though. And I'm sure many, if not most, other adventurers would view the things I have done as being completely pedestrian. I'd have to agree.

My point is, though, that the most recent of these trips was some 15 years in the past. And like it or not, years make a difference.

I keep telling myself I'm not too old for this kind of crap. Not yet. I can do it. And it's all about the desire. After all, if you want a thing badly enough, you can get it... despite the condition you may be in.

Heck, it's even been awhile since I so much as curled up in a tarp under the stars without a tent for protection. 20 years, perhaps? I can't recall the date. Fortunately, though, it wasn't so long ago that I forget what it's like.

I hope I never do.

PS. Almost forgot. I plan to blog out my trip a few posts at a time once I return. Should be fun.