I took my second-ever hike into Little Wild Horse Canyon the other week and went further than I did the first time, much to my delight. This chock stone got my attention...
This is a 5-stop merge using tufuse and the first time I had to tinker with the settings - due to the extremely bright (in comparison) skyline.
After the merge I applied a wee bit more highlight recovery to even out the sky and tone down the hot spots on the rock; local contrast enhancement from the TLR Sharpening Kit and my normal saturation bump finished the job.
Bill, I thought about doing the Bell Canyon loop, but we were pressed for time before sunset so we decided against it this time out.
Little Wild Horse is a great place to "get your feet wet" on canyoneering. There's opportunities for just about every non-technical (and usually dry) aspect of navigating a slot canyon; it's fun and easy to reach, and it's a relatively long slot. The lighting and wall patterning isn't as intricate as some other slots, but who cares when you're having so much fun!
Les, you made the right choice, last time I did the Wildhorse-Bell loop I did run out of time and ended the trip in the dark, no flashlight, no moon, every once in awhile lightning would help out. Hey, it wasn't planned, I wanted to show my friend the canyon, and we didn't leave the trailhead till 3:30 PM. My first slot canyon in the dark.
Nice shot, like the others, I like what you did with the shot!
As to going to the canyon, word to the wise, avoid weekends (well at least this time of year)! I visited on the 1st day out on my Southern UT trip, with crowds of people on Sat Apr 26. Parking lot full, must have been 75 vehicles and 100s of folks, making the experience far from rewarding. Neat canyon yes, but try to find a time with less people. I will note, that just do to scheduling, I was there mid afternoon, probably prime time, along with being there on a Sat. Didnt bother with images, just wasnt easy to accomplish though the canyon was definately an interesting short hike (I didnt do the 9 mile loop).
Timothy, the crowd was still going pretty strong when I was there well after noon on Sunday back in April and I wound up stemming just to let people pass in the canyon; Goblin Valley was surprisingly not packed that evening, but several large families had unleashed their goblins into the valley for sunset, making photography a bit more challenging.
It wasn't too long ago that the road out to Goblin Valley wasn't even paved, and the parking lot at Little Wild Horse Canyon has more than doubled in size since my first trip... Soon I'm going to have to take up serious 4WD just to keep ahead of the crowd.
Discussion
17 repliesThis is a 5-stop merge using tufuse and the first time I had to tinker with the settings - due to the extremely bright (in comparison) skyline.
After the merge I applied a wee bit more highlight recovery to even out the sky and tone down the hot spots on the rock; local contrast enhancement from the TLR Sharpening Kit and my normal saturation bump finished the job.
I'd consider cropping a bit off the bottom - maybe more of a 4x5 aspect ratio?
Try the loop hike - up Wild Horse and down Bell Canyon.
Little Wild Horse is a great place to "get your feet wet" on canyoneering. There's opportunities for just about every non-technical (and usually dry) aspect of navigating a slot canyon; it's fun and easy to reach, and it's a relatively long slot. The lighting and wall patterning isn't as intricate as some other slots, but who cares when you're having so much fun!
Yes, that's the crop I had in mind.
As to going to the canyon, word to the wise, avoid weekends (well at least this time of year)! I visited on the 1st day out on my Southern UT trip, with crowds of people on Sat Apr 26. Parking lot full, must have been 75 vehicles and 100s of folks, making the experience far from rewarding. Neat canyon yes, but try to find a time with less people. I will note, that just do to scheduling, I was there mid afternoon, probably prime time, along with being there on a Sat. Didnt bother with images, just wasnt easy to accomplish though the canyon was definately an interesting short hike (I didnt do the 9 mile loop).
It wasn't too long ago that the road out to Goblin Valley wasn't even paved, and the parking lot at Little Wild Horse Canyon has more than doubled in size since my first trip... Soon I'm going to have to take up serious 4WD just to keep ahead of the crowd.