If 2020 were a ‘normal’ year, I might be reviewing my travel checklist about now. But, as everyone knows, 2020 is about the furthest from a ‘normal’ year it can be.
Many of us have needed to adapt our work to our current ‘normal,’ and I am no exception. When life serves lemons, we look for a way to make lemonade. The pandemic of 2020 opened a new doorway for me, and I’d like to share that story in a separate post. For now, I invite you to click the link below to enjoy just a small sampling of my 10,000-plus photos and videos from Utah’s National Parks and a couple of State Parks.
In this video, I had to make difficult choices. For instance, I dropped The Goosenecks State Park altogether, because from a travel standpoint it lies far off the path of parks in a line between Moab and Las Vegas, which is a convenient path to choose for a recommendation to those folks who will be visiting Utah for the first time. I decided that I’ll include it with a separate video on the Navajo Nation Tribal Parks of Arizona (coming soon), which will feature Monument Valley, Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, and The Goosenecks State Park of Utah.
Parks that are featured in this video include: Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands National Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park.
It was really difficult to curate a ‘short list’ from so many photos and videos showing so many miles of wonderfully wild country. This being the third in my series of Virtual Field Trips under the tagline ‘A Photographer’s Journey,’ my initial timeline to create and publish was one week long. I missed the target by a mile (4x). I thought I had mastered the tradecraft of video making. I was wrong.
My journey continues. When I first thought about the tagline ‘A Photographer’s Journey,’ I was short-sightedly thinking of all the years between receiving my first camera as a birthday gift at age 8 and today. Somehow I forgot about all the times I’ve had to re-learn that my journey has barely begun, or so it seems. I had forgotten about all the equipment technologies I’ve had to learn from scratch, all the new techniques required of each technology, and yes, all the generous master photographers who shared their tradecraft with me. I’m a lucky man, I’m still confronting technology changes, still learning from those who inspire me, and my journey continues.
Since the Fall of 2018, about this time of year I am reminded of an event that changed me to the core and inspired me to share my experiences in the wild with as many people as possible.
The event that changed me forever was foretold in the early spring of 2018 during a FaceTime call with a dear friend who was challenging my choice of certain places as I planned my travel itinerary for that year. He knew that I had made countless trips to Yellowstone already, so he suddenly challenged me to explain it: “What is it that keeps you going back to Yellowstone year after year?”
His question caught me off guard. I had to think for a second or two. “It is wild,” I told him. Those words came from somewhere deep down inside me, and I know this because I had never said that before. But I immediately knew it was true. There was silence between us.
“It is wild,” I told him.
Larry Rogers
“What do you mean, wild?” he asked after a while. By the time he broke the silence, I had realized a couple of things. On the one hand, he had likely never experienced a truly wild place, and on the other hand I was suddenly crystal clear about the answer to his question.
“A truly wild place is a place where you can go, and you cannot see the hand of man from horizon to horizon, north, south, east, west, and yet you will see the hand of God everywhere around.” I sensed that he was happy with my answer.
Now, I’ll explain the event that changed me forever. Soon after the springtime FaceTime call, my friend made plans to visit Yellowstone. He and his wife visited Ohio and spent a couple of days here, during which I shared stories of Yellowstone and some advice for his first visit. I remember clearly discussing how to experience the ‘wild’ nature of a place like Yellowstone.
“You will need to leave the boardwalks behind for a full day. Just set one full day aside. On that day, leave the lodge area and drive out into the back country. After driving a while, find a safe place to pull over. Safely step out of the car, and turn 360 degrees watching the horizon. If you see any structure, other cars, or other people, drive a bit further. Once you find the right place, find a log or a rock to sit on or lean back, and read a book. Just listen to nature.” We had a great visit those two days in Ohio.
I talked to him again a few months later, after he had made final plans to travel. As fate would have it, his plans included exactly one day that would overlap with my plans for the Fall of 2018 when we would both be in Yellowstone. We tentatively made plans to connect and possibly have dinner in Yellowstone in the Fall.
My Fall travel for 2018 included making a presentation at a biennial conference of naturalists, educators, rangers and National Park Service folks. The conference lasted four days, and I planned a few days either side of it for hiking and photography. The timing worked out. We were able to meet at the Old Faithful Inn late in the afternoon one day, enjoy dinner and drinks for a couple of hours, and make plans to meet early the following morning at Midway Geyser Basin, where I would ‘guide’ the group to a somewhat lesser-known (at that time) trail to a feature called Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook. It’s a spectacular, colorful, and simply amazing sight to see.
At one point during our after-dinner conversation, my friend’s sister-in-law leaned over to me and said, “Larry, I’m so glad you shared so much advice to us leading up to the trip. I feel like I am witnessing something truly amazing – beyond anything I have experienced before. You told us to find a shady spot and just listen – we did that, and then I went off by myself so I could experience the sounds of nature for a while. Thank you from my heart.”
I went off by myself so I could experience the sounds of nature for a while. Thank you from my heart.
Name Witheld
Everyone in the group echoed the same sentiment. And that is the moment that changed me forever. I did not ever want to forget the magic that happened that week in a far off place in wild Wyoming, in the western United States of America. There were six other people at dinner that night, and we all felt the magic of a new perspective happening before our eyes.
In November of 2018, I sat down to document that two-week period in September 2018 that changed several lives for the better. I know for sure it changed mine. My journal from that trip became a book entitled, Yellowstone: Engima in Fire & Water, which follows my small group of three around Yellowstone in text and pictures for two weeks. The book opens with a few pages about my friend’s question, “What is it about Yellowstone that keeps you going back year after year?”
As I am writing this post in the Fall of 2020, I keep hearing that question, “What is it…?”
I’ll never again hear my friend ask. In the months that followed, he shared with me that he was dealing with some medical problems. I visited him in a recovery center for a few days, during which we reminisced about meeting up at Yellowstone. We talked about doing it again as soon as we could. He told me how much he enjoyed his time time there and looked forward to the next time.
He is gone now. I am changed forever. I am a better person for it.
We all want to get back to ‘normal,’ whatever that was. I’m optimistic that soon we all will have confidence to venture out again. For those of us (yes, me too) feeling the urge to get back out, but perhaps aren’t quite ready for crowds and hotel stays, I am bringing you the best experiences from my travels in a new video series, ‘A Photographer’s Journey.’
About a year ago, I published a pilot video, ‘Virtual Field Trip: Bald Eagles in the Wild.‘ In that video, I explain why Bald Eagles migrate hundreds, even thousands of miles each winter and I share the exact location where I travel each winter to photograph hundreds of them congregating in a small area. As I will in all Virtual Field Trip videos, I share some of my favorite pictures from the past 30 years, and basic safety and awareness information, just in case you decide get outside to see Bald Eagles for yourself.
In ‘Virtual Field Trip: Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Loop Trail,’ I share some aerial footage of some of the most awesome places in the national park, like the Yellowstone River flowing toward the Lower Falls, Midway Geyser basin and Grand Prismatic Spring; a slow-motion video of Old Faithful Geyser during an eruption; maps of the overall Yellowstone National Park highway system and a detailed Trail Guide of the Old Faithful Loop Trail. You also get to see some of my favorite videos and pictures, all taken along the trail. As you watch, please understand that the images I show have been taken over a period of years, spending many hours patiently waiting for a geyser to erupt or for weather to improve. Yellowstone is a huge place best enjoyed at a slow pace, over a number of days or weeks.
In each of the videos in the series, I share deep personal experiences that moved me to become an activist for wildlife and environmental conservation. Standard content includes travel information to help you get to each place I travel, some of my favorite videos and photos from there, and I’ll de-mystify each of these places that may seem to be just out of reach for those interested in the experience.
Thanks for stopping by. Please check out the video above by clicking on the goofy image of me in my Tilley hat. Stay safe and healthy until next time.
