Yant Flat and Yant Flat Cliffs

After I graduated with an MFA from the University of Wisconsin in 1988 I was offered a job in Provo, UT. We packed up our family of two children and moved back west where we were closer to family and familiar surroundings. I earned my undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in the mid 1980’s. Utah felt like home to me. This is where we would raise our growing family for the next 30 years. Things were tight with six children and a university salary. We learned to have fun the simple way; hiking, camping, and scenic canyon drives. We were lucky in that Virginia’s grandmother lived in a small rural town in southern Utah. Hurricane was ideally situated to allow us to day trip to Zion National Park and other nearby locations. Madge extended an invitation to us to come visit whenever we wanted. And so, we did. We took every chance we had to pack up the kids and drive four hours; winter, spring, summer, or fall. We saw the desert in every splash of seasonal glory. I collected hiking books to guide us through many adventures. One would think that 30 years would provide ample time to explore every nook and cranny in the region. Now, Virginia and I are empty-nesters and we’re still finding new places to explore. Grandma Madge passed on many years ago, but Virginia’s parents live in the area and we still have the best getaway package one can find. It’s the perfect launching pad for our ongoing excursions. Last year I stumbled across a hike description that piqued my interest. Not far from the town of Silver Reef and below the Pine Valley Mountains, is a trailhead to an area called Yant Flat and the Yant Flat Cliffs, also sometimes referred to as the Candy Cliffs. The write-up described it as similar to Coyote Buttes. The cliffs are composed of Navajo sandstone outcroppings; wild undulating contours of ancient sand dunes. This week we made the drive to Mom’s house and day tripped into the hills west of Leeds and Silver Reef. It was an improved gravel road (FS 031), and mostly smooth driving in my Toyota 4-Runner. We found the trailhead without trouble and hiked 1.1 miles through Utah Juniper and Pinyon Pine forest to the edge of the bluff overlooking the Virgin River Valley and desert stretching to the Zion cliffs on the horizon. Yant Flat Cliffs are a swirl of ice cream colors poured over the rolling petrified sandstone hills. Our decent into the candy bowl proved a little challenging. We took the hard way down, the immediate slope below the end of the trail terminus. I later read that a gentler approach is further to the east, which is where we came out of the sandstone basin. I considered this an exploratory visit to allow me the opportunity to acquire a feel for the terrain. Our afternoon light was harsh. My polarizer helped mitigate the harshness a bit, but soft low-angle light would certainly set the swirling patterns off better. The surface of the Navajo Sandstone is fractured in places with hexagonal patterns that give a tortoise shell appearance. We hiked and explored for over an hour before making our way back to the trailhead. This is definitely an area that warrants further photography.

At a Glance, Silver Glance that is.

A little background information is called for to put this post in perspective. In a few short weeks, I will be 59-years old. I have been moderately active as a hiker throughout my life. Living along the Wasatch Front in northern Utah has given me immediate access to trails that lead through meadow and valley, up steep mountains and through various desert environments. In winter, I even take to snowshoeing on occasion. I moved to Utah in 1976 in my late teen years and immediately fell in love with the Rocky Mountains. My constant companion on my many hikes was a trusty Olympus OM-1. It was compact and lightweight. I remember throwing it into my knapsack with several lenses, an apple, a bottle of water, and several other miscellaneous objects, sling it over my back and set off on the trail. Back then my back was strong and I was carefree. Now, many years later, I’ve moved onto more complex camera equipment, and with that comes greater bulk and weight. Sadly, I don’t have an 18-year old back any longer. Though I love my Nikon D700 SLR and a great set of lenses (14-24, 24-70, 70-200), the weight is killing me. Later this fall I hope to purchase my first mirrorless camera system. Depending on the week I lean towards one manufacturer or another. Several weeks ago, I seriously considered a return to Olympus, but I hate to lose the full frame sensor I’ve grown accustomed to. Last week I was swayed back to the Sony a7II. I won’t make my final decision for several more months. In the meantime, my only option for photography is lugging my current system up mountain and down, and hoping my back and knees will make it one more week at a time. This last week Virginia and I decided to hike to Silver Lake, in the Lone Peak Wilderness in Utah County. It was a tough hike. I hoped to continue to Silver Glance Lake, a mile above Silver Lake. Silver Lake is a favorite hike for many in this area and gets a fair amount of traffic. On Friday afternoon, there were even several Boy Scout Troops packing in for an overnight stay. Silver Glance Lake, on the other hand is seldom visited, at least for now. There are no signs marking the way, though it can be found on topo maps. In and of itself, Silver Glance is not a spectacular lake, barely more than a puddle. But boy, what a setting! It would be hard to dream up a more spectacular background than mighty Mount Timpanogos. The trail to Silver Glance Lake is steep, and when combined with the altitude, makes for a bit more strenuous climb. Silver Lake sits at almost 9,000 feet, while Silver Glance Lake lies in a basin 1,000 feet higher. We made fairly good time to Silver Lake and rested for a bit, pumped water from the lake to fill our water bottles, and ate a few snacks. There were a dozen people already at the lake, but I knew the Boy Scouts were not far behind us. I scurried up the mountain another mile and found I had Silver Glance Lake all to myself. It was wonderful. The trail climbed through a valley filled with wildflowers at the peak of their bloom. Once at the lake, I climbed the talus slope on the far side to capture this image with Mt. Timpanogos in the background. I wish I could see it at sunset, but it would be a difficult hike down in the dark. Camping overnight is out because I can barely get up the mountain with my camera gear. There is no way I would make it with all the camping gear too. Maybe I need to find a horse to carry my load…, or a good Sherpa. After making a fine set of images, I set off on a rapid descent to catch up with Virginia and return to our car before dark. While the climb up to the lake was physically draining, the pounding of my knees and back going down hurt far worse. By the time I reached the car at Silver Lake Flat I knew I was done for the day. 

HandleyCraft Reboot

My first post in June was perhaps a bit misleading. I got off on a false start. It turns out I was not ready to begin my life as a blogger. Setting up the web page was far more work than I thought, even with using a starting template. I wasn’t sure I wanted to have a blog, or what I would write about. Now that I have had two months to think about it and the patience the last two days to persevere through the technicalities of going online, I hope to spend a leisurely two hours a week maintaining it. The intent of this blog is to promote my photography business. Along the way, I hope to share the inspiration, skill, and adventures behind the photographs. There is a gallery page associated with this blog where eventually I will sell my photographs, although currently the business is not dependent on that activity. HandleyCraft Photography was organized as an entity to shoot archival photographs of university stage productions. However, my passion in photography coincides with my love of the outdoors. Shooting landscapes is always a good excuse to take a hike. Of particular interest to me are wildflowers, both as specimens and as an element in the overall landscape. I begin chasing the annual wildflower bloom in the high desert of California in late February and finish at the tops of the Mountains of Utah in August, just in time to watch the aspen leaves gracefully fade to golden yellows in September. Winter is my slow season for making photographs, although there is much beauty in the quiet and cold snowscape. I hope you will find enjoyment and inspiration through the images I share on this platform.

Here I go...

And so a new journey begins. Not only are we leaving town today and trying a new method of traveling, but I am also giving a shot at blogging about the experience. I'm not sure what to expect on either account. As I begin this, I am approaching it from the perspective of someone who has journaled all his life. The trick is to make it engaging enough to hold someone else's interest. As I go along I will fill in many of nooks and crannies of my backstory, and what has led to this outlet.