Kapplemultimedia.com

Now selling all my photography for prints at Fine Art America.
It’s cheaper, faster and comes with a 100% guarantee from them for the quality of print you order.
Look through the online gallery today and buy a print for your home or office.

Decided this year I would make my own top 10 list from the places I traveled to this year. They are not necessarily chosen because of their uniqueness, but may be listed because of what I may have had to go through to get them.

I feel blessed that I get to go and see so many places. Sometimes it is sheer determination or stubborn will that gets me there. Weekend marathon trips take me traveling 12 hours each way to get out of Texas sometimes.

So here they are.
#10
First up will be White Sands New Mexico. I took this trip right at the beginning of the year over the New Year’s holiday. Some of you have already read about the worthless park ranger they have working there. So I felt it fitting to be the first place mentioned.

#9
Extreme drought caused most of Texas to wither up and die this year. So when you have a patch of life hanging on so close to home, you need to go out and appreciate it. So this field of sunflowers hung on as long as it could. Only to fall victim as well two weeks later to the scorching sun.

#8
A small town in far west Texas. Turkey Texas to be exact. This old retro gas station that has been kept up is the only thing going for this little town. As you drive through, if you blink, you will miss this.

#7
Bolivar Point Lighthouse is at the opening channel into Galveston Bay. I have traveled twice to Galveston this year to see the different stages of recovery they have made from hurricane Ike. Galveston was devastated and it is now well on its way to full recovery. Lots of great historical places were destroyed. But the people have rebuilt many homes and repaired much that was lost.

#6
Mossbrae Falls, California
A beautiful waterfall photographed by millions. Not so much a unique photograph, but I flew into Sacramento over a holiday weekend and drove straight up to northern California to shoot several waterfalls in the area. On the third day I finally got some sleep.

#5
Hell Roaring Lake, Sawtooth Mountains in central Idaho.
We had several hikes planned for the area. Our main objective was Alice Lake. But the snow drift was still too deep in some areas. So we changed plans and hike 5 miles with all our camping and photography gear to this nice spot.

#4
The Everglades National Park, Florida
Sometimes you need to look in your rear view mirror more often. I was done shooting after sunset and on my way out of the park. I looked in my rear view mirror only to see the sky giving one last performance. I threw the car over into the ditch and jumped out and quickly set up the camera to capture this scene. It only lasted a minute, then it was gone. Unfortunately, I left the doors and the back hatch open so all the mosquitoes could get a free meal from the two companions sitting in the car waiting for yet another photo I had to take. Sometimes it sucks to be with me if you are not a photographer…Sometimes it sucks even if you are a photographer. I tend to push things and people to their limits.

#3
Somewhere in central New Mexico.
We stumbled upon this old forgotten church by accident while we were out shooting the Very Large Array. It was another marathon trip consisting of 12 hours of driving each way. Reason this image stands out to me was the distinct sweat smell in the air that was only in this area. 200 yards away we shot another scene of an old hotel and noticed no smell. But here, it was different. It was an experience that really made you think.

#2
The Subway in Zion National Park.
This place had been on my bucket list for years. I just was not willing to go at it alone. Finally found a friend who was a photographer who could make the hike with me and also wanted to see it. We did this hike over Labor Day weekend. Flew into Phoenix, drove all night to Zion, waited in line at 4am to get a permit. The first mistake I did was to hike 10 miles in the Narrows that day. Got 3 hours of sleep. The next day we hiked 10 more miles to the Subway and back. One of the toughest hikes I have ever done. Raced back to Phoenix to make my flight back home. I ended up blowing out both knees on this trip due to the rough terrain. Left knee was really bad and only now is back to normal.

#1
After all the hell of traveling to numerous spots that criss•crossed all over the western part of the US, I drove 27 hours to the Florida Keys. I should have just flown down there and rented a car. But during this trip it became apparent that I have spent far too much time in the desert. And I was asking myself why. Perfect skies every night for sunset, perfect skies for every morning for sunrise. Perfect temperatures of 75 degrees during the day, perfect temperatures of 70 degrees at night. I got to pull right up to shooting locations. I did not have to hike 10 miles with 30 pounds of gear on my back. Or climb up mountains or scale canyon walls.

I got to eat like I was a Greek and not stuff MRE’s or Mountain House Meals down me. I still got up early at 4 am to make it to my sunrise locations. But then took nice naps on the beach most of the day while my wife enjoyed the sun.

The Florida Keys was a game changer for me. I will be spending a lot more time in the tropics. So it gets the number one spot on this list for the year.

Travels & Wanderings in Black and White by Keith Kapple | Make Your Own Book

Large format 120 page book.

I have a lot more info and images located in the Idaho photo gallery section.

Idaho Photo Gallery

But this blog post will just be about hiking in the Sawtooth Mountains or the two main hikes we did while we were there.

Three of us were up at the crack of dawn to begin our hike to hell roaring Lake. Our original plan was to hike up to Alice Lake, but was called off due to deep snow still on the trail. This was still mid July and there was still too much snow pack on that trail. So we settled for Hell roaring Lake.

Round trip this hike is about 10 miles with 607 feet of elevation gain. We started out at the Hell Roaring Creek trail head. The trail starts out with a series of switch backs which finally levels off for most of the way on to the lake. You are pretty much following to the right of Hell Roaring creek most of the way with a series of marsh bogs full of mosquitoes attacking you most of the time. They were really bad this year and never let up and were even worse at the lake. Take a few cans of repellent, because you are going to use every bit of it.

I seem to always be overloaded with gear since I am taking both camping and photo gear, and by mile 2, I start to question why I bring so much along with me. But I count ounces and streamline it pretty good. One camera, two lenses, a carbon fiber tripod and some filters. The rest is minimal camping gear. I started hiking and training for this trip back in March so it was not that big a deal for me.

We camped right near the lakes outlet which is the most picturesque spot. I shot sunset, night time and sunrise for around different spots in this location. Another highlight of the trip were three old timers in their 70’s that are from the area camped near by. They have been hiking and camping in the Sawtooths together every year for the past 50 years. They were a great group of people to meet and talk with.

If I had this hike to do over again, I would have driven on up to the upper hell Roaring lake trailhead on a 4WD road and shaved off 3 miles of the hike. But the group I was with was not and daring as I was about damaging their cars. Would have been great to have the time to hike on up to Imogene Lake. But we also had a lazy family member we left back at the cabin to worry about. So mistakes like this will never be made again.

Seeing as I have made 12 different trips into the canyons of Utah, I know I will be back many times to explore Idaho.

Took a wirlwind trip to see some waterfalls in northern California. Basically flew into Sacramento, rented a car and drove all night to get this trip started. I arrived at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park at 4:30am and started shooting around 5am. No sleep from Thurday night on. I had too much to do and too much to see.

You can see all the images here at my gallery and read about all the other waterfalls I photographed.

http://www.kapplemultimedia.com/ncali/bin/northern_california_waterfalls.htm

Here is a photo of Burney falls and Mossbrae Falls.

Finally spring is here and it’s getting green. First mini trip is planned to explore more of Caddo Lake.

We have a flat bottom boat this time so we will be speding the entire weekend venturing into the nooks and crannies of Caddo Lake. Not only do I want those perfect vantage points of unique areas of the lake for sunset and sunrise. But also hope to see a lot of wildlife far away from where most of the people gather on this lake.

Should come back with great images. I will be also shooting infrared images with the newly converted Canon T1i I sacrificed and sent off to Life Pixel.
Check back later for a lot of images from this place. My goal this spring is to shoot at a lot of different locations in Texas and Oklahoma.

Looks like I have stretched myself pretty good. Have three back to back trips planned out along with the spring time mini trips.

The end of May there is the photo workshop in Utah for 5 days. Have 4 slots left for anyone who wants to sign up for that.

June will have 11 days spent in the Sawtooth Mountain range and other locations in Idaho.

July’s trip will be spent in northern California and the coastline north of San Fransico with a sunset planned at Lake Tahoe.

Lots of planning went into these trips. So I will have planty of images to edit and send off.

Friday afternoon/evening - Areas around Page, AZ. (Will do some night time star trails as well)
Target area is Stud Horse Point, Night time star trails at Horeshoe Bend and Balanced Rock near Lee’s Ferry.

Saturday Morning - Wahweap Hoodoos near Page, AZ

Saturday Afternoon - Get to Escalante and hit a few spots along Hole in the Rock Road
Star trail shots as well near Sunset Arch and Devils Garden.

Sunday Morning - Goblin Valley State Park

Sunday Evening - Tukuhnikivatz Arch, Behind the Rocks, La Sal Mountains, Moab, Utah. Stay here after dark and do more star trail photography

Monday Morning - Klondike Bluffs area - Lots of arches in this area. Well off the beaten path that does not see many visiors. We will start hiking around 4am to get to the Marching Men Rock formation.

Monday Evening - False Kiva in the Canyonlands - May shoot into the night here as well for star trails

Tuesday Morning - Delicate Arch Hike and early morning star trails.
4am we hit the trail ( I know the trail well. Hiked it 7 times as well as at night )

There will be no moon out during this time. Perfect for doing long exposures and star trails

More info on my site.

First off, let me say I am not a complainer. Part of being a landscape photographer is the ability to adapt at whatever circumstance gets in your way while out in the field. This usually pertains to weather conditions. So I always have a backup plan or different location to go in the event I must change my location based on weather conditions.

A word to the wise before traveling 12 hours to see White Sands National Monument, even if the park is open and not closed because of missile tests, and you have called ahead and made plans to do back country camping and hiking and you are a well seasoned hiker and have never needed the help from a park ranger.

The park ranger who works the White Sands national Monument is an incompetent idiot, and will derail your 12 hour drive and plans on the slightest whim of “danger” in her eyes. For me, she closed it down because they had a wind storm the “previous” day. And since she works alone, she did not want to deal with having to “recue” anyone who got lost.

Who can get lost in the sand dunes? There are no trails in the Sand to follow. Wind blows every day.

It was New Years Eve day, and the real reason I feel she shut the back country camping down was so she could have a nice day off on New Year’s Day. I was fed a line of crap about visitors who come here and get lost. She had mention one guy walked 9 miles off course before they found him. I find this hard to believe since the whole area is surrounded by mountains and there are so many reference points to use in your hike. It’s really shaped like a bowl if you will visualize this and research it using something as simple as Google earth. How about carrying a GPS to mark your waypoints?

Darwin rules. If a person wishes to not research the area before hand, I have no pity on the outcome he or she may have to suffer due to their own incompetence. If safety was the biggest concern for national parks, they would shut them all down.

I have been out hiking in the Needles District of the Canyonlands as well as areas in the Arches National park during snow storms. Walking on 2 foot wide paths covered in ice and snow with a 200 foot drop off. Should that too be shut down because I was dumb enough to hike it alone? No… And what about the hike to Angles Landing in Zion National Park? At least one person a year dies from falling from this difficult hike. The Havasu Falls hike down to see Mooney Falls has a sign that warns 10 people have fallen to their death in this near vertical climb which is down and then back up over slick sand stone. And let’s not forget the movie of the lone hiker in the Escalante area who had to cut off his arm when a falling rock pinning him against a slot canyon.

All this ranting I am doing is to make a point. Part of the thrill we all seek is the adventure itself. We take ourselves out of our daily comfort zones. And if we wish to keep doing this, so be it. It’s difficult enough for seasoned hikers to deal with the beginners we encounter out there. But when I run across them on my hikes, they get a little speech from me to help them on their way.

I am all about taking personal responsibility for myself and never relying on others. I have been that way most of my life. Most people who go canyoneering or exploring are of the same mind set. I easy get about 10 emails a week from new people wanting explore the areas I have been to. I was a newbie at one time just like them. I did my research, emailed other photographers and hikers even checked in with the park rangers.

So my advice to you if you are planning to visit White Sand National Monument, be prepared to deal with a lazy, incompetent idiot park ranger. She will not listen to reason. She will be rude and cut you off as you make your case about the effort it took to get there. She is so incompetent that her arrival time was supposed to be 9am. She pokes in at 9:45, and then talks to the front gate attendant for 15 minutes while a line of people were backed up to get into the park ( she did not care to simply move out of the way and let them through ). We were directly behind her waiting for her to arrive so we could talk with her. She finishes up her chat with the front gate attendant, probably about last night’s show on American Idol, and does a u-turn to head back into town to fill up her gas tanks since she came to work unprepared. We had another 45 minutes to wait on her so we could explain our frustration. After all, I drove 12 hours all night with no sleep so I could visit and explore the park, which my tax dollars pay for, only to be denied and quiet rudely told that her decision was final and she would not reconsider it.

I’ve had several weeks to chill out about this whole experience and I am still pissed off about it. There is not one national park in America who has these ridicules rules set in place. They do not open the park until after sunrise. They shut the park down at sunset. And if you want permission to stay later, you have to fill out a form and pay an extra $50 per extra hour beyond or before the parks normal hours. This is blatant extortion.

My final advice is to not visit White Sands National Monument, but rather head on to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado. Sure the sand dunes are not white. But they tower over 700 feet tall and allow plenty of camping. It’s a park for the people. White Sands is a rip off full of incompetent staff who could care less if you want to explore more of the park. The state of New Mexico needs to do something about this. And believe me, I have nicer and more professional letters written. It will be sent out to governors as well as state and federal officials over this whole experience. I have been to almost every National Park during my travels and White Sands National Monument is the worst National Park in America.

Ribbons of Living Water
A collection of waterfalls.

Waterfalls from America, Brazil and Canada.

Ribbons of Living Water by Keith Kapple | Make Your Own Book