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Post by htmb on Sept 22, 2014 20:27:18 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 22, 2014 20:51:27 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 22, 2014 21:23:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2014 2:02:32 GMT
Thank you for showing me that not all of Arizona is flat, arid desert, htmb!
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Post by fumobici on Sept 23, 2014 3:51:38 GMT
Lotsa good eye candy. Looks like a great time to visit Flagstaff, where I haven't been in a very long time and which looks pretty as ever.
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Post by htmb on Sept 23, 2014 4:15:55 GMT
Lotsa good eye candy. Looks like a great time to visit Flagstaff, where I haven't been in a very long time and which looks pretty as ever. Fumobici, you may remember the last time I was in Flagstaff I went looking for elk and you made a few comments about hearing them bugle. Not only did I not see an elk, but I didn't even get to hear them call out. Well, this trip I was the one of our group who first spotted a huge bull elk AND I got to hear lots of bugling back forth. Just had to tell you about my excitement! Thanks, Lizzy. Yes, the mountainous part of Arizona is pretty interesting.
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Post by htmb on Sept 23, 2014 5:33:33 GMT
Our search for elk began late in the afternoon when we headed east in the direction of New Mexico. Looking through the rear window I could see the San Francisco peaks looming over. Flagstaff. We exited the highway near the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino and began our drive across Navajo reservation land. I thought this road was rough, but it was nothing compared to what was just up ahead. We only saw a handful of vehicles on the reservation road. Off in the distance the San Francisco Peaks were still on the horizon.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2014 5:49:27 GMT
Ah, the wonderful Navajo reservation which reminded me of Europe -- the prices in the store were the exact prices that you paid, because there was no sales tax.
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Post by htmb on Sept 23, 2014 6:31:23 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2014 11:01:53 GMT
Well, you certainly got close to nature. I am unhappy on just about any unpaved road. Oddly enough, when driving myself, I never got in trouble in places like the American Southwest or South Africa, but when being taken places by so-called professional drivers, I have spent hours stuck in mud pits in Kenya and Cambodia.
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Post by htmb on Sept 23, 2014 14:07:56 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 23, 2014 16:09:19 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 23, 2014 22:47:08 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Sept 23, 2014 23:22:00 GMT
I like it when burnt areas grow back in lushly like that. Beautiful country isn't it?
The trick to good low light photos is to, first, stop and get out of the car then use a tripod (even a tiny bendy 4 dollar one like the privateers sell at tourist traps) or at least steady the camera on something solid. If the camera has a night setting this won't hurt either. Also take dozens, many will be horrid anyway seen on a proper monitor.
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 2:59:07 GMT
I'm sure you are right, but I need to garner a bit more patience before I can practice night shots with a tripod.
As it was, all but about four of the "elk" photos were taken through the windshield of a bouncing truck as we traveled across the rough terrain.
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 12:51:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2014 14:21:26 GMT
Makes you want to pitch a tent and light a campfire rather than driving back to the city.
When I saw the burned trees, I knew that it was not a controlled burn, because the point is nearly always to just burn the underbrush, and that just scorches the trees a little bit, whereas these trees were all killed.
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 14:46:47 GMT
Of course, as it turned out, the only successful wildlife photographs I took were those of the large hawk. As we drove along I scanned the road to the front and the right of us looking for elk. At one point my eyes locked with those of the largest elk I could ever have imagined. He was standing very still in a cluster of junipers. He had a huge rack of antlers and looked as big as a large horse. My camera was on and ready, but by the time I could raise it up to snap a photo he was gone.
There were at least three elk in that group, but others were about and we heard the males bugling many times once the sky turned into night. We also saw many huge jackrabbits and tiny field mice crossing the beams of the truck headlights as we worked our way back to the paved road in the dark.
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 19:27:07 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 19:48:57 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 20:07:46 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 20:58:47 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 24, 2014 23:11:19 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 25, 2014 16:27:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2014 17:15:08 GMT
Even in Europe they have never been able to decide what is the least bad thing to put on icy roads -- salt, chemicals, grit, sand... The last two can clogs the sewers, so they are mostly used on rural highways and autoroutes. Salt is still used in most of the cities, because at least it dissolves and there is enough rainfall so there is not too much of a risk of a saline buildup. As for the chemicals, I have mostly come across them in Germany, and they stink pretty bad. I have no idea whether they pose any danger to the environment.
As for the look of Flagstaff, that is pretty much how I remember it, even though my stopover was extremely short. Lots of high end and quirky places, sort of like the Arizona version of Palm Springs.
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Post by htmb on Sept 25, 2014 19:54:51 GMT
Quirky, maybe, but I would disagree with the term "high end." I believe all the places I featured in my downtown photos are inexpensive combination hostel motels and they look to be really dated. While there are a handful of chain motels in another section of town featuring Rodeway, Fairfield Inn-type places, I cannot recall seeing any resorts in the area. The casino on the Navajo Reservation may be fancy, but it's way out of town and is not considered part of Flagstaff. For visitors, Flagstaff is typically a stop-off to somewhere else, mainly the Grand Canyon or Sedona.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2014 20:16:02 GMT
Perhaps I am wrong, but just the fact that it is a "tourist town" makes it high end in a way. I know that I paid at least double for accommodations there compared to the other towns where I stopped. And those other towns certainly did not have vegetarian restaurants or fancy looking bars, not to mention places that look like they might be a coffee house with hot tubs.
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Post by htmb on Sept 25, 2014 20:29:11 GMT
Photos, mostly from one downtown street (San Francisco), do not make a tourist town, Kerouac, though I'm sure there must be many visitors here in the winter who come up from Phoenix for the skiing. I recently had dinner in one of the pizza places in my photos and the only people I saw were locals, many of whom had just come from a nearby youth meeting. I would certainly love to know where you stayed when you were here. Too bad you missed the cheap part of town. I thought you had a better nose for the inexpensive places.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2014 21:10:38 GMT
It's been a long time since I was there, but I just enjoyed reading the Wikitravel information about the city. Sounds like a nice place until you read the "Stay safe" section.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 25, 2014 21:53:27 GMT
MY only stay in Flagstaff was definitely in a "danger area". It was OK though because I hooked up with some nice Navajo who took good care of me.
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