[You may view a map of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in PDF format.]

We got up around our normal time. It was clear and 33°F (0.5°C) outside. I had my usual breakfast and did some things online, then we left in the Jeep around 8:50.

We headed east on the Burr Trail road and stopped to photograph the moon after leaving Long Canyon (left). The juniper in the foreground was at the top of one ridge about half the distance away as the white ridge with the moon behind it. Because I was using a long focal length (300mm), I made two captures (one focussed on the juniper and one focussed on the white ridge) and then combined them in Photoshop to have the whole scene in focus. Making the mask to separate the two images was extremely labor-intensive because of the small branches on the juniper, and I'm not sure I'll rush out and make another image like that any time soon.

We continued heading east, then turned around at the boundary of Capitol Reef National Park.
After descending into Long Canyon, we stopped several times to photograph the wonderful canyon walls with interesting objects in the foreground. In the image to the left, the large dead juniper trunk provided a nice foreground.

We returned to the RV around 12:10 just long enough to clean up and pack up our computers. We left again in the Jeep around 12:20.

Bossy, our new-to-us Garmin nüvi 765t GPS, didn't know about the Post Office in Boulder, nor did it understand the street address I had for it, so we stopped at the Boulder Mesa Restaurant to ask for directions.
We made it to the Post Office in Boulder around 12:35 and I picked up the lightly used Canon EOS 1D Mk IV camera body that I bought from a seller on FredMiranda.com. The Post Office closes at 1:00 on weekdays, and I had hoped to be able to pick it up yesterday, but the laundry took forever!

We went to the Boulder Mesa Restaurant around 12:45 for lunch. I ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger and J got a BLT (again). The burger was delicious and J liked the BLT. I had a slice of Cajun Blueberry Pie for dessert. I had to ask before I ordered it because I was expecting "Cajun" to imply "blackened," and I couldn't imagine having "blackened blueberry pie." The pie had a regular crust, then uncooked blueberries in a cream filling, then crushed pecans on top, and it was fantastic!

We went to the Boulder Mountain Lodge around 1:40 to see if we could use their Wi-Fi network, and the friendly woman at the desk not only said we could but suggested that we could go set up in their common room. We went there, and the room was filled with large prints by nature photographer David Pettit, and I was quite impressed by some of his images. The Wi-Fi signal wasn't really strong enough for us to use in the common room, which is in a different building than the office, so we went back into the office and went online from there. I worked up a blog entry and did some other things online. We left around 3:05.

We headed back towards the RV and stopped to photograph at a large white sandstone hill/mound with some nice clouds behind it. Unfortunately, the clouds became obscured by the hill/mound as we headed up it to get close to the "cones" near the top. So, I focussed on the white hill/mound itself and found a great dead juniper trunk and root to put in the foreground (below left).

We headed into Long Canyon and stopped to photograph a large yellow cottonwood against the red rock wall with wonderful warm light reflecting from the opposite side of the narrow canyon (above right).

We returned to the RV around 6:10 and I downloaded the images I took today.

I had dinner of lunch stuff around 6:25 then took a shower after the water was hot. (We usually only run our hot water heater right before we take a shower so that we don't have to consume propane to keep the water in the hot water heater tank hot all day long.) I downselected the images I took today then opened up my new-to-me Canon EOS 1D Mk IV camera body. I was shocked that the repair order from Canon had been included in the box (the seller had sent it in for routine cleaning and to find out the number of shutter actuations), and Canon said they replaced a broken focusing screen that the seller hadn't mentioned. I opened up the box for the body, and it looked like it was brand new except for a minor scuff on the battery housing — just like the pictures of it. I tested it out and it seemed to work OK, then I set it up to work the way I like it.

I looked at some Multicam camo pants. Yes, I'm back looking at camo stuff because I haven't been able to find any APECS Trousers in MARPAT Woodland. My Cabela's Rain Suede Dry-Plus Packable Pants picked up some sticky vegetation this morning, and I'm still working on getting the tiny pieces of it off the pants. I don't think the APECS Trousers would have picked them up. Multicam is the pattern that was recently adopted by the US Army for use in Afghanistan because the ACUPAT (Army Combat Uniform PATtern) was ineffective there. Multicam is supposed to reflect the colors of its surroundings, and photos submitted by "impartial users" on the official Multicam website seem to indicate that it blends in well in a variety of environments. It's particularly attractive because it's possible to buy new waterproof garments with that pattern, whereas the APECS Trousers in MARPAT Woodland can't be ordered new by civilians. I had discounted Multicam two months ago because I thought the white "bird droppings" would stick out like a sore thumb, however they didn't appear unusual in the images on the Multicam website.

While looking at comparisons of various camo patterns online, I came across Optifade which was developed by W.L. Gore of Gore-Tex fame. Their website says:
Waterproof, breathable clothing in Optifade is available, but it's pricey. The way I use camo is also a factor. I mostly use it because it's a "natural" looking color for a waterproof jacket and pants so I don't stand out like a sore thumb while photographing wildlife. The camo itself is useful to make me harder for other photographers and also animals to see. However, J's usually with me and doesn't have a camo outfit, so I'd rather get the cheaper APECS Trousers in MARPAT Woodland, or maybe some similarly-priced pants in Multicam, instead of shelling out even more money for something in Optifade.