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

We got up around our usual time, and it was clear and 37°F (3°C) outside. I had my normal breakfast then worked up a blog entry. I did some computer work then prepped the RV to move. When J went out to take a picture of our campsite, she saw that I forgot to stow the solar-electric panels — oops! I stowed the panels before we got underway around 10:40.

We headed to Boulder then took UT-12 south.

We went to the Calf Creek Campground around 11:25. A sign said the campground isn't suited for vehicles over 25 ft (7.6m), but we were able to get a nice site for our 29-ft (8.8m) RV. It was about the only site suited for such a large vehicle and also a towed vehicle.

I had lunch of Clif Bars around 12:05 because we've run out of ham for a sandwiches. I processed images for a stock submission and J left around 12:35 to start hiking to Lower Calf Creek Falls. It's 3 miles (4.8km) one way, and a lot more real hiking than we've done in a long time. I continued processing images for a stock submission, then started to hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls myself around 1:55.

Dark clouds had moved in since we arrived, and I was worried that I had waited too long to head out.

I reached Lower Calf Creek Falls around 2:50, and the mostly-solid cloud cover was perfect for photography. Plus, the sun had moved far enough to the west so that the falls and the nice pool below them were shaded by the high sandstone cliffs. The wind had picked up, and it caused the spray to be blown way beyond the pool, so I had to wait for a break in the wind to compose and take my shots. Because of the spray, I just couldn't get excited about photographing the falls and pretty much just took a standard, here-are-the-falls, shot (left). I used a polarizer to remove most of the reflection from the wet walls. J and I started heading back around 3:30 when it started to rain lightly.

The rain let up after bit, then it started again and got heavier. J suggested that I could go ahead, and I gladly took her up on it. I generally walk faster than J, and hiking at her pace is uncomfortable for me.

I returned to the RV around 4:45 just as the rain stopped and the clouds started to break up revealing some nice blue sky above. J returned around 4:55. I downloaded the images I took then took a shower. J took a shower while I downselected the images from today.

We had dinner around 6:10 of leftover, and frozen, J's Quick-Cooking Chicken with Mushrooms and Onions, biscuits, and green beans.
After dinner, I processed some images for a stock submission (left) and prepared the 23 images that were selected from my previous submission. Yes, my editor selected a whopping 23 images out of the 200 that I had sent him. That's probably the fewest images he has ever selected, and it was a bit discouraging. We turned on the generator around 8:40 for about half an hour while I processed more images for a stock submission.