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Up at 4:30am and out the door by 5:30am in Tusayan, just a few miles outside of the South gate, we can already see the sunlight painting the underbellies of the clouds.  This should be a good sunrise!

Hickman Bridge is just few miles into the Park.  The day is predicted to be hot, so an early start on a short trail that involves a steep climb is a good choice

The Cohab Canyon Trail begins with an immediate ascent of 440' straight up through the Moenkopi and Chinle Formations. The day is already warm at 8 a.m.  One step at a time!

 

It's always a good idea to take a photo of the trail map--just in case there's any confusion along the way.

The trail starts off straight uphill!

And then levels off to a lovely ramble into the forest.

I wish you could hear the variety of bird calls.

Not long into the hike, we start paralleling a stream.

Arizona Honeysuckle.

After crossing the stream a steep climb.

And a look back.  The first mile of the trail is simply beautiful with wildflowers and ferns.

Seep Monkeyflower grows all along the creek.

Follow Stan for more uphill.

After a while, we emerge into an open area which was burned by the Aspen Fire some years ago.  These trees are some of the survivors.  

Finally at the top of the rise, we come to a junction of several trails; Mint Spring, AZ Trail, and the Aspen Loop.  We'll take the Aspen Loop trail after having lunch on this convenient log.

The birds here are very comfortable around people and they're probably accustomed to gleaning crumbs from lunches.  Here, a little white-breasted nuthatch inspects our poles.

On our way to a very different portion of the trail.  From here, we get some long views all the way to the Santa Ritas.

And long hills, too.  Along the dry, seeming inhospitable margins of this trail were some of the sweetest, determined wildflowers.

Bluets

Richardson's geranium. 

The trail bends toward shady forest again as we start heading downhill back to the car.

The final stretch.

Stan was ahead of me a good deal of the time because I dawdle taking photos.  The lot was empty when we arrived early this morning.  I didn't mention that the road to the trailhead was closed and we needed to take a very twisty and hilly detour through Summerhaven's residential area.  On our way back through, we came upon just the perfect stop--

Two little girls, Grace and Ruthie, were selling chocolate chip cookies.  I bought two and we had the most delightful conversation.  A perfect end to a perfectly fun hike!

It was a very windy day.  There was a veil of dust, or smoke, we weren't quite sure as we drove into Cave Creek Canyon

The morning was clear and cold.  Winds whipped with gusts up to 20 mph.  Not a fun day to paint outdoors, so I checked in with the staff at the Geology Museum to see if I might set up indoors.  The Museum has huge windows revealing an expansive view of the Canyon.  

I decided my first painting would be of Skeleton Point.  The shadows would remain pretty constant and give me time to get a "warm-up" painting in.  It was a different experience painting behind windows!

I had plenty of time to start a second painting.  I decided to take a narrow view of just a portion of Skeleton Point.  By now the building was full of visitors.  I don't mind people watching and I really enjoy interacting with them.  There were many families with young children visiting on this day.  

When I realize that a child is watching intently I will turn to them and ask, "are you a painter, too?"  They almost always nod and say they like to paint.  Even if they tell me they can't paint, I invite them to help me with some portion of my canvas.  Here, Luna helps paint a little bit of Pipe Creek.  She even gave me a bit of advice on painting some of the vegetation!

After a midday break, I set up once again, this time with a small canvas.  I had immediate interest from young children, so I let this little girl help paint Plateau Point.

Elena worked on the shadows.

Just look at that intense focus!

A little later, I thought I'd have time to start a fourth one.  Gil and her family were watching, so I put my vest on Gil and gave her a brush.

A look back at her mom for approval.

I didn't catch this young lady's name, but she had fun.

By late afternoon I had a line-up of kids wanting to give it a try.  The painting didn't resemble much of the original intent, but that didn't matter.  

Unai was visiting with his mother and aunt from the Basque region of Spain.  He finished up the painting with incredible focus.  As I was cleaning up my equipment and starting to pack it away, he returned with a small notepad and proudly showed me some of the drawings he'd done.  They were good.  We had a discussion about how light moves across the formations in the Canyon.  

One just never knows when a brief experience such as "helping" a painter with their canvas, might be a life-changing experience for a young child.  Think about an experience you might have had in your youth that sent your focus to what you are doing and enjoying today as an adult.   I would love to know your thoughts and experiences!

Here are all the lucky gals to have been chosen for this year's event.

Meet Molly and her dog Mojo.  And you already recognize Stan.

Because I am constantly taking photos, I usually lag behind.  This is a chilly morning and even the birds are just starting to o wake up. By the way, if it looks as though I tilted my cell phone camera, you'll notice that the trail is level along with Stan and Molly,  The trees seemed to be leaning toward the sun in this narrow canyon.

The first of several stream crossings.

It pays to look up now and then.  Part of the beauty of this trail are the towering cliffs and changing colors in the rock.

And now and then one needs to look behind.  As we crossed the creek once more, this scene was waiting to be noticed.

Sometimes narrow; sometimes broad and open, this is a fun trail.

One more stream crossing.  This is where the poles can come in handy.

My SEEK app identified this as Penny Cress.

New Mexican Groundsel

We reach a spot where we evaluate whether or not we want to get our boots wet on this cold morning.  

"The Bathtub" is a fine terminus to this trail.  

The hike back out is just as pretty.  Take your time and listen to the bird calls.  You may even meet a few birders on the way!

Here's John in a typical pose with brush poised either for the next stroke, or emphasizing a point he made earlier in the day.

This painting of John's is a good example of what he taught about painting trees.  

Look for the mass and simplify the scene.  Don't try and paint each individual tree.  

There is always a "dark hole", an area that is the darkest dark amid the foliage.  Can you find that in his painting?

Find where the sunlight lightens  the foliage but hold back on painting it too bright.  Save just a few spots of brightest bright to paint where the foliage turns toward the sun.  You'll see that he applies some spare dots of palest yellow on the cottonwood tree crest.

Just as with distant landforms turning bluer and grayer the farther away they become, so it is with anything that rises high overhead.  Whether it's a tall building, a tree, or a towering cliff, adding a little blue as the subject rises will make it seem to tower overhead.  Just as with distance, there is more atmosphere between you and the top of the subject.  Warm wavelengths (red, yellow orange) are bounced out by dust, water vapor, whatever is floating in the air.  Paint those colors warm at the bottom; cool toward the top. In the painting above, I popped a little rusty orange under the tree to communicate light bouncing off the ground and onto the underside of the tree  That is also where you can find the dark hole.  As the foliage turns toward the sunlight, in this case it is lightened and warmed just a bit with yellows.  If it was closer, I would likely try to have put more blue into the top of the tree.  The next might be a better example, however.

Two principles are at work in this painting.  The saguaro is "blued" as it rises and warmed with a bit of orange at the bottom and on the undersides of the cactus arms.  

John also taught another important principle and that is painting shadows.  Shadows are not just dark; they communicate a lot of information and need to "agree" with the surrounding color.  Whatever the "local color" of the ground is, mix a little lavender/purple in if it is afternoon or evening.  If it is to be morning shadows mix in a little blue with possibly a hint of green.  

Take a look at John's website and enjoy how he sees the natural world!

You've met friends Kathi and Dean in other hikes.  We're going to tackle Maiden Pools today.  The first part is fairly level, then the "fun" begins.