into the labyrinth
a backcountry exploration of lake powell
The Orion constellation rising over Reflection Canyon during an early morning in the Fall.
When and where?
October 1-5 Exploring the backcountry beauty of Lake Powell based out of Page, Arizona.
overview
Welcome to our first NON PHOTOGRAPHY trip, where we are utilizing our expert guiding knowledge to tour you around to amazing spots with out the stress of “getting the shot”, but focusing on immersion in soul touching beauty, challenging but fun adventures, and the physical and spiritual benefits of being in nature.
Spend 4 nights with Derek Culver and a small group of like-minded nature and adventure lovers exploring and capturing the backcountry wonders of Lake Powell! You can join us on a pontoon boat and 4x4 rigs as we tour you around into the backcountry of Arizona/Utah to the backcountry beaches, colorful sandstone canyons, and wonders deep in the Labyrinth of Lake Powell. We provide all transportation, food, and guiding as we have created a special itinerary guiding you into the backcountry beauty of Lake Powell with fun adventures, scenic boat rides and drives, and an immersive camping experience in peaceful and pristine natural wonders with a group of like-minded adventures.
difficulty: 3/5
The backcountry of Lake Powell is an austere place, often times you can expect relaxing lake and desert enjoyment but this comes with higher UV climate that is prone to switching quickly between extreme temperatures, high winds, and other shenanigans. We keep you safe and well fed, but expect some discomforts. We love to cowboy camp under the stars, swim, hike to catch nice sunsets, have deep conversations, and is perfect for those looking safely enjoy extremely remote wilderness with a group of like-minded adventure and nature lovers. We recommend this trip for those who are interested in challenging themselves for extremely rewarding adventures and adding to their life story.
Words will never do this place justice! We’ll spend most of a day eating lunch, swimming, and enjoying this remarkable spring fed waterfall and canyon that feeds into Lake Powell.
Itinerary
We will meet in Page, Arizona on Saturday October 2 at 11am.
what will you learn & difficulty
This workshop is great intermediate to advanced night photographers and adventurers who crave an extremely unique astrophotography adventure. You must be able to hike on uneven surfaces for about 3 miles (only 1 time) with some of your camera gear. We will be teaching fundamentals to night photography from planning your shot, focusing, and proper settings all the way to blending images, using star trackers, and stacking images!
Lodging
We will be camping on pristine backcountry beaches on Lake Powell! We provide all the comfortable backcountry camping gear, meals, water, and snacks you will need for the duration of the trip. Pack it in, pack it out: we do bathroom runs to the floating bathrooms on Lake Powell but also carry an emergency toilet set up (with discreet wagbags) for any untimely calls of nature!
Logistics
We handle all the complex logistics and guiding so you can focus on enjoying the immense beauty and learning the art of photography. This includes shuttling from airports, all boating logistics, and 4x4 transportation to Alstrom Point, and mostly involves you relaxing on an extremely comfortable and premium pontoon boat while you enjoy the scenery! If you fly in and out of Page or Flagstaff, both in Arizona, we can pick you up early on the 30th and drop you off on the 2nd.
workshop cost & payment terms
The tuition for this workshop is $3,750 total, with a non-refundable deposit of $750 to reserve a spot. The remaining total balance of the workshop is due 2 months before the workshop starts. Alumni discounted cost is $3,000 total, with a $500 deposit to reserve your spot, with the discount applied when the remaining workshop balance is collected!
ITINERARY
Please email us with any questions regarding logistics, lodging, etc- derek@blazingheavens.com
We will meet in Page, Arizona at 9am on Thursday September 18th and finish on Sunday September 21st at 9am after sunrise at Alstrom Point (About 1 hour 45 minutes from Page).
Day 1
We will load up on our badass Pontoon boat at 10am and head out into the Lake all day. Exploring and stopping at several canyons, arches, natural bridges, and swim spots on the way to our backcountry beach campground for the first night.
We have comfortable backcountry camping set ups for every one, but you can elect to “Cowboy Camp” like this with no tent under the stars! It’s an amazing experience out on Lake Powell with the warm weather, calm lake, and dark night skies.
day 2
We will sleep in a bit on our pristin backcountry beach, have breakfast and coffee, then head out to explore an epic waterfall canyon and swim spot! We explore most of the morning then take late lunch, relaxing swim, some photos, and nap inside the shade of this arm of the Escalante River! From here we will then go explore Reflection Canyon. We will head deep into Reflection Canyon to the sneaky “backdoor” way up to the top of the Canyon. If it isn’t too windy, we will cowboy camp up on top of the canyons. Otherwise we have a 2 mile 700 foot elevation (total) hike up for sunset and then later on for the Milky Way rising over the canyon.
day 3
We will shoot sunset, astro, and sunrise up at Reflection Canyon! It’s one of my favorite places on Earth and we completely skip the typical 16 mile grueling hike and have easy boat access. After sunrise, coffee and breakfast, we will begin our boat ride back to Page. We have all day and can revisit spots or explore a few random canyons together.
Once back in Page around 12-2pm, we will grab lunch, shower/clean up, and get an editing session in. We will be 4x4ing you up to the magnificent Alstrom Point this evening where we will be enjoying a sunset dinner overlooking Lake Powell! We will sleep a bit, then wake back up for astrophotography lessons to shoot the Milky Way galaxy rising over the lake and focus on panoramas and clean tracked shots here! If you have the energy, we will shoot sunrise here as well.
The Milky Way rising over Lake Powell about 5 steps from my tent at Alstrom Point. (I cowboy camped with out a tent but you get it)
day 4 - Sunday september 21st
The trip officially ends at 9am after sunrise- we’ll be able to sleep in a bit but we’ll make sure every one gets back to the airports on time and grab breakfast on our way out! We recommend booking your flight after 11am out of Page. If you are flying out of Flagstaff then we recommend later in the afternoon on the 21st. We follow up the workshop with custom editing videos using the images we captured together as well and a zoom editing session.
Keep an eye out for alumni discounts at future workshops as well as our annual alumni star party!