Having learned from my adventure with the Gorillapod at Bryce, I decided to schlep my Manfrotto tripod along the trails in Zion. I figured out a way to make it fit reasonably well in my backpack, so I jammed it in there and plodded along. How happy I was to have done so when the boys and I reached the lower Emerald Pools, where water falls over a (I’ve run out of superlatives, so I’m pretty sure I’m repeating myself) fantastic grotto into the lower pools. When we arrived at midday, the sun was just about to pass over the edge and shine onto the trail, which actually goes behind the waterfall. I was fascinated by the sharp glow of the sunlight refracting on what was left of the waterfall at midsummer.

I had to orient the camera vertically, point it nearly straight up in the sky, and swab water spray off the lens between shots. The head on my tripod didn’t allow me to crank the camera angle that high without flipping the mount around on my camera body and pointing the vertical handle on the tripod away from me. All this while other hikers were squirming around me on the trail. It was kind of funny because as they passed by and saw the tripod, several hikers thought they were stepping into my field. The would gasp and politely apologize, and I would tell them it’s OK, since the subject was 80 feet over their heads.