Benjamin Zack Photography: August 2013

Friday, August 30, 2013

Brush Creek Caves

Last weekend I had a chance to explore Little Brush Creek and Big Brush Creek Caves in Eastern Utah. Little Brush is the longest cave in the state at around 5 miles in length, though we were only exploring part of it. Big Brush is a bit shorter, but an absolute maze (and in my opinion, it was my favorite cave of the weekend.) After the last few posts, these will be my last cave photos for a while. Enjoy.

Big Brush Creek Cave
©Benjamin Zack, 2013

Little Brush Creek Cave
©Benjamin Zack, 2013

Big Brush Creek Cave
©Benjamin Zack, 2013

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Leaving the Cave

I spent last weekend with cavers from around Utah and Colorado exploring some of the underside of the Eastern Utah. I'll have more photos form the trip in a day or two, but for now I wanted to at least share this image that I shot while leaving Big Brush Creek Cave.

Big Brush Creek Cave. ©Benjamin Zack, 2013

By coincidence, while I was out on the caving campout, I had photos and an article on Northern Utah caves published. You can see highlights here.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Tony Grove Caves

I recently had the good luck to get to work on a story on cave research in Northern Utah. After planning and training for over a month, I went out on a research trip a couple weeks ago. You can read about the trip and see a brief video as well. There are also more photos in a wider slideshow.

John Cox, JR Schenk, and Kirsten Bahr (l-r) explore the ice-filled Heaven's Gate Cave in Cache County on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. Bahr, a geology graduate student at USU, is measuring caves in the region as part of her master's thesis project. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

Kirsten Bahr prepares to descend into Heaven's Gate Cave in Cache County on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. The Tony Grove area east of Logan is filled with caves ranging from large open pits to small cracks in the cliffs. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

John Cox watches as Kirsten Bahr begins the climb out of Black Crack Cave in Cache County on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. The main branch of the cave is a narrow 190 foot drop. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

Kirsten Bahr makes notes on a map of Black Crack Cave on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

John Cox squeezes out of the exit of Black Crack Cave in Cache County on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. After almost 200 feet of climbing, Cox and the other cavers have to work through a tight and difficult crack just feet from the entrance. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

Kirsten Bahr, right, examines a map of the ice-filled Heaven's Gate Cave while John Cox, left, and JR Schenk look around on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. Despite the summer heat, the temperature in the cave remains in the low 30's year round. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

John Cox, JR Schenk, and Kirsten Bahr (l-r) take a break after exploring Black Crack Cave before hiking to the nearby Heaven's Gate Cave in Tony Grove on Wednesday, August, 14, 2013. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Moonlit Fire

I was out photographing the State Fire yesterday on the Utah/Idaho border. I was getting ready to leave as fire crews began a burnout operation. I moved down the road a bit and was able to get this shot of the moon as the fire reached the mouth of Portage Canyon.