Written 2025-02

If you’ve found your way to this article, it is probably due to problems you are having with the cloud sync process with Lightroom.  While there are many blogs and videos on how to unstick images stuck in the sync process as well as how to deal with other Lightroom cloud sync issues, sometimes it is just easier to throw in the towel and start the whole cloud sync thing over again from a clean Cloud slate.  That’s what this article is about.

Assumptions and warnings

1. Assumption:  I assume that your sync process is stuck or otherwise dead in the water.  Therefore these instructions do not include syncing anything before clearing the cloud
2. Warning:  Recent edits done in Lr/Cloud that had not synced to LrC are quite difficult to deal with in this scenario and may required re-doing.  But hopefully there won’t be too many.

Backup your catalog

No matter how careful you are, unexpected things can happen.  Even if you are working with Adobe Tech Support, they too make errors.  Therefore it is a good idea to take out some insurance before you start - just in case”.

I suggest copying ALL the files/folders relevant to your catalog to another folder not just the “.lrcat”, and “.lrcat-data” files you get in the backups produced by LrC itself.

10 Win Files to backup

Change/Clear the LR/Cloud Sync Folder

This is the folder, specified in “Preferences -> Lightroom Sync”, and is where the sync process places images which originated in one of the Lr/Cloud apps.

08 LrC - Set Download folder

If you are still using the default shipped with LrC, that folder is “Mobile Downloads.lrdata” (not shown in the preferences dialog) and is in the same folder as the catalog.  But it is not a regular folder with images (on Mac’s it is a package).  Rather it is in a special format and only really usable by LrC.

I suggest telling LrC to use a real folder instead as it can make life later on easier.  Even though we want to start fresh, there may be images in this folder which have previously synced down from LR/Cloud prior to your sync problems.  Because of this, select “Move” in the dialog shown below which you’ll get when you change it to a real (or different) folder.

07 LrC - Move Mobile Downloads confirmation

Once it’s a real folder, if it has any images in it, those are real images that originated in LR/Cloud.  Copy them to other folders where they would have gone had you originally imported them directly into LrC.  Whenever images show up in this folder I either move or delete them.  In other words this folder acts like a ‘to do’ list for new images originating in LR/Cloud. 

However, others just leave their Lr/Cloud originals in this folder which is fine as well.

Save recently imported LR/Cloud originals

Depending on your situation, you may have LR/Cloud original images that never made it down to LrC through the sync process.  As we are going to clear all images from LR/Cloud you may want to save these (with their edits) first.

Images that originated in LrC are still in your catalog, which you just backed up, and those physical image files should also still be in your disk file system as well so we don’t need to worry about those.  Here’s how to grab those LR/Cloud originals that may not have synced down to LrC.  Do this using the Lr/Desktop app (I’m not sure if other LR/Cloud apps have all the necessary features).

1. In LrC, Pause syncing if it is active
   01 LRC Pause Syncing
2. Switch over to LR/D (LR/Cloud Desktop app)
3. Select “All Photos”
4. Create a new Album called “Lr Originals” and copy all images to it
5. With “Lr Originals” selected, set the filter for: Sync status -> Synced from Lightroom Classic
   03 LR - Synced from LrC Filter
6. Remove all images still showing after applying the filter
7. Turn the filter off
8. The remaining images are LR/Cloud originals.
9. Depending on when your syncing issue started, most of the images still in this album may have already synced down to LrC in which case we don’t have to save them from LR/Cloud before clearing the cloud (see next section for saving images with recent edits).  Unfortunately there is no filter that will show which ones have or have not synced down to LrC.  So, in order to remove ones from this album that have already synced to LrC, we will have to use the date where your sync issues started.  You can rely on your recollection of when your syncing problem started or you can manually compare images in LR/Cloud with those in LrC and see where new LR/Cloud images stopped showing up in LrC and come up with a date.
   
   Still in LR/D, sort the grid by Import Date (newest on top).
   11 LR sort by Import date
   
   In the grid, if you click on an image with the “info” panel open on the right it will show you the capture date but there is no place in LR/D that I know of where it will show you the import date.  But you can hopefully figure out where Lr/Cloud originals are not present in LrC
   04 LR Capture Date
   
   On in LR/iOS or LR/Android, you can select an “album” called “Imports” and segment it by day.  Then scroll to the date you want and see what images were imported on that day.  Back in LR/D scroll through the album we’re working with looking for that image.
10. Remove all the images that had already synced down to LrC from this album.  You can also remove any other images you don’t care about, or for other reasons don’t need.
11. Export what’s left in this album to disk so that you can later re-import them either to LR/Cloud or LrC after you clear the cloud. 
    
    Use menu “File -> Export”. Then select “Original + Settings” as Image Type.  And “Original” as File Name.  Then click the blue “Export xx Photos” button and in the popup navigate and create a new folder for these images (perhaps name it “Originals from LR”).  This will save the current edit state of the image with the images (but not the edit history)
    05 LR Export Originals

Save images recently edited in LR/Cloud

The next group of images you may want to save out of LR/Cloud before clearing it are images edited in LR/Cloud where those edits had not synced to LrC.  This is only useful if you do edits in the Lr/Cloud apps.  Again depending on when your sync problems started, most edits have already synced to LrC.  However edits done after your problem started may not have synced down to LrC.  Those are the ones we’re after.

1. In LR/Desktop select all photos
2. Filter by Edited-= yes
3. Create a new album called “My Edits” containing the filtered images in the grid (those with “edited = Yes”).
4. Go to album “My Edits”
5. Sort grid by Modified date in reverse order (most recently edited on top)
   06 LR Sort by Mod date
6. Now you need to go to Lr/iOS or Lr/Android on your phone or tablet as this is not available in Lr/Desktop or Lr/Web (go figure)
7. Select album “My edits” rather than All Photos
8. Use the 3 dot menu to segment the grid by day
   01 LRM Segmented grid
9. Scroll down to the day where your system stopped syncing properly
10. Make a note of the last image from the last day when syncing was working well
11. Now go back to Lr/Desktop and with the grid sorted by modified date in descending order (new on top) scroll down to that same photo
12. Remove all the images with earlier modified dates from the album.
13. What we’re left with are images that were modified since your sync problem started.  What we don’t know (and I don’t know who to find out) is whether the most recent modifications were done in LR/Cloud or in LrC.  So we’ll just have to export all of them.
14. Select all the photos left in the album and export them to an appropriately named folder on your system using “originals + Settings”.
    05 LR Export Originals
    If some of these images originated in LrC, then Lr/Cloud will only have an SP (Smart Preview) available to export.  In this case you’ll get a warning message as shown below
    09 LR SP will export

CLEAR ENTIRE CLOUD

Now that we’ve exported images that were imported into LR/Cloud and possibly never synced to LrC and also exported images in LR/Cloud that were modified after the date when sync stopped working we can proceed to clear the cloud.

1. If you’ve been following along, you already took a new backup of your catalog.  If you did not, do it now as described above in the “Backup your catalog” section.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  I suggest copying ALL the files/folders relevant to your catalog not just the “.lrcat” and “.lrcat-data” files you get in the backups produced by LrC itself
2. In addition, if you haven’t performed the other steps described so far, this would be a good time to look them over and run the ones pertinent to your situation.
3. LrC: Pause sync if it is active
   01 LRC Pause Syncing
4. LrC: If you don’t care about the URL’s for shared/public collections or being able to refresh Adobe Portfolio galleries, put a color label on all your synced collections and un-sync them (this maintains their images but looses attachment to Adobe Cloud for that collection)
   
   If you do care, then instead duplicate each synced collection (including the images) into a non-synced collection and leave the original collections as synced.  If the synced collections are in a collection set you can duplicate the entire collection set all at once by right clicking on it and selecting “Duplicate Collection Set”.
   02 LrC Dup Collection Set
5. LrC: Create a new un-synced collection called "All Synced Copy” and copy all the images in the "All Synced Photographs" special collection to this new collection – DO NOT SYNC THIS NEW COLLECTION
6. LrC: Delete everything from the "All synced photographs" special collection.  This will also remove them from all of your synced collections (and would remove them from the Adobe Cloud if sync was working and active).
7. LrC: Close LrC and delete or rename the “<catalog name> Sync.lrdata" folder on disk.
   01 LrC Sync data file
8. Lr/Cloud: Delete all images from "All Photographs"
9. Lr/Cloud:  If you are preserving your shared/public URL’s & Portfolio links (step 4) assure that all your albums are empty.
   
   If you are not preserving you shared/public URL’s (step 4) Delete all albums
10. Lr/Cloud:  Empty the “Deleted” list
11. Lr/Cloud: Let the deletes propagate through Lr/Cloud.
12. Lr/Cloud: Check all the Lr/Cloud apps you use (Lr/Web, Lr/Desktop, Lr/iOS, etc) to assure empty.
    01 LR empty
    If you’re preserving your shared/public URL’s the albums should be there but should be empty
13. LrC: Re-open LrC and un-pause sync and wait a few minutes.  Nothing should happen.
14. LrC: If you are preserving shared/public URL’s, copy the images back to the still synced, but empty, collections from the duplicates you created in step 4.
    
    Otherwise, Turn sync on for one of your previously synced collections that had problematic images in it before
    
    That collection should sync normally.  If successful, repeat for the other collections a few at a time letting the sync complete between each set
15. When done, copy everything in "All synced copy" collection back to "All synced Photographs”.  This will re-sync any images that had been synced before but are not in any of your synced collections. If you don't care about any of those, then skip this step.  You can now delete the “All synced copy” collection.

Catching up on missed imports and edits

Now we have to deal with (as best we can) those images we exported from LrC before we cleared it.  If you recall, one set are images imported into LrC and probably never synced to LrC and the other set are images edited in either LrC or LR/cloud where LR/Cloud edits may not have made it to LrC.

As it turns out, the same image may be in both sets and the imports or edits ‘might’ have made it to LrC.

Recent LrC Imports Set

Let’s start with the Import set.  If there aren’t very many, you can just visually see if the images in the folder on disk are also in LrC.  For those that are, delete them from the disk folder.  The ones that remain in the folder need to be imported.

If you want to put the full size originals back in Lr/Cloud (consuming your paid storage), import the images remaining in the folder into one of the LR/Cloud apps.  They will sync down to LrC and be placed in whatever folder you have set in preferences like any other images imported into LR/Cloud.

If you would prefer to have only Smart Previews (free) in the cloud, then import them into LrC and then add them to a synced collection or the “All Synced Photographs” special collection. 

In either case feel free to move them to other folders as desired using the LrC Folders panel.

If there are too many to do visually follow these steps

1. In LrC import the set of images from the folder.  Unfortunatly LrC will not detect these as duplicates even if they had already synced down from LR/Cloud and are in the LrC catalog.  You can use the “Add” mode for the import which leaves them in their current folder (you can move them later).
2. In the “Previous Import” special collection in the Catalog Panel, select them all and mark them in some way.  If you’re not using the purple color label for other things, I find that works quite well.  First remove the purple color label from any images in the catalog that already have it.  Then select “previous import” and add the purple color label to those images
3. Set the grid to sort by Capture date
4. Click “All Photographs” in the catalog panel
5. Filter for only “purple” color label images
   12 LrC Filter for Purple
6. Select the first one in the grid
7. Turn the filter off
8. Now the selected image exported from Lr/Cloud (purple label) will show up right next to other images with the same capture date/time.  If one of them is the same image, delete the purple one (delete from disk, don’t just remove).  If there is no matching image then just take the purple color label off the image.
   13 LrC Match images
9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 until you’ve processed them all
10. You can now move the images to a different folder if you wish using the LrC folders Panel (you may then want to delete the now empty folder from disk using your Finder/Explorer)

Recent Edits Set

Now let’s take a look at the recent updates folder of images.  These are images from Lr/Cloud which had been edited since some date and perhaps those edits had not synced down to LrC.  This is significantly trickier as we don’t know which of those images have un-synced Lr/Cloud edits and in cases where the original came from LrC the version we exported form Lr/Cloud are only a Smart Previews – not full size original files.

One would think that you could look at various date/times in the metadata panel to determine which had the latest edits but this is not the case as the “metadata” date for all the ones coming from Lr/Cloud are the date/time of the export you just did which is not at all useful.  We also can’t look at the edit history of the two files as the one from Lr/Cloud only has one entry which is for the import. 

So, unfortunately what we are left with is to visually compare each pair of images and decide which one we like better. 

If the one from LrC is the better of the two, just delete the one from Lr/Cloud. 

However if the one from Lr/Cloud is the better version there’s no simple answer and more concerns pop up if that’s the one you want to keep.  Remember, as far as LrC is concerned the one exported from Lr/Cloud and imported into LrC is a completely different image than the original still in LrC.  Some of those concerns are publish services, collections, keywords, edit history and the fact that it may be just a Smart Preview to name a few. 

In this case, I suggest, using the one from Lr/Cloud as a reference image and then developing the LrC version to match it.  Doing it this way preserves the edit history, Publish services and collection participation, LrC keywords and keeps the full size original image rather then the Smart Preview.
14 LrC Reference View

You could also just keep them both and mark the one from Lr/Cloud with a KW or add it to a collection to identify why it’s there.

There are some ideas which I did not test that involve copying and renaming files behind LrC’s back to get the edits from the LC/cloud version  applied to the LrC version but as I didn’t test those ideas I’m reluctant to articulate them here.  I’ll come see if I can come back to this later and do those tests at which time I’ll add that info to this article.

Written Fall 2024

• Update 2025-02:
  • Updated/Corrected “Save your LR/Cloud Originals”
  • Updated  “Save your recently edited LR/Cloud Images” section
  • Other language changes to calrify topic

• V03 - Update 2025-02-20
  • Adapted the “Clear Entire Cloud” solution to consider shared/public URL’s

This is part 3 of a 3 part series concerning the sync process between Lightroom Classic (LrC), and Lightroom (Lr or Lr/Cloud) and is current as of Lr/Classic 14.0.1 and Lr/Cloud (desktop) 8.0.

Part 1 LR/Classic and LR/cloud Sync behavior discusses how various operations and commands done in Lr/Cloud and Lr/Classic affect synced images. 

Part 2 Changing Which LrC Catalog Syncs with Lr/Cloud concerns the reconciliation process between Lr/Cloud and LrC when the synced catalog is changed and many of the problems that come from that process.

Part 3 (this part) discusses options for fixing Lightroom Sync problems caused by changing the sync catalog.  This includes the dreaded “images don’t sync and can’t be made to sync” problem plus many others.

Two types of sync problems

There are two major categories of sync problems.  The first is when images are “stuck” in the sync process.  In this case the sync status shows an unchanging “xx images syncing”

06 LrC - Sync Status in process

And the sync activity log (Preferences -> Lightroom Sync) shows a list of items waiting to sync.

07 LrC - Sync Activity list

The other category of sync problems is different.  I don’t have a good name for this category so let’s just call it “Structural” sync problems.  In these the sync status shows “synced” with a green checkmark, there are no images in the Sync Activity list

11 LrC - Sync Status Complete

12 LrC - Sync Activity empty

But, when you sync or un-sync some images the sync process seems to function as it should but it doesn’t.  Many images (especially newly imported ones) may sync fine while other images have problems.  Here are some of the most common symptoms for this category of sync problems

• Smart Previews Invade Catalog:  All of a sudden you have tons of smart previews in your catalog, that in many cases are duplicates of full size originals also in your catalog.
• Mismatched images:  The version of the image in Lr/Cloud is different than the version in LrC and they can’t be synced to reconcile those differences.
• Orphan images:  This is where you have a synced image in LrC which do not have a mate in Lr/Cloud even though the sync status says “Synced” and there are no sync errors to be found.
• Un-syncable images:  This is where you have images that when you try to sync them to the cloud, the sync status shows “x images syncing” but as soon as the sync process finishes those images are removed from all synced collections (including the “All Synced Photographs” special collection) and they never show up in Lr/Cloud

Before you start troubleshooting sync problems

No matter how careful you are, unexpected things can happen.  Even if you are working with Adobe Tech Support, they too make errors.  Therefore it is a good idea to take out some insurance before you start troubleshooting ‘just in case”.

Backup your catalog

Backup your catalog.  I suggest copying ALL the files/folders relevant to your catalog to another folder not just the “.lrcat”, and “.lrcat-data” files you get in the backups produced by LrC itself.

Create a Sync Log

Many times, Adobe requests a Log to help them debug sync problems.  These logs are not really meant to be viewed by customers but sometimes they do make interesting reading – especially if you are a techie. 

1. Open the Lightroom Sync tab of the Preferences menu
2. Hold down the Alt/Option key and click “Generate Diagnostic Report”

It may take several minutes to generate the report.  Take a look at it if you wish by clicking the “Show in Finder/Explorer” button in the dialog box you’ll get when it is done generating (unzip foe report and open the HTML file).  But otherwise you can just ignore it for now.

Clear or change the default sync folder

This is the folder, specified in “Preferences -> Lightroom Sync”, where the sync process places images which originated in one of the Lr/Cloud apps. 

09 LrC - Set Download folder

If you are still using the default shipped with LrC, that folder is “Mobile Downloads.lrdata” (not shown in the preferences dialog) and is in the same folder as the catalog but it is not a regular folder with images (on Mac’s it is a package).  Rather it is a special format and only really usable by LrC.  In this case using preferences you can designate or create a real folder and choose to copy the images from the default folder as part of the process. 

08 LrC - Move Mobile Downloads confirmation

Once it’s a real folder, if it has any images in it, either copy them to other folders or use ‘Preferences -> Lightroom sync” to designate a different and empty folder. 

We do this in case in our troubleshooting Lightroom decides to download a large number of images form the cloud it will be convenient to have them all in one place and not intermingled with previously downloaded images.  This does happen.

Clear “From Lightroom” Collection set

When Albums are in Lr/Cloud but are not linked to corresponding Collections in LrC, the sync process creates new synced collection in a collection set called “From Lightroom” (and will create it if it’s not already there).  If you already have collections in “From Lightroom” it is a good idea to move those collections to some other collection set. 

10 LrC - From Lightroom Coll Set

We do this so that if the troubleshooting decides that the Albums in Lr/Cloud are no linked to their mate in LrC, and as such syncs them all down to LrC as new collections you’ll have them all in one place and not intermingled with previous ones.   This does happen.

Save your LR/Cloud Originals

This is in case the images in the cloud get wiped out as some cloud originals may not have synced to LrC.  Images that originated in LrC are still in your catalog, which you just backed up, and those physical image files should also still be in your disk file system as well so we don’t need to worry about those. Here’s how to do this using the Lr/Desktop app.

1. In LrC, Pause syncing
2. Switch over to Lr/D (Lr/Desktop)
3. Select “All Photos”
4. Create a new Album called “Lr Originals” and copy all images to it
5. With “Lr Originals” selected, set the filter for: Sync status -> Synced from Lightroom Classic
   01 LR - Synced from LrC Filter
6. Remove all images still showing after applying the filter
7. Turn the off Filter
8. The remaining images are LR/Cloud originals.
9. Depending on when your syncing issue started, most of these images may have already synced down to LrC and you can remove those from this Album. 
   
   Sort the grid by Capture Date.  If you click on an image with the “info” panel open on the right it will show you the capture date and you can zero in on the date where your issue started
   02 LR Capture Date
10. Select all of those images created after you started having sync issues.  If you want, you can unselect ones you don’t care about, or for other reasons don’t need.  Export these images to your computer (you may need to import these to LrC later). 
    
    Use menu “File -> Export”. Then select “Original + Settings” as Image Type.  And “Original” as File Name.  then click the blue “Export xx Photos” button and in the popup navigate and create a new folder for these images (perhaps name it “Originals from LR”)
    03 LR Export Originals

Save your recently edited LR/Cloud Images

This is only useful if you do edits in the Lr/Cloud apps.  Again depending on when your sync problems started, most edits have already synced to LrC.  However edits done after your problem started may not have synced down to LrC.  Those are the ones we’re after.

If you’ve made edits in Lr/Cloud that did not synced down to LrC and you’d like to keep them you will need to export them.  This can be tricky but you probably know the date where your sync issues started so the ones you want are those edited on or after that date.  I don’t know of a way to isolate this to only images that were edited in Lr/Cloud after some date so you’ll wind up with images edited in both Lr/Cloud and LrC after that date.

1. In LR/Desktop select all photos
2. Filter by Edited-= yes
3. Create a new album called “My Edits” containing the filtered images in the grid (those with “edited = Yes”).
4. Go to album “My Edits”
5. Sort grid by Modified date in reverse order (most recently edited on top)
   04 LR Sort by Mod date
6. Now you need to go to Lr/iOS or Lr/Android on your phone or tablet as this is not available in Lr/Desktop or Lr/Web (go figure)
7. Select album “My edits” rather than All Photos
8. Use the 3 dot menu to segment the grid by day
9. Scroll down to the day where your system stopped syncing properly
10. Make a note of the last image from the last day when syncing was working well
11. Now go back to Lr/Desktop and with the grid sorted by capture date in descending order (new on top) scroll down to that same photo
12. Select all the photos before that one (i.e. with more recent edits) and export them to your system using “originals + Settings”.

Troubleshooting ‘stuck’ images

Most common Lightroom syncing problems are ‘stuck’ images and can be resolved by following “normal” troubleshooting processes and this is not really the purpose of this article but I do suggest following the “before you start” tips near the top of this article before you start.

A good description of those normal troubleshooting steps can be found in How to troubleshoot Sync issues with Classic 13.3 and later from “The Lightroom Queen”.  In most cases this will get you back to normal.  But before you start any corrective procedures, even ones you try on your own, make sure you have a current backup of your catalog as sometimes a fix turns out to make things worse.  You should also consider performing some or all of the protective actions listed above in the “Before you start trioubleshooting sync problems” section.

Before you contact to Adobe

One of the steps at the bottom of the normal troubleshooting is to contact Adobe Tech Support (which you may consider as an optional step).  Adobe doesn’t know your catalog or how you are using it and in their eagerness to fix your problem may do something that messes you up or even causes additional syncing problems.  So, it’s a good idea to take another catalog BU before you make that call.

If the normal troubleshooting has failed to solve your problem, or you have one of these symptoms try these “Advanced” troubleshooting ideas which comprise the rest of this article. 

Smart Previews invade Catalog

Mismatched images

Orphan images

Un-Syncable images

One major cause of these ‘structural’ sync problems (as I call them) which are not resolved by the normal troubleshooting is changing which catalog is syncing with the cloud  If you’re curious of how you might of gotten into your predicament, see Changing Which LrC Catalog Syncs with Lr/Cloud.

LOW VOLUME RESOLUTIONS

The solutions described in this section tend to work best when you have a manageable number of images exhibiting the problem.  In cases where the number of images with the problem is too large to deal with using these techniques, sometimes an export/import will work.  See HIGH VOLUME RESOLTUIONS below. 

Smart Previews Invade the Catalog

This is most often caused by restoring a backup catalog from awhile ago and making it the sync catalog and is also be caused by switching to an un-related catalog and making it the sync catalog.

Smart Previews will invade the catalog when Lr/Cloud contains images originally synced up from an LrC catalog but a newly synced catalog does not contain those images or Lightroom does not perceive that the newly synced catalog contains those images.

In these cases the SP’s in Lr/Cloud are synced down to LrC and placed the DSP (“downloaded-smart-previews”) subfolder under the transfer folder (the one designated in preferences to get Lr/Cloud downloads).  No Disk file is created for these but the DSP folder is created.  BTW, the reason we emptied or re-pointed the default Lightroom sync folder to an empty folder was to prevent these newly downloaded SP’s from being intermingled with ones perhaps already there.

13 LrC - SP's in DSP folder

In many cases the SP’s that synced down from Lr/Cloud are duplicates of full size original images already in your catalog in other folders.  But in other cases they will be the only version of the image in the catalog. 

3 SOLUTIONS

1. If the SP is the only copy in the catalog, but you still have a full size original on disk someplace

• Using your OS place that full size original (or a copy of it) in the DSP folder which will make the image no longer missing in LrC. 
• You can then drag it to whatever folder you wish using the Folders Panel (if there’s already a copy where you drag it to you’ll need to move or delete the image already there using your OS first).

2. If the SP is a duplicate of an original image still in your catalog and you don’t have too many of them you can do something different.  These steps pretty much retain everything except the LrC edit history.

• Transfer information from the Original to the DSP using LrC
  • Assign the same KW’s
  • Add to same collections and Publish Services
  • Make any other metadata changes needed
• Remove the original from LrC using the Folders Panel.
• Using the Folders Panel drag the image to the folder you want it to be in

3. If you are happy just keeping the original still in the catalog you can.  But there is a problem as the one synced to Lr/Cloud is the SP in the DSP folder, not the original. As long as the SP remains in Lr/Cloud you may not be able to sync your original.  To keep the original (with its edit history and other metadata), but losing any edits done in Lr/Cloud which had not synced to LrC, do this.

• Delete the version in the DSP folder (don’t just remove it from collections, delete it from the folder)
• Let the delete sync to Lr/Cloud.
• Now you should be able to sync the Original

Empty Cells

Empty cells are empty grey cells in the gird/filmstrip.  Even in normal operations this can occur when images are “missing” and there is no preview in the catalog.  But changing the sync catalog can also create missing images in the catalog and sometimes SP’s downloaded from Lr/Cloud need a nudge to show up in the grid and filmstrip.

SOLUTION

If the empty cell is an SP, take it to the develop module which usually will cause it to appear in the grid and film strip.

Empty cells can also be fixed by using your OS to put a copy of the physical file into the folder where LrC thinks it should be or by using the “find missing” tools in LrC.

In many cases ‘Empty Cells” have no matching image in Lr/Cloud so see the “Orphan Images” section below if that is the case.

Here are the steps:

1. See if these missing images are SP’s in the DSP folder.  The DSP folder is the “downloaded-smart-previews” folder under the XFER folder and the XFER folder is the one designated in Preferences as to where Sync will put images downloaded from Lr/Cloud)
2. If they are, see if they are duplicates of images already in your catalog in other folders
3. Compare the original with the one in the DSP folder to determine which one has the edits you want to keep.  In most cases they will be the same.
4. If you want to keep the version in the DSP folder, after placing a copy of the physical image in the DSP folder on disk, delete the original In LrC and then using the Folders Panel move the one in DSP to the folder where the original had been.
5. If you want to keep the original, there is a problem. As long as the SP remains in Lr/Cloud you may not be able to sync your original.  So, delete the one in the DSP folder (don’t just remove it from collections, delete it from the folder using the Folders panel) and let that delete sync to Lr/Cloud.  Now you should be able to sync the Original

Different edits in LrC and Lr/Cloud

This symptom is where the same image is different in Lr/Cloud compared to Lr/Classic.  In most cases you will not be able to reconcile those differences through the normal sync process.  What makes this problem maddening is that doing further edits using some edit controls will sync fine, but using other edit controls will not sync.  In particular, the edit controls that resulted in the differences are not syncable but other controls are. 

This can occur when you restore from an older catalog where edits had been done on synced images after a BU you reverted to was created and the last such edit was done in LrC.  If the last edit was done in Lr/Cloud this problem does not happen.  Spooky, huh?

NOTE:  This result occurred in 3 test runs in November but in December (using the same versions of LrC and Lr) these images all retained their most recent edits in two successive tests as they should.  I am leaving this in this article as you may experience this behavior.  As I can no longer reproduce this situation I cannot provide a canned solution for how to handle cases where the last edit was done in LrC. 

SOLUTION

I’m sure there are solutions but as I can’t reproduce the problem, I can’t test different solutions so I don’t feel it is proper to include guesses here.  If anyone reading this has this problem let me know. 

However, you can try the Export/Import solution below which should work but you’ll lose edits not present in the LrC catalog.

Orphan Images - No Matching image in Lr/Cloud

Here you have images in LrC which are marked as being synced, and are in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection but there is no matching image in Lr/Cloud.  As it turns out, these images are also un-syncable so see the ”Un-Syncable Images” section below as well.

• Editing the image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/Cloud nor does the edit get applied to the image in the Lr/Cloud deleted list.  Sync status shows “syncing x images” but image does not show up in Lr/Cloud
• Un-deleting it in Lr/Cloud brings the un-deleted SP down to LrC (with any edits done before the LrC removal was synced) resulting in 2 images in LrC.  The SP from Lr/Cloud will arrive in LrC as a new (missing) image having only the SP.  The SP is placed in the DSP sub folder of the XFER folder.  If the original from the restore is in the physical XFER folder the new SP gets a “-2” appended to the end of the file name.  Placing a copy of the physical image file into the DSP folder using your OS and renaming it with the “-2” if needed makes it no longer missing.  The SP copy is synced but the original is not synced even though it looks like it is.
• •Un-syncing and re-syncing the original image in LrC does not work even though the sync status shows that it is syncing.  A few moments after doing this, the image becomes un-synced and is removed from all synced collections including the “All Synced Photographs” special collection.
• Un-syncing and re-syncing the original in LrC may work if you first remove or delete the SP in both LrC (if you had un-deleted it in Lr after the catalog restore) and in LR.  Then un-sync and re-sync the Original in LrC.
•        Removing the image from LrC and from Lr/Cloud then re-importing it followed by re-syncing it usually works.  To preserve data save metadata to the disk file before removing the image from LrC.  To preserve edit history and other data that may not otherwise be saved, export original image “as catalog”.  Then remove the image from the “restored original catalog” and let that sync to the cloud.  Now in “restored original catalog” import as catalog from the “export as catalog” catalog.  They will now show up in LrC with all edit history.  Then in the restored original catalog add images to the needed synced collections.  If the culprit image is a Smart Preview that is a duplicate of another image in the catalog, you can first remove or delete the SP in LrC then un-sync and re-sync the original
• If the culprit is an Lr/Cloud original and is in the “Deleted” section of Lr/Cloud and you un-delete it, the undeleted image comes to LrC as a VC if the originally downloaded image is still in the catalog, otherwise it comes down as a new image.

Un-Syncable Image

There are two flavors of this problem.  In the first, when you edit the supposedly ‘synced’ image, the sync status shows that it is syncing but when it’s done nothing shows up in Lr/Cloud.  So it can’t be made to sync.  If you then un-sync it (remove from the “All Synced Photographs” special collection) and then add it back to a synced collection it becomes flavor 2.

A flavor 2 un-syncable ‘synced’ image is one where if you edit the image in LrC, the sync status shows that it is syncing to the cloud but as soon as it is finished, it becomes un-synced, is removed from all synced collections, and is removed from the “All Synced Photographs” special collection.  Again remaining un-syncable.

For either flavor, see Export/Import Solution below

EXPORT/IMPORT SOLOUTION

This method can be used but you may lose some edits but it will usually make the image syncable again.  If you have the original image still on disk “save metadata to disk”, remove the image from LrC and Lr/Cloud, re-import it to LrC again and re-add it to its synced collections.  If you also want to save its participation in collections (other than Publish Service Collections) and retain its edit history you can Export as Catalog (without negative files),  remove from LrC and Lr/Cloud, then import from that exported catalog.

HIGH VOLUME SOLUTIONS

If there are too many images to deal with using the low volume solutions, take a look at these high volume solutions.  These are more aggressive and affect the entire set of images but may do the trick.

CLEAR ENTIRE CLOUD SOLUTION

This approach involves clearing everything out of the Adobe Cloud and re-syncing it all from LrC.  But, this is not a perfect solution as there are some negative aspects like losing edit history of edits done in Lr/Cloud (the edits can be kept but not the history)

1. Take a backup of your catalog.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  I suggest copying ALL the files/folders relevant to your catalog to another folder not just the “.lrcat” and “.lrcat-data” files you get in the backups produced by LrC itself
2. In addition, if you haven’t performed the other steps described above in the “Before you start” section, this would be a good time to look them over and run the ones pertinent to your situation.
3. LrC: Pause sync
4. LrC: If you don’t care about the URL’s for shared/public collections, put a color label on all your synced collections and un-sync them
   
   If you do care, then instead duplicate each synced collection (including the images) into a non-synced collection with a similar name.  If they are in a collection set you can duplicate the entire collection set at once by right clicking on it and selecting “Duplicate”.  Otherwise you must do the synced collections one by one or move them to a collection set first and then duplicate the collection set.
5. LrC: Create a new un-synced collection called "All Synced Copy” and copy all the images in the "All Synced Photographs" special collection to this new collection - NEVER SYNC THIS NEW COLLECTION
6. LrC: Delete everything from the "All synced photographs" special collection.  This will also remove them from all of your synced collections and will remove them from the Adobe Cloud.
7. LrC: Close LrC and delete or rename the “<catalog name> Sync.lrdata" folder on disk.
8. Lr/Cloud: Delete all images from "All Photographs"
9. Lr/Cloud:  If you are preserving your shared/public URL’s (step 4) assure that all your albums are empty.  
   
   If you are not preserving you shared/public URL’s (step 4) Delete all albums
10. Lr/Cloud:  Empty the “Deleted” list
11. Lr/Cloud: Let the deletes propagate through Lr/Cloud.
12. Lr/Cloud: Check all the Lr/Cloud apps you use (Lr/Web, Lr/Desktop, Lr/iOS, etc) to assure empty (other than empty albums if preserving shared/public URL’s)
13. LrC: Un-pause sync and wait a few minutes.  Nothing should happen.
14. LrC: If you are preserving shared/public URL’s, copy the images back to the still synced, but empty, collection from the duplicate you created in step 4.
    
    Sync one of your collections that had problematic images in it before.  See what happens. If unsuccessful stop and go to the next solution.
15. If successful, re-sync the other collections a few at a time letting the sync complete between each set.  If unsuccessful go on to the next solution
16. When done, copy everything in "All synced copy" collection back to "All synced Photographs”.  This will re-sync any images that had been synced before but are not in any of your synced collections. If you don't care about any of those, then skip this step.  You can now delete the “All synced copy” collection.

CLEAR CLOUD & SYNC WITH CATALOG COPY SOLUTION

This approach involves clearing everything out of the Adobe Cloud, exporting your catalog as a new catalog, and syncing the exported catalog.  But, there are some negative aspects to this like losing edit history of edits done in Lr/Cloud (the edits can be kept but not the history), also issues with images in Publish Services, and shared/make public web pages. 

These steps are basically the same as the previous solution except we first make a new catalog using the ‘Export as Catalog” function and then use that catalog for the step listed above.

1. Take a backup of your catalog DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  I suggest copying ALL the files/folders relevant to you catalog to another folder not just the “.lrcat”, and “.lrcat-data” files you get in the backups produced by LrC itself
2. In addition, if you haven’t performed the other steps described above in the “Before you start” section, this would be a good time to look them over and run the ones pertinent to your situation.
3. LrC: Pause sync in LrC
4. LrC: Put a color label on all your synced collections and un-sync them
5. LrC: Create a new un-synced collection called "All Synced Copy” and copy all the images in the "All Synced Photographs" special collection to this new collection - NEVER SYNC THIS NEW COLLECTION
6. LrC: Select all the images
7. LrC: Export as Catalog (no negative files, include previews) and place in a new folder
   
8. LrC:  Switch to the exported LrC catalog
9. LrC: Delete everything from the "All synced photographs" special collection
10. Lr/Cloud: Delete all images from "All Photographs"
11. Lr/Cloud: Delete all albums
12. Lr/Cloud:  Empty the “Deleted” list
13. Lr/Cloud: Let the deletes propagate through Lr/Cloud
14. Lr/Cloud: Check all the Lr/Cloud apps you use (Lr/Web, Lr/Desktop, Lr/iOS, etc) to assure empty
15. LrC: Un-pause sync and wait a few minutes. Nothing should happen.
16. LrC: Sync one of your collections that had problematic images in it before.  See what happens. If unsuccessful stop and go to the next solution.
17. If successful, re-sync the other collections a few at a time letting the sync complete between each set.  If unsuccessful go on to the next solution
18. When done, copy everything in "All synced copy" collection back to "All synced Photographs”.  This will re-sync any images that had been synced before but are not in any of your synced collections. If you don't care about any of those, then skip this step.  You can now delete the “All synced copy” collection.

GO NUCLEAR AND SWITCH TO NEW ADOBE ACCOUNT

This approach is the last resort if all else fails and you have no more hair to tear out of your head.  It involves creating a new Adobe account, and re-syncing a copy of your catalog to the new accounts’ cloud.  But like the others, this is not a perfect solution as there are some negative aspects like losing edit history of edits done in Lr/Cloud.

1. in LrC, pause syncing and then close LrC
2. Log out of your Adobe account on the Creative Cloud App
3. Log out of your Adobe account on your Adobe.com web page
4. Log out of your Adobe account on any other devices you use Lr/cloud on including Lr/Desktop (if you've used it)
5. Lr/Cloud on all your devices should not show you any images and should ask you to log onto your account. Don't proceed if any of your Lr/Cloud apps or web pages actually still show you your images or the avatar from your old account.
6. Open LrC and go to the Lightroom sync tab of the Preferences. It should indicate that you are not connected to your adobe account. Don't logon yet.
7. Put a color label on each synced collection and Un-sync it
8. LrC: Create a new un-synced collection called "All Synced Copy” and copy all the images in the "All Synced Photographs" special collection to this new collection - NEVER SYNC THIS NEW COLLECTION
9. LrC: Select all the images
10. LrC: Export as Catalog (no negative files, include previews) and place in a new folder
    
11. LrC:  Switch to the exported LrC catalog
12. Delete everything from the "All synced photographs" special collection
13. Go to Adobe.com and create a new Adobe Account (as if you were a new user).
14. Sign up for the same plan you have in your real account but use the 7 day free trial - don't pay for it.
15. Open your LrC catalog
16. In LrC the catalog should now be pointing to your new Adobe account (see Lightroom Sync tab of preferences). You'll probably need to supply your new UID and PW. Verify in preferences that you are connected to the new account
17. In LrC Un-Pause sync
18. Sync one of your collections and see if it works. check one of the Lr/Cloud apps to assure the album arrived with the proper number of images
19. If that worked, call Adobe Customer Services and explain what had happened and all the things you've tried.  Then explain that as nothing else worked you were advised to try it on a different Adobe account and that worked. Tell the CS rep that you want the months remaining on your old Adobe account transferred to the new account.  If you're good (but polite) you may be able to get a free month or two added on for your trouble.
20. Re-sync your other previously synced collections a few at a time and wait for the sync to the Lr/Cloud to complete between each set.
21. When done, copy everything in "All synced copy" back to "All synced Photographs' This will re-sync any images that had been synced before but are not in any of your synced collections. If you don't care about any of those there might be, then skip this step.
22. Delete the "All Synced Copy" collection unless you want to keep it for posterity.

Hope that helps but if you can’t get it figured out, see my Lightroom help web page for one-on-one private help over zoom.

This is part 2 of a 3 part series concerning the sync process between Lightroom Classic (LrC), and Lightroom (Lr or Lr/Cloud).

Part 1 LR/Classic and LR/cloud Sync behavior discusses how various operations and commands done in Lr/Cloud and Lr/Classic affect synced images. 

Part 2 (this part) concerns the reconciliation process between Lr/Cloud and LrC when the synced catalog is changed and many of the problems that come from that process.

Part 3 Fixing Sync Problems caused by switching the Sync Catalog discusses options for fixing Lightroom Sync problems caused by changing the sync catalog.  This includes the dreaded “images don’t sync and can’t be made to sync” problem plus many others.

This article current as of LrC 14.0.1 and LR/Cloud desktop 8.0 (October 2024).  Versions of LrC or Lr/Cloud prior or after these may behave differently. I started my testing in August 2024 with LrC/13.3 but due to weird and inconsistent results waited for LrC/14 to complete the testing.

I apologize for the length of this article, I had not intended it to be this long but once I got into the testing, I kept discovering different use cases that produced different results.  I also found situations where running the same test on different days produced different results requiring more test runs to see if I had made an error in testing or Adobe was not being consistent.  All in all I probably ran over 40 full regression tests, each one consisting of 50 or more discrete steps using up to 100 test images in each test run.  Each test run spanned several days to several weeks depending on the complexity of the test. 

Many folks assume they know what changing the sync catalog does or just trust that it does what it should and don’t really think about what that means.  Most folks don’t really know what it will do and are quite surprised by what it does as many times it is not what they expect.  Therefore it is important that you fully (and I mean fully) understand what changing the sync catalog does and doesn’t do – it may not be what you think - especially in the more complicated scenarios. 

Unfortunately this is not something you can try on a few images first – it is all or nothing.  Nor can you ‘undo’ once it’s done in any automated fashion.  But, sometimes you just need to do it anyway and clean up afterward.

Why change the LR sync catalog?

Other than when you install a new version of LrC that includes a catalog update, normally one would not need to change which catalog is being synced with Lr/Cloud, but sometimes things happen that make this a best option.

I have identified 4 use cases where this is or may be necessary.  I’m sure there are more.

I will be talking about these four cases individually as each tends to produce different results in some situations.  For each one I’ll discuss what happens depending on the contents of the old and new catalogs and what is in Lr/Cloud.  Where appropriate I’ll also give some tips on how to deal with some of the undesirable behavior you find when switching the sync catalog in some cases but also see part 3 of this series: Fixing Sync Problems caused by switching the Sync Catalog.
.

Here are the 4 use cases I discuss in this article. 

1. Upgrading LrC to a new version which requires a Catalog Update.
2. Revert to a backup catalog where you have not made any LrC or Lr/Cloud changes since the BU was created.  An example is that the disk drive where your catalog lives failed overnight and can no longer be used but you have a backup from just before you went to bed.
3. Revert to a backup catalog from a while ago where you have made changes in LrC and/or Lr/Cloud since that backup was created.  For example you’ve been negligent in taking regular backups and your master catalog failed or was lost and you have to go back to a catalog from days, weeks or months ago.  Another example is if you find some corruption or you made a big mistake in the catalog several weeks or months ago and you need to revert to a catalog from before when that occurred (although importing from that older catalog may be a better option).
4. Revert to an unrelated catalog.  For example you created a new, empty, catalog and re-imported all your images where none, some, or all had been in the previously synced catalog and may or may not have been synced to Lr/Cloud.  Another example is switching to a catalog that was created using the “Export as Catalog" function.

I think of cases 1, 2, and 3 as switching to a “blood relative” catalog of the previously synced catalog.  By this I mean the new catalog was created as a copy of the previously synced catalog.  On the other hand case 4 is switching to a non blood relative of the currently synced catalog.  This does matter.  In the former case the new catalog retains the same internal catalog ID and image ID’s as the previous catalog.  In the later case the new catalog has a different internal catalog ID and different image ID numbers and things happen differently.

I’m sure there are other situations which require you to switch the sync catalog but they would probably fall into one of these 4 cases.  Others I have thought of are near the bottom of this article.

What happens when you change the sync catalog varies quite a bit depending on what’s in the new catalog and how it got there,the differences between the currently synced catalog and the new catalog you want to be the synced catalog, and the content of your Adobe Cloud account.

NOTE: When you are syncing, most of the actions performed in LrC or Lr/Cloud on synced images require information to be “synced” to the other ecosystem.  This is not instantaneous as it involves passing things through the internet and processing at both ends.  The time required to do this changes depending on how many images are involved, what information must be passed back and forth, and your internet speed.  So, sometimes being patient is required.

Which catalog is syncing

When you open an LrC catalog where sync was previously turned on or you un-pause sync in your open catalog,  LrC checks to see if the open LrC catalog is the ‘current sync catalog’, is a ‘blood relative’ of the currently synced catalog, or is an ‘unrelated’ catalog.  Depending on which it is different things happen.

DEFINITION: A Blood Relative (my term) of the currently synced catalog include the following:

• A backup catalog taken by LrC upon exiting
• A catalog backup you created yourself
• A new catalog generated through the LrC upgrade process

It should be noted that a catalog created using “Export as Catalog” or “Create New Catalog” followed by “Import from another catalog” are NOT considered a blood relative of the source catalog.

To change which catalog is syncing, in LrC click the cloud icon in the far upper right corner.  In the drop down it will either show that the sync process is paused with a button to “Resume Sync” or it will show that it is active with a button to “Pause Sync”.

Sync Active (nothing in process)
01 LrC - Sync Active

Sync Paused
02 LrC - Sync Paused

If sync is active, by definition the catalog you have open is the “currently synced catalog”.  If it is paused and you click the button to start syncing and the catalog you are in is the currently synced catalog (or a blood relative of the currently synced catalog) it will just resume syncing.  But, if the catalog you are in us not a blood relative of the currently synced catalog you will get a dialog explaining this and it will ask if you want to start syncing this catalog instead.

Change sync catalog approval dialog
02 Intro Sync unrelated catalog approval

Terminology

In the text of this article I use various terms and abbreviations and it is best that I go over them as some are my own terms.

Sync Catalog

The “Sync Catalog” (or “Currently Synced Catalog”) is the LrC catalog that is set to sync to your Lr/Cloud account.  Only one LrC catalog can be set to sync with your Lr/Cloud Lightroom system at a time.

XFER Folder

I will be using “XFER Folder” in this article to mean the destination folder where LrC places images downloaded from Lr/Cloud.   By default this is “Mobile Downloads.lrdata” in the “Pictures -> Lightroom” folder (on a Mac this is a “package”) but Adobe tends to change this from time to time. 

Most people use the “Lightroom Sync” tab of the “Preferences” dialog in LrC to change this to a regular folder in their system.  In either case you can elect to have all the images downloaded from Lr/Cloud go into this one folder or have LrC automatically create subfolders under this folder by capture date using a pattern you select (same choice you have in the Import dialog).  For my testing I did not choose “Use.subfolders formatted by capture date” but I have no reason to believe it would change the findings if I had.

01 LrC - XFER folder setting

DSP folder (“downloaded-smart-previews”)

I use “DSP folder” to mean a folder named “downloaded-smart-previews” which is created by the sync process as a subfolder under the XFER folder in some cases which we’ll get into.

Original Image

Original images are those that entered the LR world through that LR ecosystem.  If an image was imported or taken with one of the Lr/Cloud apps then in Lr/Cloud it is considered an original.  Conversely LrC original images are those imported directly into LrC.

SP’s

These are Smart Previews.  An SP is a proxy image that is sent to Lr/Cloud from LrC when the image is set to sync.  They are smaller version of the original files and are 2550 pixels on the long edge and can be used in Lr/Cloud for editing and review.

01 Case 3 - SP's

VC’s

These are Virtual Copies within LrC (there is no equivalent in Lr/Cloud).  A VC in LrC is an entry in the catalog which for all intents and purposes looks like and behaves like a standalone image but in fact it points back to the same master image file on disk as some other image that is in the catalog.  In other words it is a copy solely within LrC that can have a different treatment than the master file.

CAT1

This is the currently synced catalog before you tell LrC to make CAT2 the synced catalog

CAT2

This is the new catalog that you want make the synced catalog

Principles of the Adobe Sync processing

It should be noted that in some cases these principles are somewhat theoretical as in actual behavior at times they are not adhered to.

1. Only 1 LrC catalog can be synced to the cloud at a time.  This is called the “Sync Catalog” (or “Currently Synced Catalog”)
    
2. Every image in Lr/Cloud is synced to LrC
   There are exceptions caused by switching the sync catalog which I consider a bug but which Adobe said is  “as designed” in at least one occasion.
3. Videos added to Lr/Cloud will be copied to LrC once.  After that they will not sync.
4. Lr/Cloud Original images, will sync full size original copies of the image (in its imported file type) to LrC which are added to your file system but the “original” is still considered as being the version in Lr/Cloud and those originals are counted against your plan’s storage limit.  In LrC these images are placed in the designated XFER folder as well as the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in the Catalog Panel.  If the image was in one or more albums in Lr/Cloud, the image will also be placed in corresponding synced collections in LrC.
5. In LrC, only images in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in the Catalog Panel will sync to Lr/Cloud and this is restricted to still images only (no videos).
   02 All Synced in Catalog Panel
   
   However after switching the sync catalog there may be cases where images in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection or in other synced collections are not present in or synced to the Lr/Cloud.  I consider this a bug but Adobe says it’s “as designed”.
6. When LrC original images are synced to Lr/Cloud, a proxy image called a Smart Preview (SP) is what is sent to Lr/Cloud.  This is a file with 2550 pixels on the long edge that stands in for the master copy of the image and can be used for editing.  These do not count against your plan’s storage limit.
7. Where synced images appear in both Lr/Cloud and LrC with a “sync” relationship, changes to the image in either ecosystem syncs to the associated image in the other ecosystem within the limits of “What does and doesn’t sync” (see link at bottom of this article).
   
   After changing which catalog is the sync catalog (for example after reverting to a backup catalog), there are several scenarios where images in LrC are shown as syncing but there is no matching image in Lr/Cloud and the copy in LrC cannot be made to sync.  There are other scenarios where the images in Lr/Cloud show different edits than its mate in LrC.  Subsequent changes with controls not previously synced do sync but changes to edits previously synced do not sync to the other ecosystem

A way of thinking about what happens

This may not be an accurate description of how it is actually implemented but is a good way to think about how it operates (an analogy if you will).

1. An LrC catalog has an internal ID (let’s call this the “Catalog ID”).  This number is in the catalog itself.  If you backup, or use your OS to physically copy a catalog the number stays the same.  However, if you create a new catalog or use the “Export as Catalog”, you get a new catalog with a new Catalog ID.
2. Each image in LrC and Lr/Cloud has an “Image ID” number.  The same image imported into two different catalogs may have different Image ID numbers.  This includes those in a new “Export as Catalog” catalog.
3. The Catalog ID plus the Image ID is how the sync process matches images in Lr/Cloud with their mate in LrC.  In other words for there to be a sync relationship the numbers must match
4. Due to this, if you change the sync catalog to one with a different Catalog ID, then no image in Lr/Cloud will match to any image in the new catalog and every single one will be copied form Lr/Cloud to LrC as if it were a new image imported into Lr/Cloud.
5. Similarly any image in LrC that you set to sync will be uploaded to Lr/Cloud as a new image.
6. As I’ll discuss below, it is quite easy to find yourself in situations where the ID of a synced image in LrC does not find an image in Lr/Cloud with that ID number – and vice-versa.   It seems that the sync architecture was either not designed to handle these situations or was incorrectly coded and the result, as I’ll describe below, is a collection symptoms that I consider bugs.
   
   For corrective measures to these problems see part 3 of this series of blogs Fixing Sync Problems caused by switching the Sync Catalog

Case 1 - Upgrade to a new version of LrC

When you upgrade LrC to a new version of LrC, in some cases (e.g., LrC/13.5 to LrC14.0.1) this involves an update to the structure of the LrC catalog.  When this happens, a copy of the current catalog is created and updated and this new version becomes the synced catalog and is ca blood relative of the catalog it was created from.  In this case the sync process just switches to the upgraded catalog and picks up where it left off from the prior catalog.  I did not find any issues with this case.

04 Case 1 Catalog Update Reaquired

Case 2 - Revert to a CURRENT BU of the synced catalog

Case 2 is when you revert to a catalog BU and make it the synced catalog where no changes have been made to synced images in LrC or in Lr/Cloud since the catalog backup was created.

For example, you created a BU of a fully synced and running fine catalog but that catalog becomes unusable before you’ve made any additional changes to synced images in either LrC or LR/Cloud and to fix this you revert to the BU catalog.

When you open the BU up catalog, if sync had been on when the catalog backup was created, the sync starts automatically.  Otherwise sync starts when you un-pause it.  When sync starts, LrC automatically (and without any popup or message) performs a reconciliation of what’s in the recovered LrC catalog and Lr/Cloud.  In this case, there is nothing to reconcile so it just picks up syncing where the previous catalog left off.  I found no issues with this case. 

If you had made changes to UN-SYNCED images in LrC after the backup was created, those changes will be reverted to their state in the BU catalog.  If you had saved those changes to XMP you can recover them to the state at the time the XMP was saved to disk by “reading metadata from disk”.  However if you had made any changes to synced images in LrC since the backup or any images in Lr/Cloud since the backup you need to look at case 3 below.

Case 3 – Revert to an OLDER BU of the synced catalog

Case 3 is where we start getting into complexity and is the most complex of the cases I describe in this article.  This is when you revert to a catalog BU where you’ve made changes to synced images in either LrC or Lr/Cloud after the backup was made but before making the BU catalog the new synced catalog.  This is typically the case when you have to revert to an older catalog backup because more recent catalog backups exhibit the same problem that you’re trying to get rid of or you just don’t have any current catalog backups.  Depending on your problem, you may want to consider an “Export as catalog” from the BU catalog and then “Import from Another Catalog” to bring that info into the currently synced catalog instead.  Which you choose depends your particular situation.

05 Case 3 Older BU

Like case 2, if sync was on when the catalog backup was created, then sync starts automatically when you launch the recovered catalog.  Otherwise sync starts when you un-pause sync.  When sync starts LrC automatically (and without any popup or message) performs a reconciliation of what is in the recovered LrC catalog and Lr/Cloud.  In this case the reconciliation can get quite complicated depending on what you’ve done in LrC and/or Lr/Cloud since the backup was taken including new imports, edits, deletes, removals, and moving or renaming files or folders.

Case 3 Summary of what works OK

• Un-synced images are restored as they were in the BU Catalog.
• Synced LrC originals not edited since the BU was created are restored as they were in the BU catalog
• Synced LrC originals edited since the BU was taken come back with the restore but are then updated to the edited version stored in Lr/Cloud
• Synced Lr/Cloud originals in the BU catalog which were not edited since the BU was created.  The full size files previously synced down to LrC from Lr/Cloud come back with the restore.
• Synced Lr/Cloud originals edited in LrC and/or Lr/Cloud after the BU was created.  The latest version from either LrC or Lr/Cloud is placed in both LrC and Lr/Cloud.
• Images imported into Lr/Cloud after the BU was created (and therefore not in the BU) sync back to LrC as full originals and are placed in the XFER folder.

Case 3 Summary of what doesn’t work quite as well or could be confusing

• Mixed behavior.  Un-synced images are restored in LrC as they are in the BU catalog but synced images retain edits done in either LrC or Lr/Cloud after the BU was created.
• Smart Previews invade LrC Catalog.  Images imported into LrC and synced to Lr/Cloud as SP’s after the BU was created are present in Lr/Cloud but not present in the recovered catalog.  These SP’s from Lr/Cloud are downloaded to LrC.  In LrC they show up in the DSP folder which is a subfolder of the XFER folder.  However the image is only in the LrC catalog, it is not created on disk even though the DSP folder is created on disk.  These images are considered as missing but with an SP in the catalog.  Placing an original image file in the DSP folder using Finder/Explorer makes it no longer missing.
  07 Case 3 SP's Invade Catalog
  
  What’s unknown is whether this is the desired behavior or not.  I can see situations where this is desired and other situations where it is undesirable.  For example, if the purpose of going to a BU catalog was to “undo” everything done recently then this is not desirable but if the purpose was to fix catalog corruption then this may be desirable as those SP’s have all the recent updates.
• Empty Cells.  These are empty grey cells in the gird/filmstrip.  Even in normal operations this can occur when images are “missing” and there is no preview in the catalog.  But changing the sync catalog can also cause missing images to appear in the catalog.
• Orphan images in LrC.  An ‘orphan’ image is where the image is in LrC, has the icon showing that it is a synced image, appears in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection and may also appear in one or more other synced collections but is not in Lr/Cloud and will not sync to Lr/Cloud. 
  
  This occurs when images are present and synced at the time the BU was taken but were subsequently removed from LrC or Lr before the BU was restored and then come back into LrC with the restored catalog.  This also results in the counts of synced images to be different between LrC and Lr/Cloud.
• SP’s and VC’s.  After making the BU catalog the syncing catalog, sometimes  SP’s (Smart Previews) will sync down to LrC and sometimes VC’s (Virtual Copies) will sync down. 
  
  You’ll get a VC when you have edited but then deleted a synced image after the BU was taken then after the restore you un-delete the image in Lr/Cloud.  The un-deleted version comes down to LrC as a VC of original image restored from the BU catalog.
  
  You’ll get an SP when you import an image into LrC after the BU was created and sync it causing an SP to sync up to Lr/Cloud.  When the BU catalog is restored and made to be the sync catalog that original image is no longer present, but the SP in Lr/Cloud is still there.  That SP in Lr/Cloud then syncs down to LrC as an SP.  You’ll also get an SP when you remove a synced LrC original after the BU is created and then un-delete it in Lr/Cloud after the BU catalog becomes the synced catalog
• Different edits in LrC and Lr/Cloud.  When you restore the BU catalog, images appear in LrC as they were when the BU was created.  If you had edited images in both Lr/Cloud and LrC after the BU was created all those edits remain in Lr/Cloud but are not in the restored catalog.  What happens to those images that came back with the catalog restore depends on where the last edit was done! 
  
  If the latest edit was done in LrC, the image in LrC losses both edits (retains the state from the restored catalog) but as the version in Lr/Cloud retains the latest edits there is a mismatch between what is in the cloud and what is in LrC.
  
  Top screen shot shows an image in LrC which lost the edits and bottom shows the same image in Lr/Desktop which retained the edtis
  06 Case 3 Post BU edit mismatch
  
  In this case further edits done in Lr or LrC sync, but ONLY edits done with different controls.  Further edits to the same controls that were undone by the catalog restore do not sync to the other ecosystem even if they are changed again. 
  
  If the latest edit had been done in Lr/Cloud the edit from Lr/Cloud is synced to LrC correctly and there is no mismatch.
  
  NOTE:  This result occurred in 3 test runs in November but in December (using the same versions of LrC and Lr/cloud) these images all retained their most recent edits in two successive tests.  I am leaving this in this article as you may experience this behavior even though I can no longer re-produce the problem. 

Case 3 More details

As this case is the most complicated,  You can find more details on the various situations involved in this addendum article.  I should note that the addendum article is really just notes I made while testing to help me categorize and group the results.  I cleaned up the presentation a bit but this is still just notes and should be considered as such.

Changing to a non blood relative catalog

When you turn on sync in such a catalog you will get this warning dialog.

02 Intro Sync unrelated catalog approval

If you select “Yes, sync this catalog instead”, LrC and LR/Cloud will stop syncing the old catalog and will start syncing this one and will commence on a reconciliation process.

HINT 1: In LrC, just prior to re-assigning the sync catalog, either move all the images out of the designated XFER folder to other folders or create a new folder and designate it as the XFER folder.  In this way, you will be able to find any newly downloaded images from LR/Cloud as a result of syncing the new catalog.  Believe me, you will be happy you did this and even if it wasn’t necessary, it’s best to be on the safe side.

HINT 2: Depending on your situation, it may be worthwhile, with sync paused, to remove all images from Lr/Cloud before you swap the sync catalog.  There are many factors which should be considered before doing this but if your plan is to “start over” with a new catalog and you would prefer that everything in the cloud gets erased, this may be something to consider.  However you should realize that anything that is ONLY in the cloud like un-synced edits or un-synced Lr/Cloud original images will be lost.  Also be aware if you take this approach that ONLY things in the new catalog will sync to the cloud and only if they are not ‘missing’ AND you tell them to sync by placing them in a Synced Collection or the ‘All Synced Photos” special collection.

Case 4 – Sync an unrelated catalog

This is where you change the sync catalog to one that is not a blood relative of the currently synced catalog.  This includes:

• Changing to a catalog created from an “Export as Catalog”.
• Changing to a new catalog where you have re-imported some or all the images from the previously synced catalog with our without the addition of other new images
• Changing to a catalog with no relation to the previously synced catalog

Note:

My initial assumption was that this use case would be the most complicated given the complexities of case 3.  However, it turned out that this use case was simpler to understand even though the results can be dramatic.

Sync an “Export as Catalog” catalog

This includes when you want to create a new catalog (CAT2) using the “Export as Catalog” function from your master catalog (CAT1) and then have the new exported catalog (CAT2) become the catalog that syncs with Lr/Cloud.  Typically this new catalog would contain all the images from the previously synced master catalog.  Even though this new catalog is derived from the previous master catalog it is not considered as a blood relative catalog.

03 Case 4 - Export as Catalog menu

It should be noted that in the exported catalog (CAT2), nothing is initially set to sync and sync is set to “Paused”.  Your collections will be present and populated but will not be marked to sync and the “All Synced Photos” special collection will be empty.

Case 4 Results

Albums and Synced Collections

• Albums already in Lr/Cloud remain unchanged
• All Lr/Cloud Albums will be replicated in the new LrC catalog as NEW synced collections and will be placed under collection set “From Lightroom”.  This is done for ALL albums in Lr/Cloud regardless of whether or not collections with the same name already exist in the new catalog.  If one with the same name already exists in the “From Lightroom” collection set, the new one downloaded from Lr/Cloud gets a “-2” appended to the collection name.  This may result in 2 versions of each such collection if one was already there which would be the case with an “export as catalog” situaiton.
• If you subsequently mark any other LrC collections to sync in CAT2, they will become NEW Albums in Lr/Cloud.  These too could be duplicate albums especially in the “Export as Catalog” case.

Images

• Un-synced images in the new catalog remain un-altered by making it the sync catalog
• Images already in LR/Cloud remain un-changed in Lr/Cloud.
• All images and video’s in Lr/Cloud at the point where you make the new catalog the sync catalog will be downloaded and added to the newly synced catalog as new entries.  All (except video’s) will be marked to sync and will be placed in the “All Synced Photos” special collection in the Catalog Panel.  This is done for ALL images in Lr/Cloud regardless of whether or not the new catalog already has a copy of those same images in the catalog.
• For images in Lr/Cloud that are full size original files (originally imported into Lr/Cloud), the un-edited full size original file, in its original format, is downloaded and placed on disk in the XFER folder.  A new entry is added to the catalog for each of these images containg the edits from Lr/Cloud but the history panel will only show “From Lr Mobile”.  If the new catalog already has a copy of the image, you now have two in LrC and two on disk.
• Where images in Lr/Cloud are SP’s (originally uploaded from LrC), the SP’s are added to the LrC Catalog as new entries and are shown in the Folders Panel as being in the DSP subfolder under the XFER folder.  No physical image file is added to your file system.  The DSP folder is created on disk if not already there, but images are not placed in it.  In other words the images are “missing” according to LrC and have only an SP.  If you subsequently place a copy of the image in the DSP folder on disk it will no longer be ‘missing’.  But if you no longer have an original in your system, the SP is as good as it gets and you’ll only have the SP (it is possible to create a physical Jpg from the SP but that’s another subject).  If the new catalog already had a copy of the image, you now have two in LrC. In the catalog the SP will contain the edits from Lr/Cloud but the history panel will only show “From Lr Mobile”
• For both SP’s and Full files, if the XFER folder on disk already contained a copy of the image file, the file name of the newly downloaded version get’s a “-2” appended to the end of the file name.
• If you subsequently sync any images in the new catalog, those images will be synced to Lr/Cloud as new images and sent to Lr/Cloud as SP’s whether or not they are already in Lr/Cloud. 

Case 4 - Suggestions & Steps

As you see from the above, images in Lr/Cloud (be they Lr/Cloud full size originals, or SP’s synced up from LrC) sync down to CAT2 as new images – duplicating images already in CAT2.  And images in CAT2 that had been syncing in CAT1 are no longer syncing. 

For the Lr/Cloud originals (full size images in Lr/Cloud), you can either delete the version in Lr/Cloud and re-sync it’s mate in CAT2 as an SP or you can remove the previously synced version in CAT2 and let a new one from Lr/Cloud sync down to CAT2.

The bigger problem comes from images that originated in LrC and had synced to Lr/Cloud as SP’s.  Here are some ideas to avoid many of the Case 4 problems but also see Fixing Problems Caused by Changing the Sync Catalog on how to fix those problems if they have already occurred.

If you are starting a new catalog (rather than an “export as catalog” catalog),  you may want to first clear everything from Lr/Cloud.  This is discussed in the URL listed in the previous paragraph.

If you are switching to an “Export As Catalog” catalog then:

1. Before you do the export as catalog, mark (or make a list of) all your synced collections (you can use a color label on those collections for this).  This will help you find them again after they become un-synced in CAT2.
2. Before doing the ‘Export as Catalog’ make a note of which synced collections have a shared URL (make public) if you will be re-sharing them after you change the sync catalog.
3. Copy your “All synced photos” special collection into a regular (un-synced) collection
4. Then do the “Export as catalog” to create CAT2
5. Pause Syncing in CAT1
6. Close LrC
7. In Lr/Cloud, delete all the images that are SP’s.  There is a filter for this in Lr/Desktop
   03 LR filter for SP's
   but leave the albums they had been in.
8. In the exported catalog (CAT2), before turning on sync, set the sync folder (preferences -> Lightroom sync) to an empty folder so that all the items downloaded from Lr when you set it to be the sync catalog don’t get intermingled with images previously downloaded from Lr/Cloud.
9. In CAT2, before turning on sync, if you have any collections in the “From Lightroom” collection set, move those collections to some other collection set. We do this so that albums downloaded to LrC as synced collections due to the catalog change will not be intermingled with previous collections.
10. In Lr/Cloud delete any empty Albums to keep them from replicating in LrC
11. Set CAT2 to be the sync catalog
12. For each collection that is created in the “From Lightroom” collection set, drag the images from your original collection with the same name into it.  These will now sync up to Lr/Cloud as SP’s replacing the ones you deleted in a step above.  This will also preserve the shared URL if any of these Collections/Albums had been shared.
    
    04 Case 4 - Collections Panel
13. At this point you can delete the original (no longer synced) collections that came into CAT2 from the CAT1 export as catalog

Case’s not investigated

• Variant of case 4 where the NEW catalog had previously been the sync catalog at some point in the past.  For example you are syncing CAT1 and for some reason set CAT2 to be the sync catalog.  After realizing the mistake you go back and set CAT1 to be the sync catalog again.  I suspect that this scenario will be the same as case 4 twice – once going from CAT1 to CAT2 and then again going from CAT2 to CAT1.
• Taking a catalog that was synced to the Adobe Cloud under a different Adobe User account and then making it the synced catalog for this Adobe Account.  I assume this is no different than case 4.
• In case 4 when switching to a current “export as catalog” catalog.  I did not test where the exported catalog was older and updates had continued to be done after the export but before swapping the sync catalog.  I choose not to include this as I could not envision a set of circumstances were this would happen in real life.  I assume the user would just do the export as catalog again if a bunch of changes had taken place since the prior export as catalog.

What does and doesn’t sync

Please see this article on Lightroom Queen Website

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/limitations-syncing-classic-with-cloud/

Please, Please, Please leave a comment. 

This series of articles related to syncing took me over 5 months to perfom the testing and writing the results and it was very complicated and I'm giving it to you for free.  You are not seeing any ads on my website.  You did not have to provide a credit card and you did not have to create yet another account to read this.  But, I would truly like to know your reaction.  Was it useful? Was it clear?  Did you find any errors?  Did it help you understand what was going on?  Did you come here due to a probllem?  Did I leave something out that you would have like included?  Did you use this information to try and solve a problem?  Did this help you solve your problem?  And, anything else you wish to say.  
 

Appendix A3

Result Details - Case 3 (Test 6b7)

This document contains the details related to Case 3.  Numbers in parenthesis refer to test image numbers.

Color coding

In the findings below, I us the following text color coding:

BLUE – Bug (IMHO)

PINK – Inconsistencies, weirdness and things that may not be what is expected

RED – Remedies that don’t seem to work

GREEN – Remedies that seem to work

Appendix - A3

Inconsistency between synced and un-synced images.  Un-synced LrC images revert to their state in the BU catalog when that catalog was restored but synced images kept the edits done after the BU was created,  In other words reverting to the BU catalog did not revert the synced images to the state of that BU catalog.

Un-synced LrC Original Images
(1-1, 2-1)
(1-2, 2-2)
(1-4, 2-4)
(1-5, 2-5)
(1-7, 2-7)

Synced LrC Original Images
Imported into LrC before BU taken
(3-1, 4-1)
(3-2, 4-2)

Synced LrC Original images
Imported into LrC after BU taken
Edited in LrC or Lr/Cloud
(3-4, 4-4)

• Replacing image in disk folder or re-linking re-instates missing image resulting in having a full size real image rather than just an SP in LrC.

Synced LrC original images
Removed from LrC (left on disk) after the BU created
(3-5, 4-5)

• Images in LrC are present and marked as syncing and are in the “All Synced Photos” special collection but there is no mate in Lr (other than in deleted list) and they do not sync.  This also causes image counts to be different.
• Syncing settings from the original image in LrC to the SP does not bring the Original settings over to the SP.
• Editing the image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/Cloud nor does the edit get applied to the image in the Lr/Cloud deleted list.  Sync status shows “syncing x images” but image does not show up in Lr/Cloud
• Un-deleting it in Lr/Cloud brings the un-deleted SP down to LrC (with any edits done before the LrC removal was synced) resulting in 2 images in LrC.  The SP from Lr/Cloud will arrive in LrC as a new (missing) image having only the SP.  The SP is placed in the DSP sub folder of the XFER folder.  If the original from the restore is in the physical XFER folder the new SP gets a “-2” appended to the end of the file name.  Placing a copy of the physical image file into the DSP folder using your OS and renaming it with the “-2” if needed makes it no longer missing.  The SP copy is synced but the original is not synced even though it looks like it is.
• Un-syncing and re-syncing the original image in LrC does not work even though the sync status shows that it is syncing.  A few moments after doing this, the image becomes un-synced and is removed from all synced collections including the “All Synced Photographs” special collection.
• Un-syncing and re-syncing the original in LrC ONLY works if you first remove or delete the SP in both LrC (if you had un-deleted it in Lr after the catalog restore) and in LR.  Then un-sync and re-sync the Original in LrC.

Synced LrC original images
Deleted from LrC (and disk) after BU was taken
(3-7, 4-7)

• Replacing image in disk folder brings back preview and takes off “missing” indicator (but still doesn’t sync)
• Images marked as syncing in LrC but no mate in Lr/Cloud
• Mismatch between LrC and Lr/Cloud in both image presence and image count
• Editing the original image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/cloud.  Sync status shows “syncing 1 image” but image does not show up in Lr
• Un-deleting it in Lr/Cloud brings the un-deleted SP down to LrC as a new (missing) image having only the SP.  The SP is placed in the DSP sub folder of the XFER folder resulting in 2 copies in LrC.  If the original image was still in the XFER folder, the SP gets a “-2” added to the end of the file name,  The SP copy is synced but the original is not synced even though it looks like it is.
• No known way to get the original image to sync again short of removing it from LrC and re-importing it (either directly or through export/import as catalog

Synced LrC Original images
Deleted from Lr/Cloud after BU created
(3-6, 4-6)

• Images in LrC are marked as syncing and are in the “All Synced Photos” special collection but there is no mate in Lr (other than in deleted list) and they do not sync.  This also causes image counts to be different.
• Editing the restored image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/Cloud nor does the edit get applied to the image in Lr deleted list.  Sync status shows “syncing x images” but image does not show up

• Un-syncing and re-syncing the original image in LrC does not work.  A few moments after doing this, the image becomes un-synced and is removed from all synced collections

• Un-deleting it in Lr/Cloud brings the un-deleted image down to LrC (with any edits done before the LrC removal was synced) as an SP with the physical file missing.  The SP is placed in the DSP sub folder of the XFER folder resulting in 2 copies in LrC.  If the original was still in the XFER folder the new SP gets a “-2” appended to the end of the file name.  The SP copy is synced but the original is not synced even though it looks like it is.
• This works to get the original photos syncing again.  Export original image as catalog from CAT2 creating CAT3.  Then remove the image from the restored catalog (CAT2).  Now in CAT2 import as catalog from CAT3.  Then in CAT2 add images to the needed synced collections.  They will now show up in LrC with all edit history, will be in same un-synced collections but will not be put in Pub Serv collections they had been in

Synced LrC original Images
Edited in both Lr and LrC after the BU
(3-8, 4-8)

• Mismatch if the last edit had been done in LrC as the version in LrC was reverted to state in the BU catalog (before the edits had been done) but the matching image in Lr still has those edits.
• Further edits done in  Lr or LrC sync but ONLY the new changes.  Edits undone by the catalog restore remain different between Lr and LrC
• Further edits to the same controls that were undone by the catalog restore do not sync to the other ecosystem.

Synced Lr/Cloud Original Images
Imported into Lr/Cloud and synced before BU taken
Unchanged in either Lr or LrC after the BU was created
(5-1, 6-1, 7-1, 8-1)
(5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2)
(5-3, 6-3, 7-3, 8-3)

Synced Lr/Cloud Original images
Imported into Lr/Cloud and synced after BU taken
Edited in Lr
(5-4, 6-4)
(7-4, 8-4)

Synced Lr/Cloud Original images
Removed from LrC (left on disk) after the BU
(5-5, 6-5)
(7-5, 8-5)

• Images in LrC are marked as syncing and are in the “All Synced Photos” special collection but there is no mate in Lr (other than in deleted list) and they do not sync.  This also causes image counts to be different.
• Editing the image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/Cloud nor does the edit get applied to the image in Lr deleted list.  Sync status shows “syncing x images” but image does not show up
• Un-syncing and re-syncing the original image in LrC does not work.  A few moments after doing this, the image becomes un-synced and is removed from all synced collections
• Un-deleting the original image in Lr/Cloud brings the un-deleted full size image down to LrC as a VC resulting in 2 images in LrC.  It has edits done before it was deleted.  The VC is synced but the original in LrC is not synced even though it looks like it is.  The original retains its participation in non-synced collections, Pub Serv collections and edit history, the VC does not.
  
  Syncing settings from the original image in LrC to the VC does not bring the Original settings over to the VC.
• This works to get the original photos syncing again.  Export original image as catalog from CAT2 creating CAT3.  Then remove the image from the restored catalog (CAT2).  Now in CAT2 import as catalog from CAT3.  Then in CAT2 add images to the needed synced collections.  They will now show up in LrC with all edit history, will be in same un-synced collections but will not be put in Pub Serv collections they had been in

Synced Lr/Cloud Original images
Deleted from Lr/Cloud after BU
(5-6, 6-6)
(7-6, 8-6)

• Images in LrC are marked as syncing and are in the “All Synced Photos” special collection but there is no mate in Lr/cloud (other than in deleted list) and they do not sync.  This also causes image counts to be different.
• Editing the image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/Cloud nor does edit get applied to image in Lr/Cloud deleted list.  Sync status shows “syncing x images” but image does not show up in Lr/Cloud
• Un-syncing the full size image in LrC that came back with the restore and then re-syncing it does not make it sync (even though it says it is) and does not stick as a few moments after re-syncing it, it un-syncs itself.
• Un-deleting the original in Lr/Cloud creates a VC in LrC (without LrC edits done after the image was deleted) and is synced. (the version already in LrC with edit history and collection participation is not syncing) 
  
  Syncing settings from the Original image in LrC to the VC does not bring the Original settings over to the VC.
• No known way to get the original image to sync again short of removing it from LrC and re-importing it either directly or through export/import catalog

Synced Lr/Cloud original images
Deleted from LrC (and disk) after BU was taken
(5-7, 6-7)
(7-7. 8-7)

• Replacing image in disk folder brings back preview and takes off “missing” indicator (but still doesn’t sync)
• Images marked as syncing in LrC but no mate in Lr/Cloud
• Mismatch between LrC and Lr/Cloud in both image presence and image count
• Editing the original image in LrC does not cause it to appear in Lr/Cloud.  Sync status shows “syncing 1 image” but image does not show up in Lr
• Un-deleting the original in Lr/Cloud downloads a VC to LrC.  The downloaded VC in LrC picks up any edits done in LrC before it was un-deleted in Lr/Cloud but the matching version in Lr does not get those edits.  The VC is synced.  The original version that came back with the BU catalog. with edit history and collection participation still does not sync)

Synced Lr/Cloud original Images
Edited in both Lr and LrC after the BU
(5-8, 6-8)
(7-8, 8-8)

France Trip 2024 #04– Viviers to Arles

This travel log is for a trip to France in April of 2024.  This trip included a few days in Paris followed by a river cruise on the Saone and Rhone rivers through the Burgundy and Provence regions from Chalon-Sur-Saone to Arles (near Marseille).

Areas Visited map
01 Map Visited Areas

This episode takes us from Lyon to Arles on the Rhone River.

Viviers to Arles
02 Map Viviers to Arles

After leaving Viviers, we sailed overnight down the river toward the Mediterranean Sea landing this time in Avignon before dawn.

Pont du Gard

This morning we signed up for a 30 minute bus ride out to Pont du Gard (in the rain).  The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge over the Gardon River.  It was built in the first century AD as part of a 31 mile aqueduct used to get water from a spring at the Uzes to the Roman colony of Nemausus (now Nîmes). 

Roman aqueducts are a marvel of engineering.  Relying on only gravity to keep the water moving.  The slope from the source to the destination must be kept going in a downward direction.  On average the slope was 0.2% which dropped 5 inches over the course of each mile traveled.  That’s not much but enough to keep the water moving.  Today’s modern air tight pipes can go up and down along their route as long as the destination is lower than the source and can still run on gravity only.  However, in Roman times, even though they sometimes put a stone cover over the open aqueducts, they were not air tight and as such could not go up and down in order to get over hills or traverse valley’s.

For hills, even though they mostly just went around the sides keeping the same slope, sometimes they would dig a tunnel.  But to get across valleys they had to put the aqueduct on top of a bridge spanning the valley.  And this is one such example.

This one was built in the 1^st century AD stands 160 feet high, is 902 feet long, and features three tiers of arches made from shelly limestone. It is one of the best-preserved Roman aqueduct bridges and was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites in 1985 due to its exceptional preservation, historical importance, and architectural ingenuity.

Pont duGard Roman Aquaduct, Fr

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But wait.  If you look closely, this is actually two bridges.  The first is the Roman Aqueduct bridge as described but attached to its side is a road bridge constructed in the 18^th century to provide a fast way across the river for trade and pedestrians.  While some attention was paid to have the new part blend with the Roman part, it was not seamless.  The top of the road bridge was set at the same height as the top of the bottom row of arches on the Roman structure.  But, rather than being flat on top, it is peaked in the middle.  The coloring is similar but rather then using stone like the Roman’s it is a combination of stone and concrete made to look like uniform stones or bricks. 

So, if you want to see the just the Roman architecture you have to go around to the backside and look at it from its upstream side.  Looking at it from the downstream side the bottom tier is mid 1700’s and the upper 2 tiers are 1^st century Roman.

Newer road bridge with peak in the middle in front of the old Roman bridge
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Older Roman bridge on left, newer road bridge on the right
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Avignon

After visiting the Pont du Gard in the morning and returning to the ship for lunch, we decided to take a wander around the town of Avignon.  As we were becoming quite accustomed to, it was another rainy day.  Rainy days are a mixed blessing when being a tourist.  On one hand you have to deal with rain coats and umbrellas and always being damp – not to mention drops of water on your lens.  And, some places can become a bit slippery when wet so extra vigilance must be taken to – as they say – “watch your step”.   But, on the other hand, there are way less crowds milling around and lines are much shorter for just about everything.  But al fresco dining is not as charming as it would be on a sunny day.

But, we paid to be here and we only had this one afternoon in this port of call so off we went.  Between the dock and the city wall was a good size lake that was supposed to be an overflow dirt parking lot, or perhaps a place for a farmers or flea market.  But today it was a shallow lake.  Beyond this lake was a pedestrian underpass going under a highway which emerged next to the city wall.

Emerging from the pedestrian underpass by the city wall
Bicycle and City Wall, Avignon, FR

After passing through a narrow walkway through the wall we found ourselves on an empty rain soaked street leading to the center of the old district.  Part of the reason it was empty, of course was the rain but it was also a Sunday which greatly reduced shoppers and locals. 

The streets are quiet on Sundays in the rain
Rue Joseph Vernet, Avignon, FR

Continuing along our way, and ducking into the one or two shops that were open, we made our way to the town square.  Along the way we noticed a tourist “tram” crossing the street 4 or 5 blocks ahead.  This was one of those rubber tire tram city tour vehicles of around 5 roofed but open passenger cars being pulled by a small tractor made to look like train steam engine.  As we were not up to waking the entire old town area on wet cobblestones we decided to do the tram ride - if we could find it. 

So after reaching the plaza (where we’d seen the tram cross) I did a quick Google search on my phone to figure out where the stops for that tram were located.  Well, maybe a not so quick of a Google search.  OK, maybe a lengthy Google search.  No matter what phrasing I used, I could not find any reference to any sort of tram, train, or city tour in Avignon.  So, let’s ask a waiter in one of those outdoor cafes.  But, he didn’t speak enough English.  So I tried a different waiter but she didn’t know.  I then figured that sales folks in a sweet shop might know as the darn thing passed right in front of the store.  He pointed down the plaza and said he thought the ‘station’ was up there someplace.  Ok, so we headed that way.

The plaza (Place de L’horloge) is rimmed with cafes with copious outdoor seating – much of it actually in the plaza itself.  The plaza is well shaded by trees (not that shade was an issue this day) and must quite a bustling place on a warm sunny weekend afternoon – but not today.

Place de L’horloge
10 Avignon Central Plaza 1
(courtesy of Google Street View)

This plaza is 1 block wide and two blocks long with a small carousel at one end

Place de L’horloge
11 Avignon Central Plaza 2
(courtesy of Google Street View)

At this point we were at the end of the plaza by the carousel which we were sure would be where there would be a tram stop, but no such luck..   We did catch a glimpse of it crossing a few blocks away but really didn’t want to chase it on foot all through the town.  So, I found someone in a fancy uniform in front of a posh restaurant and after some false starts he pointed on down the street in the direction we had been going.

At the end of the plaza a Bank of France building that seemed to be plunked down right in the middle of the plaza.  So following the latest directions we went around the bank and emerged on the other side in an open parade ground in front of the Palace of the Popes which was basically another large plaza but without the restaurants and trees.  And at the far end of this 2^nd plaza, there was the tram loading passengers.

Palace of the Popes Plaza
12 Avignon Plaza of the Popes
(courtesy of Google Street View)

As it turns out, Avignon  is known as “The City of the Popes” as it was the seat of the Catholic Church from 1309 to 1377 (before the Vatican in Rome).  You don’t need much of an imagination to grasp that the church did not skimp on the accommodations for this string of Popes.  The Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) is an impressive (well, let’s say massive) Gothic structure which turns out to be the largest Gothic palace in Europe (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  We didn’t go in as we’d been informed that the tour inside involved quite a lot of stair climbing, going up and down multiple times and that once you start, it is a one way route and you have to go the entire route.  Even so, the front of the building is quite impressive due to its massive size, intricate detailing, and towering spires. It is a testament (indictment?) to the wealth and power of the medieval papacy.

Main entrance to the  Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes)
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The tram ride through the city was lovely and after all that walking nice to sit down for awhile out of the rain.  The ride first went up to the top of the hill by the palace for a grand view of the area, then meandered through much of the city that we would not have otherwise seen. 

Most of the area the tram took us too was too far for us to walk back to, but one spot that I wanted to grab a photo of turned out to be quite close to the palace as it actually is part of the palace.  This is a narrow piece of roadway by the open air theatre attached to the south end of the palace.  This narrow bit of street was carved into the bedrock and goes under a connector hallway from the theatre to other buildings.

Narrow walkway carved into bedrock under an arch of the palace
Rue de la Payrolerie, Avignon, FR

After our tram tour we returned to the ship for dinner and the last section of the river we’d traverse which would take us on down to Arles.  After leaving the dock, the captain took use down to the Pont Saint-Benezet (aka Le Pont d’Avignon) bridge before making a U-turn to go back up river a bit in order to switch over to the main river channel.  This famous bridge was built in the 12^th century and originally spanned both channels of the Rhone connecting Avignon to Villeneuve-les-Avignon on the other side of the river.  The bridge is famous for the French song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon,” which dates back to the 15th century. The song describes people dancing on the bridge, although historically, they likely danced beneath it on the riverbanks.

The bridge was constructed between 1177 and 1185. According to legend, a young shepherd named Bénézet was divinely inspired to build the bridge, and he convinced the local authorities by miraculously lifting a huge stone which I guess is the French equivalent of pulling a stuck sword out of a stone as they did in Britain.

Today, only four of the original 22 arches remain. The bridge was frequently damaged by floods, and after much of it washed away in a 17th century flood, it was abandoned and left in its current state.

Pont Saint-Benezet (aka Le Pont d’Avignon) bridge
Pont Saint Benezet, Avignon, Fr

Arles

Arles was our last port of call on this tour.  It sits on the Mediterranean 30 miles west of Marseille.  With a population of 54,000 it is not a terribly big city, but is an actual city. 

As we toured up the streets from the boat to the Roman coliseum, we passed normal French city scenes which typify the part of France

Amédée Pichot fountain
Amédée Pichot fountain

Typical small French Cafe
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Narrow pedestrian only lanes crisscross the city
Rue des Arenes, Arles, FR

It is said that ‘all roads lead to Rome”.
Well, in this case they lead to the steps of a Roman coliseum
Rue de Amphigtheatre and Rue Voltaiire, Arles, FR

Like many French locations, the Roman’s left a significant imprint of their time ruling the area.  In Arles there is a small coliseum and an amphitheater from those times.  Both are still used today for sports and stage productions.  In each case some of the seating has been upgraded from the stone benches of Roman times to accommodate modern posteriors and electric lights have been installed to support evening events.

Coliseum in Arles
Arenes d'Arles, Alres , FR

Outer coliseum walkway
Arenes d'Arles, Alres , FR

Inside Coliseum with modern aluminum ringside seating
Arenes d'Arles, Alres , FR

Arles is probably best known for its connection with Vincent Van Gogh.  Van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889, and the city inspired many of his famous works. He was attracted to the city due to its vibrant color, intense sunlight and unique atmosphere – and it was inexpensive.  Arguably some of his best work was created during his time in Arles including “The Starry Night”, “Sunflowers” and “Café Terrace at Night”.  But this also marked a period in his life of mental health challenges.  As a result of these mental health issues he spent short periods of time in 1889 staying in the Public Hospital of Arles.  While staying there he continued painting and this included a painting called “The Garden of the Asylum” which depicts the central courtyard of the hospital.  This hospital is still there but is now a museum. 

Copy of “The Garden of the Asylum “ painting by Vincent Van Gogh on a stand in the actual garden (top) and the garden is it is today (bottom)
25 Arles Hospital

And who’s to say that the French have no sense of humor?
Staturay in front of Catheedrale Saint Trophime Arles, FR

In a shop window
Witches and Wheelchairs, Arles, FR

Cathedral of Images

After another lunch on the boat, we boarded a bus to take about a half hour ride outside of Arles to The Cathedral of Images.  This is a modern immersive light and sound art experience located in the Carrières des Lumières, a former limestone quarry in Les Baux-de-Provence that had been in operation during the 11^th  to the 17^th centuries.  Perhaps the word “quarry” conjures up an image of an open pit partially filled with water where teenagers go to get into trouble but not in this case.  This is more like a mine where they tunneled into the side of a mountain and carved out ‘rooms’ inside as they cut out rectangular stone blocks leaving flat limestone surfaces on which to project images. 

Each year they stage a new presentation of sound and images featuring the works of famous artists.  The shows we saw were ‘Egyptian Pharaohs (from Cheops to Ramesses II) and The orientalist (Ingres, Delacroix, Gerome). 

This is quite an impressive experience.  Vibrant projections of famous pieces of art, digitally put in motion and projected on the walls and floor accompanied by full orchestra sound tracks with you walking around in the middle of it all.  I took a large number of still images and also recorded a dozen videos but for some reason that I still don’t understand the video’s didn’t record the audio even though videos I recorded the same way before and after this visit had sound.  Below I’ve included two of the silent videos to give you the idea and also included some of the still images.  The last one is the original entrance to the quarry used to carry the limestone blocks to their ultimate destination to be used in roads, buildings, and bridges.

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(Online this is a video.  See bottom for link to this article on line)

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Cathedral of Images

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Les Baux-de-Provence

From the Cathedral of Images the bus brought us over to yet another charming medieval town about a half mile away called Les Baus-de-Provence.  One of the things that made this little town much nicer was that it wasn’t raining.  Like many such towns this one too was built on the top of a hill but in this case it was more of a rocky out crop with sheer cliffs descending to the valleys on either side.  This is a very compact town with really only one main avenue (with some side lanes) ascending up the spine of the ridge to the ruins of the castle. 

The main attraction is the Château des Baux which is an iconic castle in the area.  It was once a stronghold of the powerful Baux family but is now just ruins leaving a large flat area at the top of the cliffs where it had once been quite an imposing structure.  Even though the castle has succumbed to time the town survived with cafes, galleries and shops. 

This area has been inhabited since prehistoric times (5^th century BCE) as evidenced by archeological digs.  But as with the other villages and towns, the Roman period shaped much of the architecture and infrastructure including an intricate road network allowing commerce to flourish. 

Then in the 10^th to 12^th centuries the powerful Lords of Baux ruled the area.  They were known for their rebellious nature against the Counts of Provence resulting in many conflicts and the impetus to build a large castle-fortress for defense.  This fortress became a symbol of the Lords’ power and played a crucial role in the region’s defense.

In the 16^th century the village experienced a cultural renaissance. However, it also faced conflicts and sieges, leading to periods of decline.  But in the 17th century, the village came under the control of the French Crown. The castle was dismantled on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu to prevent it from being used as a stronghold by remnants of the rebellious forces.

Main avenue through town up to where the castle had been
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One of severl side lanes off the main avenue
Side Lane, Les Baux-de-Provence, FR

Remnants of a piece of the castle.  Probably a guard house
4 pane window, Les Baux-de-Provence, Fr

View towards the old Quarry
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Veiw of the countryside from the other side
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And that concludes our French River Cruise adventure.  The next day we headed to the airport in a shared cab to Marseille which was about an hour’s drive from the boat.  Our flight had a layover in Germany and was wonderful.  By ‘wonderful’ I mean it went according to plan.  Planes left and arrived on time, luggage arrived intact, very little turbulence in route, the video system at our seats on the plane worked, nothing really annoying happened on the airplane and our hired car was waiting for us when we landed.  So, these days, that counts as ‘wonderful’.

Hope you enjoyed following along with us and please leave a comment if you’re reading this online.

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(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

France Trip 2024 #03– Lyon to Viviers

This travel log is for a trip to France in April of 2024.  This trip included a few days in Paris followed by a river cruise on the Saone and Rhone rivers through the Burgundy and Provence regions from Chalon-Sur-Saone to Arles (near Marseille).

Areas Visited map
01 Map Visited Areas

This episode takes us from Lyon to Viviers on the Rhone River.

Lyon to Viviers
01 Map Lyon to Viviers

After leaving Lyon the Saone River joined into the Rhone River which took us on our southward journey, once again passing chateaus, vineyards and small villages. 

Somewhere on the Rhone river between Lyon and Tournon
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Our next port of call was another medieval town called Tournon-sur-Rhone.

Tournon-sur-Rhone

Tournon-sur-Rhône is yet another town along the banks of this major river.  Like all the other towns and cities we’ve visited on our river trip, this one too is said to occupy a strategic location for trade and commerce.  It’s starting to look like every town and city on the Saone and Rhone Rivers have a strategic location for trade and commerce, which I suppose is true given that rivers were basically the only means for transportation of people and goods when these places were built.

Like many such towns, it is centered around an imposing castle – which we did not visit.  .  While its origins trace back to the 10th century, the castle there today primarily dates from the 15th and 16th centuries and as is normally the case was instrumental in the defensive of the town.  Today it contains a museum showcasing the regions past and at one time was a prison.  Like all good medieval castles, there is usually an interesting anecdote related to the castle.  In this case, in 1536, the eldest son of King Francis I tragically died here after a game of tennis. 

In the 16^th century, Tournon became a significant center for Jesuit education when they established a renowned college which attracted students from all over Europe. 

The region around Tournon is also known for its winemaking, dating back to Roman times.  The wines of Tournon were reportedly enjoyed by Charlemagne, highlighting their early prestige.

But, not being wine drinkers we opted for the walking tour of the city rather than an excursion to a winery.  Our ship docked next to what was probably at one time a lovely park by the river bank but is now basically a parking lot with trees.

Parking lot named Parking Quai Farconnect
02 Trounon Parking Quai Farconnect
(Google Maps, Street View)

The section of town where we docked is a narrow strip only two blocks wide beyond the parking lot.  Behind that second block there is a steep slope ascending to a large open space.  This near cliff is most likely what kept the development in this narrow strip.  A bit up stream and also down stream this slope was not so steep and the town expanded more. 

Steep hill near river kept development to a park and two streets in this section.
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Like all the other ports of call we visited on this trip, the old section of town consists of narrow cobble stone streets which have been converted to pedestrian only lanes lined with shops and apartments above. 

Commercial Street with shops and living above
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Tournon Residential Street
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And, like most such towns the old section has some sort of church or cathedral.  In this case it is the Eglise Saint Julien de Tournon-sur-Rhone (Saint Julien Church of Tournon).  Construction of this Gothic building began in the 12th century, with the church undergoing several transformations over the centuries. In the 15th century, it was elevated to the status of a collegiate church, reflecting its religious importance.

 Eglise Saint Julien de Tournon-sur-Rhone (Saint Julien Church of Tournon)
Paroisse St Luc, Tournon sur Rhone, FR

Vibrant stained glass window in St. Julien Church
Paroisse St Luc, Tournon sur Rhone, FR

Life in these old town areas seems to be quite laid back and peaceful.  Nobody (except us tourists) seem to be in a rush and time seems to progress at a leisurely pace.

As we wandered the back streets, stopping here and there for a bit of history we watched life in the town unfold in front of us. 

9:15 in the morning – time to open the shutters and let the light in
Opening the shutters, Tournon sur Rhone, FR

Shopping for dinner in the town market
Open air Market Tournon Sur Rhone, FR

The French really know how to bake
Open airi Market tournon sur Rhone, FR

One of the buildings we passed was the old hospital.  It was currently being renovated so was surrounded by a construction wall which made photographing it less than optimal.  Over the main door was an ancient marker engraved in the header stone over the main door reading “Hotel Bieu”.  This seemed odd as it was not a hotel (nor was it ever a hotel), so what’s with the sign.  Well, it seems that in France the word “Hotel” means “any place people can sleep or eat” so a hospital is indeed a kind of hotel.  Good to know if you’re booking a room online – you wouldn’t want to pick one in the wrong sort of ‘hotel’.

Right behind this hospital had been the wall surrounding the town and at this point in the wall was a round watch tower which became known as the Tour de l'Hôpital (or Hospital Tower). In the 1860’s, this tower was topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary looking down on the hospital. This is one of the few remaining towers from the old city ramparts which were built in the 16th century.

Tour de l'Hôpital
Hospital Tower, Tournon-sur-Rhone

And, what could be more French than a stream of 10 to 15 vintage Citroen cars driving past on a lazy Saturday morning

Citroen Car Club touring the city on a quiet Saturday morning
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Navigating a River Boat

After leaving Tournon-sur-Rhone, on our way to Viviers we were offered a tour of the “wheelhouse” on our ship.  It was not what I expected.  After touring tons of old ships and vessels, my notion of a wheelhouse (bridge if you will) is a room with a giant steering wheel in the center – sometimes with its bottom part below floor level – and a brass lever mechanism that is used to signal the engine room for what speed to go and that they use to acknowledge the order.  Of course, being the modern age I also expected to see a row of overhead monitors over the front windows to display navigation and weather information and then someplace off to the side a rack of radio gear. 

What I found was quite different.  First of all, no steering wheel at all.  Even though they referred to the place as the “Wheel House” there was no ‘wheel’ at all.  There was a nice cushy pilot chair and the only controls within reach were really just two joy stick sort of things off to the pilot’s left (almost out of reach), along with a radio/telephone even farther out of reach.   In front of the pilot (and a bit away from the pilot seat) was an array of display screens arrayed in a semi circle below the windows.

Control Center of the ship
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Most of the real piloting is done by computer.  The computer keeps the ship in the correct part of the river, straightens out the boat if the wind tries to blow it sideways, and keeps a constant speed by revving up or slowing down the engines to counter changes in river or wind speed.  In fact when cruising down the river the pilot mostly just sits and watches. 

The computer knows the exact draft of the ship (how much of it is below the water line), and it knows the current depth of the river all along its course and plots where the ship should go to avoid the ever shifting sand bars.  If it can’t plot a route where the water is deep enough, it sounds an alarm and stops the ship.

When approaching a bridge, even though the computer knows exactly how much space there is between the water and the bottom of the bridge, radar or similar technologies scan the upcoming bridge and on one of the displays shows the captain the electronically measured height available for the ship and also shows a VR of the upcoming bridge with an arrow on the water indicating where the ship should go and another showing where it actually is pointed to.  Pretty nifty. 

Dashboard
04 Wheelhouse Dashboard  

The bottom of the ship was also a bit different than I expected.  In this case  I envisioned a contoured bottom (like a row boat) with a keel running down the middle to keep the boat from going sideways and at the back end two propellers and a rudder.  I also figured it would have a pair of bow thrusters to nudge the nose of the ship one way or the other to assist with fine maneuvers like docking.  Well, it turns out that none of that exists. 

First of all, it is a flat bottom boat with no keel at all.  Another thing is that there is no real engine room with long drive shafts extending to the propellers.  And there is no rudder.  Instead, there are 3 engines (actually electric motors) on the bottom, two at the stern and one at the bow.  These 3 motor can swivel 360 degrees to make either the front or the back of the ship go in any direction at all.  In fact the ship can make a U-turn in a channel that is only 5 to 10 feet wider than the ship is long.  There is an engine room with a diesel generator which makes the electricity needed to power the 3 motors as well as supply all the electrical needs to the ship in general.

Other than squeezing under low bridges, the trickiest parts of driving one of these things are the locks.  As mentioned earlier the ships are designed to barely fit into the size of the locks on their chosen river.  This means that there is just a foot or so of extra width and perhaps a foot or two of extra length.  So, even with all the smarts of modern computers, getting these ships into and out of the locks is pretty much done manually.  Not too bad in the middle of a windless day, but if there’s a cracking good breeze as they say or at night sometimes it can be a bit dicey.  Of course the computer helps out by showing how much space is left on either side as well as at the front and back but the skill of the pilot getting the thing parked in the lock is the most important. 

Remember, the ship is 443 feet long. That’s almost one and a half times longer than the size of an NFL football field.

Inches to spare in a lock
05 fit in lock

Viviers

Viviers, with a 2020 population of just 3,667 is much smaller than the other towns and cities we’ve visited along the river.  Although there must be some contemporary areas for shopping and such in the suburbs, the core of the town is 100% medieval.  The old town is dominated by the Viviers Cathedral (Cathedral Saint-Vincent de Viviers) on the top of a hill overlooking the River and surrounding countryside.  This Roman Catholic cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Viviers. 

The village's name is derived from the Latin Vivarium, referring to fish farming ponds built on the banks of the Rhône by the Romans to supply Alba Helviorum.  Like all towns, cities, and villages in the area, this one too changed hands many times.  It was the capital of the Gaulish Helvii tribe following the decline of nearby Alba-la-Romaine.  In the 5^th century it was incorporated into the Kingdom of the Burfundians which was then conquered by the Franks.  Things were pretty quiet till the 9^th century when it passed to the Kingdom of Provence and then was incorporated into the Kingdom of Arles (933-1032).  Then the Romans came along in 1032 and were in charge till 1307 when the area was passed to the Kingdom of France. 

The Kingdom of France reinforced the walls which was a good thing as those bigger and better walls held fast during the Hundred Years War and kept the town from being destroyed.  But if they can’t get you from the outside, watch out for an inside job.  In the early 16th century, Bishop Claude of Tournon who was also chaplain to Anne of Brittany, invested greatly into the town.  Later in the same century, Noel Albert, an eminent citizen, seized the town for Protestantism, bringing it into the French Wars of Religion and ransacking the Cathedral. After Albert's execution and the end of the conflict, Viviers' profile was significantly reduced.  The bishops, who had fled the city during the war, only returned to Viviers in the 18th century, after the construction of a large new Bishop's Palace.

Viviers emerged from the French Revolution unscathed as its Bishop, Charles de La Font de Savine, had been one of the few Catholic bishops to pledge allegiance to the revolutionary government.

Once again we opted for the walking tour of the town, which included getting up to the cathedral through a maze of narrow lanes and passageways as we slowly zigzagged our way up to the top.  Once at the top, we discovered that coming in from the other side, one could drive up, but we also found that there was no such thing as taxis, Uber or Lyft in this town and also no busses so unless you have your own car you have to ascend by foot.

After leaving the boat we strolled up a narrow street lined with trees through an open area where the locals play soccer on a large dirt patch. 

Tree line lane leading from the river to the old town
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This led us to what had been the center, and oldest section, of town.  This section was at one time the area inside the long gone city walls but you can still see where many of the buildings were built next to the old wall as their outer side conforms to the curve of the wall.  However, for the most part where the wall had been is now a street.

Oldest section of town.  The street is where the original city wall had been
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From this original town section they gradually expanded the town up the side of the hill all the way to the castle/cathedral at the very top.  As real estate was in such short supply inside the walls the lanes were quite narrow.  Many are not even wide enough for a proper carriage but good enough for horses or hand carts.  The carriages of the nobles would use the wider roads on the back side of the hill to get to the Cathedral.

Narrow Lane
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More narrow lanes
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Wildlife in Viviers
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As the population expanded so did many families who found that their home had become way too small.  This was quite a dilemma as once you went up 3 stories the construction capability at the time would not support a 4^th story and there was no place off to the side to put an addition.  Sometimes you were lucky and could acquire the house next door and put in some doors between the two.  But if that didn’t work out, sometimes you could get the house across the street.  When this happened they would build connections between the two houses bridging over the street.

Bridging over the street to connect two houses on opposite sides
Grande Rue, Viviers, FR

Another interesting thing about the photo above is that the arch supporting the bridge over the street looks like it was originally twice as wide.  The theory goes that at one time, the street too was twice as wide but in the quest for more living space, the front of the houses on the right side were expanded over half the width of the street.

As we continued our gradual ascent every now and again a small plaza would open up.  Many times this is where a town well had been and these became the gathering places for the town folk where they could congregate and socialize.  But, those wells and pumps are gone.  In more modern times, in order to liven up these plazas the residents many times added whimsical paintings on their doorways.

Painted doorways around a plaza
Painted doors Grande Rue, Viviers, FR

Painted Jester door Grande Rue, Viviers, FR

In the most recent decade or so, the population of this village, as well as other villages, has declined as younger people head for the cities and the older folk die off.  This is especially true of historical old sections of town which don’t have lots of bars and restaurants or other entertainment that would tend to be attractive to younger families.  As such, many buildings are abandoned and are slowly decaying into rubble. 

Many abandoned buildings
Off Grande Rue, Viviers, FR

Once you get to the top it is not entirely obvious where the town ends and the cathedral/castle begins.  They just sort of blend together.

Where the Cathedral meets the town
23 A7R5-#08095

There was some sort of festival planned for the day we were here, but it was cancelled due to weather.  Nevertheless we could not go inside the Cathedral as it was still set up for the festival.  The cathedral's roots trace back to the 11th century, with a solid Romanesque base.  But later, in the 16th century, Bishop Claude de Tournon introduced Flamboyant Gothic elements, particularly in the choir area, adding a touch of elegance and intricacy and adulterating the original Romanesque style.  Then, in the 18^th century, following damage during the Wars of Religion, the cathedral underwent significant reconstruction and the vaulted ceiling was restored.

One of the main things this cathedral is known for are the “Gobelins Tapestries” which came along in 1858 as a gift from Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert.  These detailed tapestries adorn the cathedral's choir, adding a vibrant touch to the sacred space however even if we could have gone inside we wouldn’t have been able to see them as they were out for restoration.

====================================

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Thanks for reading – Dan

(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, and pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

As of LrC/13.4-13.5 and Lr/Cloud 7.4.1-7.5 (August 2024).

8/19/2024 –  Original Posting

Many folks assume they know, or just trust their instincts, as to what happens to synced images when they perform various actions.  Then later they discover unexpected results or it didn’t do what they thought it would do.

This is part 1 of a 3 part series concerning the sync process between Lightroom Classic (LrC), and Lightroom (Lr or Lr/Cloud).

Part 1 (this Part) documents how various commands and actions done in Lr/Cloud and Lr/Classic affect synced images.

Part 2 Changing Which LrC Catalog Syncs with Lr/Cloud concerns the reconciliation process between Lr/Cloud and LrC when the synced catalog is changed and many of the problems that come from that process.

Part 3 Fixing Sync Problems caused by switching the Sync Catalog discusses options for fixing Lightroom Sync problems caused by changing the sync catalog.  This includes the dreaded “images don’t sync and can’t be made to sync” problem plus many others.

I’ll start with some definitions and then discuss user actions (and their effect) taken in LrC followed by user actions taken in Lr/Cloud.  At the bottom I have a reference to a Lightroom Queen Article about what does and doesn’t sync between the two ecosystems.

NOTE: When you are syncing, most of the actions performed in LrC or Lr/Cloud on synced images require information to be “synced” to the other ecosystem.  This is not instantaneous as it involves passing things through the internet and processing at both ends.  The time required also changes depending on how many images are involved and what information must be passed back and forth.

Terminology

Lr/Cloud

I use this term to mean the cloud based Lightroom ecosystem, including all the cloud based apps such as LR/Desktop, LR/Web, LR/Android, and LR/iOS

LrC

This is Lightroom Classic which is the catalog and folder based application that only runs on Windows and Macs

Collection

A collection is a grouping of images in LrC which can be seen in the collections panel.
11 LR024-T03 Collections

Album

Albums refer to a grouping of images in Lr/Cloud in the albums section.  Albums in Lr/Cloud are like collections in LrC.
03 LR024-T04 Albums Panel

Collection Set

This is like a folder containing collections and only applies to LrC
01 LR024-T05 Collection Sets

Folder (LrC)

Folders in LrC are groupings which can contain other folders or individual image files.  These map to folders (directories) on your disk drive that you can see with File Explorer (Win) or Finder (Mac).

23 LR024-T10 Folders (LrC)

Folder (Lr/Cloud)

This is container in Lr/Cloud for albums.  It should not be confused with folders in LrC which are completely different things. A folder in Lr/Cloud is similar to a collection set in LrC but the two do not sync between them

02 LR024-T06 Folders (cloud)

Public/Shared

I use these terms to mean a collection or album which has been “Made Public” or “Shared”.  In either case, this creates a web page containing the images in the collection or album and you are provided with a long and a short URL to access that web page. 

By default, Public albums/collections can be accessed by anyone who has the URL.  Using Lr/Web you can modify (to some degree) how these web pages are displayed.  You can also change it to only allow access to people you invite and if so you can also allow users to contribute and/or edit the web page.

12 LR024-T07 Share & Invite Options (Cloud)

Images are populated in these web pages from the Lr/Cloud albums when the page is displayed to a user in their web browser.  So, changes made to images in a public/shared album/collection are visible to the users of those pages automatically.

Public/Private status syncs between Lr/Cloud albums and their associated LrC collections.

Portfolio

This is a tool which comes free with your Adobe plan.  It is used to build a web site which is hosted on Adobe servers.  In the context of this article, I am assuming that Portfolio pages of images are created in Portfolio by importing an Lr/Cloud album.

15 LR024-T08 Add PF Gallery

Images in Portfolio pages are not updated automatically when they are changed in the associated album/collection.  In this article I refer the “Reset from Lightroom” command.  This command is found by clicking “Pages” in the left menu.  Then in the pop up selecting ”Reset from Lightroom”.  Doing this re-loads the content of the Portfolio Page from the current contents of the album/collection.

16 LR024-T08 PF Reset from LR

Sync Catalog

The Sync Catalog (or Currently Synced Catalog) is the LrC catalog that is set to  sync to Lr/Cloud.  Only one LrC catalog can be set to sync with your Lr/Cloud Lightroom system at a time.

Xfer Folder

I will be using “Xfer Folder” in this article to mean the destination folder where LrC places images downloaded from Lr/Cloud.   By default this is “Mobile Downloads.lrdata” in the “Pictures -> Lightroom” folder (on a Mac this is a “package”). 

Most people use the “Lightroom Sync” tab of the “Preferences” dialog in LrC to change this to a real folder on your system (where your backup routines will back it up with your other images).  In either case you can elect to have all the images downloaded from Lr/Cloud go into this one folder or have LrC automatically create subfolders by capture date using a pattern you select.

22 LR024 T09 Xfer Folder

Original Image

Original images are those that entered the LR world through that LR ecosystem.  If an image was imported or taken with one of the Lr/Cloud apps then in Lr/Cloud it is considered an original.  Conversely LrC original images are those imported into LrC.

Fundamental Principles of the Adobe Sync processing

1. Only 1 LrC catalog can be synced to the cloud at a time.  This is called the “Sync Catalog” (or “Currently Synced Catalog”).
2. Every image in Lr/Cloud is synced to LrC.
3. Every video added to Lr/Cloud will be copied to LrC once.  After that it will not sync.  Video’s added to LrC do not sync to Lr/Cloud even if placed in a synced collection.
4. For Original Lr/Cloud images full size original copies of the image (in its imported file type) are copied to LrC but the “original” is still considered as being the version in Lr/Cloud and they are counted against your plan’s storage limit.  In LrC these images are placed in the Xfer Folder as well as the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in the Catalog Panel.  If the image form Lr/Cloud was in an album, the image will also be placed in the corresponding synced collection in LrC.
5. In LrC only images in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in the Catalog panel will sync to Lr/Cloud and this is restricted to still images only (no videos).  Images placed into regular synced collections automatically get added to the “All Synced Photographs” special collection.
6. When LrC original images are synced to Lr/Cloud, a proxy image called a Smart Preview (SP) is what is sent to Lr/Cloud.  This is a file with 2550 pixels on the long edge that stands in for the master copy of the image and can be used for editing.  These do not count against your plan’s storage limit.
7. Changes to images in either ecosystem sync to the associated image in the other ecosystem.

LrC Actions

These are actions you can execute in LrC that affect things synced with the Lr/Cloud.

Add image to “All Synced Photographs”

When an image is added to the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in the Catalog panel in LrC, that causes the image to also be copied to Lr/Cloud where it will be placed in the “All Photos” section and establishes a sync relationship for that image between the two eco systems. This does not apply to video’s.

04 LR024-LrC01 All synced + All Photos combo

Sync a collection

This includes changing an un-synced collection to synced or creating a new synced collection.

When you do this in LrC, an album is created in Lr/Cloud with the same name as the LrC collection if not already there – this album is not placed into a Lr/Cloud folder but may be moved to one manually after it is created.  The collection/album name can subsequently be changed in either ecosystem which also changes it in the other ecosystem.  The collection set containing the collection is not communicated to Lr/Cloud.

Once the album is created in Lr/Cloud, each of the images in the LrC collection is synced to the associated Lr/Cloud album.

Synced collections have a double headed arrow in the collections panel.  Clicking this icon (or the space where it would be) toggles the sync status of the collection.  You can also right click on a collection name and click “Sync with Lightroom” to toggle the collection sync status on or off.

05 LR024-LrC02 Toggle Synced Collection

Add image to a synced collection

When you add an image to a Synced collection, it is also added to the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC if it’s not already there.  See “Add image to the All Synced Photographs special collection” section for what that means.

In addition, that image will be added to the equivalent album in Lr/Cloud.

If the collection is Public/Shared, the image will be added to the associated web page. 

It will not automatically be added to any Portfolio page.  If a Portfolio page is linked to the collection/album you will need to reset the page in Portfolio to have the new image show up.

Add a video to a synced collection

When you add a video to a Synced collection, even though it is added to the synced collection it is not added to “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC and will not sync to Lr/Cloud

Make a collection Public

Making a collection Public/Shared creates a web page containing the images in the collection (see “Public/Shared” in terminology section above)

For an LrC collection to be Public it must first be synced as the thing being made public is the Lr/Cloud album associated with the collection rather than the LrC collection itself. 

To make a synced collection public, click the “Make Public” button above the top right corner of the grid.

06 LR024-LrC03 Make Public (Classic)

After clicking the “Make Public” button a long URL will show up to the left of that button.  After a bit, the full URL will be replaced by a short URL.  Click on the short or long URL to see the web page in your browser.  Right click on the URL to copy it to the clipboard for pasting into other applications like an email message.  Either the long or short URL can be used by anyone to access the web page but the short one is more convenient to share with others.  Use Lr/Cloud Desktop app to change the appearance of the web page or to change its access to invited users only.

Make collection Private

If you have a Public/Shared collection which you no longer want others to see, you need to make it (and its associated album) Private again.  Click the “Make Private” button above the top right of the grid.

07 LR024-LrC04 Make Private (Classic)

This will delete the public web page and will invalidate both the long and short URL’s for that page.  It will also mark the associated album in Lr/Cloud as being Private.  It has no effect on images in the collection or album or on pages in Portfolio.  Making it public again produces a different URL.

Un-sync or delete a synced collection

This action includes changing a synced collection to be un-synced as well as deleting a synced collection.

If you delete or un-sync a synced collection, it removes the associated album from Lr/Cloud.

It does NOT remove the images from the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC so those images will remain synced with the Lr/Cloud Ecosystem and will remain in Lr/Cloud’s “All Photos” list as well as any other Lr/Cloud albums and any other LrC collections they are in.

If the collection is public/shared, the web page will be deleted and both the short and long URL’s used to access that page will be cancelled. 

No change will be made to what’s in Portfolio.  In this case if in Portfolio you “refresh from Lightroom” it will not complain but also will not do anything as the album in Lr/Cloud no longer exists.

Click the “Synced” icon to un-sync or right click and un-check the sync with lightroom checkbox

14 LR024-LrC06 Unsync Collection

Edit synced image

The changes are applied to that image in the Folders Panel as well as every collection containing that image including the “All Synced Photographs” special collection.

Assuming that the image is in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection, the changes will sync to Lr/Cloud within the constraints of what does and doesn’t sync (see bottom of this article for link to where this is discussed).  In Lr/Cloud the changes will be applied to the image in the “All Photos” list and in every album which contain the image.

If the image is in any Public/Shared collections, once the changes sync to the associated Lr/Cloud album(s), those changes will be included when users accesses the web page associated with any of those synced collections/albums. 

The changes will not automatically be sent to Portfolio.  In Portfolio you must “Reset from Lightroom” in order for the changes to be sent to the Portfolio page.

Edit video

Those changes will not affect anything in Lr/Cloud

Move a synced collection to a collection set

If you move a synced collection to a new or different collection set, this only affects LrC.  No changes are made in Lr/Cloud

13 LR024-LrC05 Drag Collection to Set

Remove image from a synced collection

The image will also be removed from the associated Lr/Cloud album.

It will NOT be removed from the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC so the image will remain synced with the Lr/Cloud Ecosystem and it will remain in the Lr/Cloud “All Photos” list as well as any other Lr/Cloud albums it may be in.

If the synced collection is Public/Shared, the image will be removed from the associated web page.  It will not be removed from any Portfolio pages it may be on.  To remove it from the Portfolio page, use the “Reset from Lightroom” command in Portfolio.

Remove image from “All Synced Photographs”

Removing an image from the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC will also remove it from all of the synced collections it happens to participate in.  The Image will also be removed from all Lr/Cloud albums as well as the Lr/Cloud “All Photos” list and is placed in the Deleted list where it will remain for 60 days. 

The image will be removed from all Public/Shared web pages

This is the preferred way to “Stop syncing an image and remove it from Lr/Cloud”

This will not remove the image from Portfolio.  To remove it from Portfolio pages, after it has been removed from the Lr/Cloud album(s) use the “Reset from Lightroom” command in Portfolio on each page it appears on.

Remove/Delete image

Removing/Deleting the image form the catalog will remove it from all collections it happens to participate in.  The Image will also be removed from all Lr/Cloud albums as well as the Lr/Cloud “All Photos” list and will be placed in the Deleted list where it will remain for 60 days. 

The image will be removed from all Public/Shared web pages

This will not remove the image from Portfolio.  To remove it from Portfolio pages, after it has been removed from the Lr/Cloud album(s) use the “Reset from Lightroom” command in Portfolio on each page it appears on.

Remove/delete a video

Removing or deleting a video from LrC will also remove it from all LrC collections (synced or not) it had been in.

If the video originated in Lr/Cloud, removing it from LrC will also remove it from Lr/Cloud.  This seems to be an exception to the “Video’s don’t sync after initial Lr /Cloud to LrC copy” rule. 

If the video originated in LrC, then nothing changes in regard to Lr/Cloud sync.

Rename a synced collection

Renaming a synced collection renames also renames the associated album in Lr/Cloud.  If the collection/album is public/shared the title on the Public web page changes to the new name.

Sync a different LrC Catalog

This will be discussed in part 2 of this series (“LR025  - Changing Which Catalog Syncs with LR Cloud”)

Upgrade a synced catalog to a new version of LrC

The sync process just switches to the upgraded catalog and picks up where it left off from the prior catalog

Lr/Cloud

These are actions you can execute in Lr/Cloud that affect things synced with LrC.

Add image to Lr/Cloud

If you add (import) an image into any Lr/Cloud app or use the camera built into any of those apps, the image will be added to the “All Photos” list in Lr/Cloud.

If the image is not already in LrC, it will add it to the XFER folder in the catalog and a full size original copy will be placed in the designated XFER folder on disk.

If the image is already present in LrC and has un-synced edits in Lr/Cloud, it will create VC (Virtual Copy) for the copy coming down from Lr/Cloud and the VC will be associated with the one already in LrC.  If the one in Lr/Cloud has not been edited, then nothing syncs.

The version syncing down from Lr/Cloud (be it a full size original from Lr/Cloud, the original in LrC if no cloud edits had taken place, or a VC if Lr/Cloud edits had taken place), will be:

• Added to the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC
• Added to any synced collections corresponding to any Lr/Cloud albums it was in.  Such a synced collection will be created if it doesn’t already exist.

The image in Lr/Cloud will be considered as originating in Lr/Cloud and its storage space in the cloud will be counted against the amount of storage your Adobe Plan contains (typically 20GB or 1TB).  From that point on, within the rules of what does and does not sync (see below), things you do to the image in either ecosystem will be synced to the other.

Click “Add Photos”, then in pop up navigate and select desired images. 

25 LR024-Lr05 Add Photos

Add video using any Lr/Cloud app

If you add (import) a video image into any of the Lr/Cloud apps it will be added to the “All Photos” list in Lr/Cloud.

If the video is not already in LrC, it will add it to the XFER folder in the catalog and a full size original copy of the image will be placed in the designated XFER folder on disk.  It is NOT placed in the “All Synced Photographs” special collection, but IS placed in any synced collection relating to any album it had been in.

If the video is already present in LrC and it was edited in Lr/Cloud it will create VC (Virtual Copy) for the copy coming down from Lr/Cloud (even if it is identical to the one already in LrC) and the VC will be associated with the one already in LrC. However, the VC badge (dog ear in lower left corner of preview in grid) will not be seen as the video runtime will be on top of it.

24 LR024-LrC06 Video VC

If it had not been edited in Lr/Cloud, nothing comes down to LrC.

The version syncing down from Lr/Cloud will NOT be added to the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC however it will be added to any synced collections relating to its albums in Lr/Cloud

The original video in Lr/Cloud and its storage space in the cloud will be counted against the amount of storage your Adobe Plan contains (typically 20GB or 1TB).  Going forward nothing pertaining to this video will sync between Lr/Cloud and LrC (other than a remove/delete done in LrC).

Create an album

When you create a new album in Lr/Cloud, a synced collection with the same name will be created in the “From Lighroom” collection set LrC  – there is no way to change this but you can rename the “From Lightroom” collection set to some other name and new Lr/Cloud albums will continue to be placed into it even with its new name.  If there was already a collection there with the same name the new one will get a “-2” added to the collection name

After the collection in LrC has been created from the album in Lr/Cloud you can move it to some other collection set. 

18 LR024-LR01 Create Album

In Lr/Cloud the album can be moved to a folder if desired.

Add image to an album

If you add an image to an album in Lr/Cloud, that image will also be added to the associated LrC collection.  If the album is shared/public, that image will automatically be included in the web page related to that album.

The image will not be added to Portfolio unless you “reset from Lightroom” on the Portfolio page associated with this album.

Add video to an album

If you add a video to an album in Lr/Cloud before it has synced to Lrc, that video will also be added to the associated LrC collection.  However if you add the video to the album after the video was initially synced, it is not added to the corresponding LrC Collection.

If the album is shared/public, the video will automatically be included in the web page related to that album.

The video will not be added to Portfolio unless you “reset from Lightroom” on the Portfolio page associated with this album.

Move album to a Folder

Moving an album in Lr/Cloud to a folder (or different folder) only affects the Lr/Cloud apps.  The move does not migrate to LrC nor does it affect the Public/shared page (if any) or anything in Portfolio

Edit an image

If you make edit an image in Lr/Cloud, those changes will apply to all albums in Lr/Cloud (including the “All Photos” list) and will sync down to LrC within the constraints of what does and doesn’t sync (see link at bottom).  The synced changes will affect the image in the LrC Folder and in all the collections (synced or not) in which that image participates including the “All Synced Photographs” special collection.

If the image is in any album/collection which is Public/Shared, the changes will be reflected on the web page the next time it is accessed or refreshed.

This does not affect Portfolio Pages.  In order for the changes to get into Porfolio you must “Reset from Lightroom” on each page containing the changed image.

Edit a video

If you edit a video in Lr/Cloud it will also change that video in other Lr/Cloud albums and the All Photos list, but will not affect anything in LrC.  If the video appears in any Public/Shared albums the edit will show up on the web page for those albums.  The edit will not go to Portfolio unless you issue a “reset from Lightroom” command in Portfolio on each page the video appears on

Remove image from an album

The Image will be removed from the associated Lr/Cloud album as well as the associated LrC collection.

21 LR024-LR04 Remove Img from Album

It will NOT be removed from either the “All Photos” list in Lr/Cloud or the “All Synced Photographs” special collection in LrC so the image will remain synced with the LrC Ecosystem and will remain in Lr/Cloud including any other Lr/Cloud albums and LrC collections it may be in.

If the image is in any Public/Shared album/collection, the image will be removed from the associated web page.  It will not be removed from any Portfolio pages it may be on.

Rename an album

Renaming an album in Lr/Cloud also renames the associated collection in LrC.  If it is public/shared, this also renames the title of the web page associated with the album. 

Right click on an existing album name and select “Rename album…”

19 LR024-LR02 Rename Album

Delete an album

Images in the deleted album will remain in the “All Photos” list in Lr/Cloud and will continue to sync between the two ecosystems.

In LrC those images will remain in:

• The same folder in LrC
• The same folder on disk
• The “All Synced Photographs” special collection
• Any collections they had been in

Deleting an album in Lr/Cloud will un-sync the corresponding collection in LrC.

If the deleted album (or the associated collection) was Public/Shared, the webpage will be deleted and both the short and long URL’s for that page will be disabled. 

This does not change what is in Portfolio and selecting “Reset from Lightroom” in Portfolio will make no change.

Right click on album name and select “Delete album”

20 LR024-LR03 Delete Album

Remove/delete image from the “All Photos” list

Removing an image from the “All Photos” list will also remove it from all Lr/Cloud albums it is in.  It will remove it from the LrC “All Synced Photographs” Special collection as well as all synced collections in LrC. 

When you delete images in LR/Cloud they are placed in a “deleted” list where they remain for 60 days after which  they will be permanently removed from the Adobe Cloud.

However, in LrC it will remain in its folder, on disk and in any non synced collections it had been in.

It will also be removed from any Public/shared web pages it was on.  It will not affect the image in Portfolio.

Remove/Delete image(s) from Lr/Cloud

This is the same as “Remove Image from the “All Photos” list.

Make an album Public/Shared

When you nake an Lr/Cloud album Public/Shared, a web page is built containing the images in the album (see “Public” in Terminology section above).

The associated collection in LrC will also be updated to show that it is now Public and the short URL will be available there too.

Make an album Private

If you change an album from Public/Shared to Private it will delete the associated web page and will invalidate the URL’s used to access that page.  It will also update the associated collection LrC to show that it is now Private and no longer Public.

This does not affect anything in Portfolio.

What does and doesn’t sync

Please see this article on Lightroom Queen Website

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/limitations-syncing-classic-with-cloud/

France Trip 2024 #02 – Paris to Lyon

This travel log is for a trip to France in April of 2024.  This trip included a few days in Paris followed by a river cruise on the Saone and Rhone rivers through the Burgundy and Provence regions from Chalon-Sur-Saone to Arles (near Marseille).

Areas Visited map
01 Map Visited Areas

This episode takes us from Paris, through Lyon to Chalon Sur-Saone by train to meet our boat.  Then on the ship we cruised south on the Saone River from Chalon Sur-Saone to Lyon with stops in Tournus, Chapaize, Chateau de Cormatin, Lyon and Perouges. 

Paris to Chalon Sur-Saone

From Paris through Lyon to Chalon Sur-Saone on a couple of trains
02 Map Paris to Chalon Sur-Saone

After our last night in the Paris hotel, we packed up and grabbed a cab to the Gare de Lyon train station with our luggage.  Negotiating a foreign train station with all our luggage would be interesting, but we’d done it before so we didn’t worry too much about it. So with confirmed reservations in hand we headed out.

We arrived at the Gare de Lyon in plenty of time in case things went side-ways.  When we arrived at the station and unloaded the cab I looked around to see where the entrance was and there, waiting along a wall in the shade were two young women in some sort of uniform each standing next to an empty wheel chair.  So, I went over to see what they were all about.  Turns out they are “assistance agents” for the train station.  We had done some research on-line for that station ahead of time looking to see if they had any assistance and could not find anything so it was quite a pleasant surprise to find them there.  That made things much easier, especially for Ellen as there turned out to be quite a bit of walking involved to get from the front entrance to the platform for our train which was in kind of an auxiliary area behind the regular train station building. 

Along the way we picked up some food for the ride and were quite happy that the attendant was adept at figuring out where we needed to go and reading the overhead signs looking for our train to be posted.  As we were so early, we just stood around for 20-30 minutes waiting for the train to be posted.  Eventually it was and we got on board.

This was a high speed train with reserved seats and luggage racks near the entrance to each car.  The ride was quite nice and provided a very nice panorama of the French countryside with farms and small villages interconnected with super highways.  Along the way I checked our tickets and for some reason that I thought I had dealt with when booking, we only had 10 minutes in Lyon to make our connection.  I thought I had looked at that and picked a different train giving us more time but apparently I hadn’t.  So, I found a very friendly conductorm showed him the bookings, asked if we’d have enough time and asked if there were any stairs involved.  He said that it all depended on what track we would come in on and what track the other train would leave on.  But, he would be able to find all that out before we got there and would let us know. 

TVG InOui train from Paris to Lyon
Photo courtesy of showmethejourney.com
Photo courtesy of showmethejourney.com

About 40 minutes before arriving the conductor came back and said we were in luck as we’d be arriving on the same platform as our outgoing train would use and we’d just have to cross the platform to the other side.  That was great news.  But short lived.  He came back about 20 minutes later to inform us that things had changed and we’d be arriving on platform D and our departure was on the next platform over.  Not far but we’d have to go down a level to the underground transverse concourse and then back up on the next platform.   There was no possibility of accomplishing this on the stairs as I’d have to make 2 or 3 trips going down and then again going up.  But there were elevators escalators m just not a lot of time to use them.

So before arriving at the Lyon station, I got all our luggage to the door of the train and all hooked together so we could get off quick and hopefully beat the crowd to the elevator.  I think we were able to get in the elevator in the 3^rd batch.  However, it wasn’t quite clear where the elevator going up to our outbound train was and we were running low on time, so we wrangled our luggage onto the escalator which I was quite adept at from several years doing the same thing in many airports.   And we made it on time and were there when it pulled in. 

This 2^nd train from Lyon to Chalon Sur-Saone was more of a local commuter affair than a fast intercity train so there was no luggage storage facilities.  And the skinny overhead racks were simply not applicable.  But we were at the front of one of the cars and I could see at the near end of the next car there was a large amount of open space designed for people in wheelchairs.  And, as no one in a wheelchair came along, it worked out fine for our luggage.

As I mentioned in part 1 of this series, Chalon Sur-Saone is a small place and the train station was still pretty old school.  Like at Lyon there was a pedestrian underpass to move between platforms – but no elevators or escalators.  So, 3 trips down the first flight of stairs and another 3 trips up on the other side.  From there it was only a couple of minute cab ride to the ship.

Most of the other passengers had not yet arrived as they were coming from other cruises with the same company or were being bussed from an airport in some nearby city and the buses they were coming on hadn’t arrived yet. 

Avalon Poetry II

Our ship was the Avalon Poetry II on the Avalon Cruise Line and was 100% typical of modern European river cruise ships.  If you watch PBS, I’m sure you’ve seen ads for Viking Long Ship cruises in Europe so have seen what these ships look like.  And they all look the same. 
 

Avalon Poetry II
01 Avalon Poetry II
Courtesy of https://commons.wikimedia.org

The insides certainly have different décor and amenities but the basic size and design are all the same.  The reason is one of practicality.  The length and width of these ships is such that they just fit into the many locks one finds in these river systems (more on this later).  The height above the water line is such that they will just fit under the lowest bridge on whatever river they were designed for during the spring runoff at the beginning of the tour season in a normal runoff year.  The draft (or depth below the waterline) is based on the low water depths of the channels in whatever river they are on.

All these ships also have their lobby the same distance from the bow and stern of the ship with entrances of both sides to allow boarding from either side.  This arrangement allows passengers to pass through the lobby of other ships when ships are double or triple stacked at docks.

Our ship (Avalon Poetry II) is 361 feet long (which is basically a US football field including end zones in length).  It has 64 guest rooms on 3 floors – all to the rear of the central lobby.  It carries a crew of 37 and around 120-126 passengers when fully booked.  The upper 2 floors of cabins all have full wall sliding doors (the bottom floor is only windows along the top of the wall which are barely above the water line leaving 2/3rds of the room below the water line).

At the way back was a small lounge and in front of the lobby was the main lounge area on one floor and the dinning room/kitchen on a lower level.  There was also a small exercise room with a handful of equipment. The open air top deck has a hot tub, shaded areas with tables and chairs, and  rows of deck chairs and lounges.

The staterooms on the upper two decks are either a Panorama Suite model (200 sq ft) or a Royal Suite (300 sq ft).  The Deluxe rooms (172 sq ft ) are on the bottom deck.  All the rooms have either a king bed or a pair of twin beds (your choice), have a private bathroom with shower, are modern, and quite nice.   We had a Panorama Suite room on the middle deck which was actually quite roomy compared to many European hotel rooms we have staying in over the years.

Panorama Suite Stateroom
04 State room

Chalon Sur-Saone to Lyon route
05 Map Ship days 1-4 Chalon Sur-Saone to Lyon

Chalon Sur-Saone to Trevoux (Boat Days 1 & 2)

After boarding in Chalon Sur-Saone in late afternoon we set sail around 6:00 and during dinner had arrived in Tournes.

Saone River is wide and calm
06 A7R5-#07380

Along the way we passed several Chateau’s as well as small towns or villages.

Somewhere near Ormes
07 A7R5-#07386

Reflected sun on river near Ormes
Moon and reflection at Ormes on Saone River

Tournus (Boat Day 2)

Tournus, tucked away in the southeast corner of Burgundy, is one of the oldest and most important monastic centers in the region.  The documented story of the town started all the way back in the 2nd century with a Roman martyr named Valerian.  That period of history in the region was marked by wide spread persecution of the Christians by the Romans.  Around 177 AD it was Valerian’s turn but rather than enjoying what the Roman’s had in mind for him he fled up the river from Lyon and landed in Tournus which was just a sleepy agrarian village on the river.  Once he arrived it is thought that he probably attempted to spread Christianity among the local population.  Following his death, a shrine was built over his burial site and by the 6th century, this shrine had become a pilgrimage destination putting Tournus on the Christian map.

Things in Tournus went along until the 9^th century when Viking raids forced monks from the island of Noirmoutier to flee. And just like Good old Valerian, they too arrived in Tournus along with relics of their patron saint, Philibert.  This led to the establishment of the Abbey of Saint-Philibert, transforming Tournus into a major religious center.  The abbey itself was constructed in the romesque style between the 11^th and 13^th centuries and is considered a masterpiece of architecture and construction skills.  It is still intact and still in use. 

The French Revolution in 1789 brought an end to the abbey's dominance and it was for the most part abandoned. The buildings faced neglect until the mid-19th century when they were recognized for their historical importance.  As such the abbey was restored to its former elegance and once again was put back to use.

Abbey of Saint-Philibert
16 A7R5-#07467

Abbey of Saint-Philibert
14 A7R5-#07454-7456-HDR

Abbey of Saint-Philibert
13 A7R5-#07452

Abbey of Saint-Philibert
15 A7R5-#07457-0759-HDR

As we are to discover on this trip, Southeastern France is full of quaint medieval towns and villages, each one more picturesque than the last.  It’s sort of like being in a never ending Renaissance Faire without the costumes.  And Tournus was no exception.

Stone paved streets
Rue Desire Mathivet, Tournes, France

Country Chateau by the river
18 A7R5-#07491

Half-timber construction was a very common construction method during the Middle Ages in Europe, particularly from the 14^th to the 17^th centuries.  It features a wooden frame for the walls where the timbers create empty squares or rectangles which are filled with other materials.  Many times diagonal members are included to add more stability.  It was a popular choice due to the abundance of wood and the relative ease of construction compared to solid stone buildings which was the other option.  

Nowadays though most half timber buildings are really just regular modern construction with half timbering applied to the outside to make it look authentic. 

I suspect that this is a fake half timber building
10 A7R5-#07416

But, fake half timbering aside, there are still plenty of authentic buildings from the medieval period.  Many, perhaps most, of these are churches and cathedrals or castles, palaces, and chateau’s of the noble families from the era.

Ancient timber door on the Saint-Valerien-Church
Doorway, Saint-Valerien-Church. Tournes, France

But no matter how you slice it, cuisine is a major draw for tourists to the area with countless wineries, fine restaurants, and the ever present bakeries and gelato stores

Forget fine cuisine, I’ll just live on desserts
Bakery on Rue dr Privey, Tournes

OK this was unexpected (but apparently US culture is a thing here)
11 A7R5-#07428

Chapaize

After returning from our morning walking tour of Tournus, we returned to the ship for lunch.  For our afternoon excursion we opted for a bus ride and guided tour to the Chateau de Cormatin.  While we were on the bus excursion the ship made its way down the river to where we’d meet up with it again in Macon.

Cormatin is about a half hour drive west from Tournus.  On the way we stopped for a bit in the quaint village of Chapaize.  Another Roman era medieval village that never saw fit to move along with the times.  It covers an area of just 5 square miles and at 164 (2021) the population isn’t even enough for a graduating class in a small rural high school in the US.  Other than old stone houses the only major structure in the town is the Église Saint-Martin (Saint Martin Church) with its cemetery right next to the church. 

2^nd floor of stone house near church
House near Saint Martin Church, Chapaize, FR

Saint Martin Church
Saint Martin Church, Chapaize, FR

Door on Saint Martin Church)
Door, Saint Martin Church, Chapaize, FR

Saint Martin Church)
Saint Martin Church, Chapaize, FR

Chateau de Cormatin

Château de Cormatin is a restored Renaissance chateau located in the village of Cormatin, in the Burgundy region.  It was built in the early 17th century and is a remarkable example of French Renaissance architecture adorned with intricate details,

The chateau was commissioned by Gaspard de Champagne, a wealthy nobleman who served as President of the Parliament of Burgundy. Construction began in 1606 and was completed in 1612. The chateau remained in the Champagne family for over two centuries before passing through several hands and eventually falling into disrepair.  In the 1920s, the chateau was acquired by the French government and underwent extensive restoration work. It is now open to the public as a museum and a popular tourist destination.

The entire structure is surrounded by a functional moat
Chateau de Cormatin

Front entrance
24 A7R5-#07557

The lighter colored building on the left was added later.  The rear section had been 3 stories like the right side but was lowered after a fire in 1812 destroyed the top floor.  The left side had been a mirror image of the right side with a wall between the two at the front with a large gate and a drawbridge.  Apparently that left side collapsed in 1815 during its conversion into a textile factory and was never rebuilt.  At some point a non conforming structure was placed where the corner of the original square Chateau had been.  The right wing remains intact as it was.

On the approach to the moat where is a large building that at one time served as a barn and storage facility for the farming activities on the estate.  Now there are offices and a small museum in that building

Farm operations structure
Chateau de Cormatin

The chateau was constructed from brick and stone featuring a symmetrical layout with four corner pavilions. The facade is adorned with pilasters, cornices, and pediments, and the windows are framed with elaborate stonework. The chateau's most impressive feature is its grand staircase, which is the oldest and largest of its kind in France.

Grand staircase
Stairwell, Chateau de Cormatin

The chateau's interior has richly decorated rooms, including the Grand Salon, the Dining Room, and the Chapel. The walls are adorned with tapestries, paintings, and gilded moldings. The chateau also houses a collection of furniture, ceramics, and other artifacts from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The chateau is surrounded by formal gardens that were designed in the French Renaissance style. The gardens feature manicured lawns, parterres, fountains, and sculptures. There is also a large potager, or vegetable garden, which was once used to supply the chateau with fresh produce.

Formal Garden from inside the Chateau
Formal Garden, Chateau de Cormatin

Whimsical Topiary
Topiary, Chateau de Cormatin

Side of the Chateau from formal Garden
Chateau de Cormatin

Another 40 minute bus ride brought us back to the ship which had made its way from Tournus down to Macon.  We then sailed on down the river and docked for the night in Trevoux.

Trevoux to Lyon (Boat Day 3)

As Trevoux did not have much to see, there were no planned activities in the town and early the next morning we continued on down the Saone River toward Lyon passing more small villages, riverside chateau’s and French Countryside.

Sailing down from Tevoux toward Lyon
31 A7R5-#07614

Random Chateau along the side of the river
Saone River between Tournus and Lyon

Perhaps a small church or Chapel?
32 A7R5-#07632

Low Bridge (Boat Day 3)

As we approached Lyon, we had to go under one of the low bridges I mentioned when talking about the size of these river boats.  In order to allow for 3 decks of rooms, the top of the boat is designed so as to just scrape under the lowest bridge on any particular river during the spring runoff when the tour season starts for the year.  Our trip was I believe the 2^nd trip of the year and as I understand on the first trip a week before they could not get under one of the bridges and had to use buses for part of the trip. 

In order to get under the bridges but still have a passenger area on the roof (Sun Deck) for lounging and activities on those warm sunny summer days (of which we had none), they had to get creative.  The upper Sun Deck is full of chaise lounges, shade canopies, and an array of tables and chairs.

Avalon Poetry II with sun deck ready for use
19 A7R5-#07497

Rear Sun deck ready for passenger use.  The hot tub is behind the frosted glass in the foreground
48 A7R5-#08364

So, to get under a low bridge they need to flatten the top deck.  They take down all the railings, fold and lay down the chairs and tables, and take the legs off the shade canopies.

Rear Sun Deck being flattened
47 PXL7-#0188

The wheelhouse (pilot house) also takes part in lowering the profile as it can be lowered as well.

All ready except for lowering the wheelhouse
50 All ready but the wheelhouse

Wheelhouse lowered and Ready to go under the bridge
https://www.travelweek.ca/news/get-active-and-discover-provences-charms-with-avalon-waterways/
Image courtesy of www.travelweek.ca

Three inches to spare
34 PXL7-#0180x

Lyon (Boat Day 4)

Lyon is a fairly large city at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone Rivers.  Prior to the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1^st century it had already developed into a well established Gallic settlement.  So, when the Romans occupied it starting in 43 BC (naming it Lugdunum), they found that the town already had readily available resources, infrastructure, and potentially a skilled workforce the Romans could integrate (well, exploit might be a better term).

Another selling point for making this a prime Roman center was that being where these two large rivers joined offered crucial advantages for transportation and trade.  The rivers provided natural trade routes allowing for easy movement of goods and people throughout Gaul and beyond.  In other words it was a great place to extract tolls from merchant ships traveling up and down the two rivers. 

This spot also provided a military advantage.  The city was built on Fourvière Hill, which provided a natural defensive position. This was important for the Romans as they consolidated their control over Gaul. The higher ground offered a vantage point for surveying the surrounding area and deterring potential attacks.

Film Crew taking a break in old Roman Ruins
35 A7R5-#07662

Being in the center of Roman Gaul this location made it an ideal administrative and political hub, facilitating communication and control over the wider region.

After the Roman Empire's fall in the Middle Ages, Lyon remained a significant center.  Powerful monastic communities emerged, and the city became part of the Burgundian Kingdom. The Archbishops of Lyon held considerable influence, even hosting important religious councils.  During the Renaissance (15th-16th centuries) Lyon blossom economically and intellectually. Trade fairs and Italian bankers spurred growth, and Lyon became one of Europe’s major locations for silk production and printing.

Then, along came the French Revolution which unsettled things quite a bit.  The silk industry dipped, and the city faced conflict.  However, Lyon persevered and adapted, becoming a center for other industries.  Today Lyon is a vibrant metropolis with a UNESCO World Heritage designation, reflecting its historical and architectural significance.

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

The architectural, religious and geographical center of Lyon is the the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.  It is an imposing landmark that crowns the city of Lyon at the top of Fourviere hill overlooking the city and the confluence to the two rivers. 

View of the back of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere from the river
Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere

It was built between 1872 and 1896.  The story goes that the basilica's construction stemmed from a vow made by the citizens of Lyon, not the Catholic Church.  This vow was made during the Franco-Prussian War and promised to build a grand sanctuary dedicated to Virgin Mary if the city was spared.  Well, it turned out that it was spared which was considered as a direct act of God in response to the vow.  So seeing as how God himself saw fit to intercede to protect the city, the fine folks of Lyon felt that the Catholic Church should largely fund the construction of the basilica.  After all, you can’t break sacred vows to God if you know what’s good for you.  However, they already had a Cathedral in Lyon as well as several other churches, many of which were in the same general vicinity where the basilica was to be built so the Catholic Church declined to provide any funding. 

This prompted the residents of Lyon to raise the money themselves from donations – which they did.  As such even to this day, the Catholic Church does not own it.  Rather it is owned by a public entity called the Fourvière Foundation.  This foundation is responsible for managing, maintaining, and promoting the basilica and its surrounding site.  In a quite unique arrangement, the Fourvière Foundation works closely with the Catholic Church to provides priests and staff to manage the religious aspects of the basilica like holding masses and offering spiritual guidance to visitors.  In other words the basilica functions as a public trust, overseen by the Fourvière Foundation, but serves as a  Catholic Church.  I’m glad it all worked out so well, but I bet there were some quite dramatic discussions and debates throughout this history.

The basilica boasts a unique architectural blend. Romanesque, Byzantine, and Gothic Revival styles coming together to create a visually impressive structure. The white stone exterior gleams in the sunlight, while the ornate details and intricate mosaics add to its magnificence.

Contrary to popular speculation,  “Lyon” is not French for “Lion”.  Rather it stems from the Gaulish language most likely from the word "Lugdunum," a Latinized version of a Gaulish term meaning "hill of the crows", "hill of light," or "hill of the god Lug" (a Celtic deity).  So, the English word “Lion” has nothing to do with the similar sounding French “Lyon”.  Of course this doesn’t explain why one of the main symbols of the city is a lion.  It is thought that this likely occurred much later, potentially even inspired by the phonetic similarity between the city's name and the word "lion." The city's coat of arms even features a lion, solidifying the association despite the different origins.

Winged Lion in front of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere
36 A7R5-#07687

Inside the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere
Notre Dame Fourvière.Lyon

The old part of the city is quite charming as are most all of the old portions of cities throughout Europe.  There are many narrow pedestrian only streets with a wide variety of local shops and a pleasantly surprising minimum of global chain stores although I’m quite sure they are somewhere nearby. Where many of these narrow streets meet many times there is a more open plaza surrounded by restaurants and Café’s

Typical Plaza
38 A7R5-#07785

Narrow lane
Rue des Trois-Maries, Lyon, France

Traboules

Lyon has a unique network of secret passageways called "traboules."  The layout of the city consists of rows of streets paralleling the river with very few connections between them.  Traboules are mid block passageways between these parallel streets.  The entrances to the traboules look just like any other door along the street but rather than leading into living quarters they open into a walkway – like a hallway - that many times zigzag through the building and exit on the opposite side of the block on the next street.

Entrance to a Traboules
http://youth.worldbridge.org
Courtesy of http://youth.worldbridge.org

Inside a Traboules
http://youth.worldbridge.org
http://youth.worldbridge.org

Traboules were originally put in place to provide residents with shortcuts between these parallel streets allowing them to navigate the city more efficiently, especially when carrying goods. Additionally, these covered passageways offered shelter from the elements – a welcome respite from rain, sun, or snow.

During the silk industry boom in the Renaissance, silk workers utilized the Traboules to discreetly transport their precious textiles between workshops and markets.  The covered walkways offered protection from prying eyes and ensured their valuable cargo remained in their own possession.

During World War II, the Traboules became vital for the French Resistance. These hidden passageways provided a network for clandestine meetings, movement, and escape routes helping locals evade Nazi capture. 

During this time, some of the Traboules became more maze like with the addition of dead end passageways and secret routes that joined other Traboules.  It was not uncommon for resistance fighters being chased by Nazi soldiers to just disappear into thin air as they were being chased when they darted through one of the doors into a Traboules.  They would then emerge on another street as if they were just coming out of their house.

History buffs and film fanatics will love that Lyon is considered the birthplace of cinema. The Lumière brothers, pioneers of filmmaking, held their first film screening here in 1895.

Perouges (Boat Day 4)

After Lunch back on the boat, we boarded buses for a 20 mile ride to Perouges.  This is a small medieval town northeast of Lyon.  The old walled village is just dripping with charm – and in our case dripping with water as well.  It is mainly well known for its well-preserved Renaissance architecture and charming atmosphere and the lack of any visible signs of modernization since its founding in the 12^th century.

Like most inland villages at the time, for defensive reasons it is located on a hilltop  and is surrounded by fortified walls.  In this case the hilltop location overlooks the Ain River valley giving visibility to approaching armies.  After its founding ,during the Middle Ages it prospered as a trade center . The town's architecture reflects its history, with narrow cobblestone streets, stone and half-timbered houses, and Renaissance mansions.  Although the rest of Perouges is an ongoing residential town typical of the region with suburban clusters of more modern houses the old town on the hilltop is the part to see.

Typical Perouges lane
44 A7R5-#07870

On our visit the town was basically devoid of other tourists.  This may have had something to do with the very cool temperatures and constant rain.  Now, walking around in the rain is not ideal but when the surface you are walking on is rough cobblestone slick with rain things can get a bit dicey.  Fortunately no one in our group took a tumble but there was a lot of caution being exhibited as we gingerly walked along on the slippery stones.

Perouges in the rain
Rue des Rondes, Perouges, France

The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene (Église Forteresse Sainte-Marie-Madeleine) is a fortified church located in the old town.  It is well-known for its unique architecture and rich history.  The church was built in the 15th century, and was originally designed to serve as both a place of worship and a defensive structure. It is located on the highest point in the town, and its walls are pierced with loopholes that were used for archers and crossbowmen. The church also has a crenellated tower, which was used to watch for enemies.

Church and its tower that served as both a watch tower and a bell tower
42 A7R5-#07837

Ornate ceiling
40 A7R5-#07813

Porthole type window in the thick walls of the santuary
Eglise Forteresse Saitne Marie, Perouges, France

Other than being a classic example of a medieval town, Perouges is known for a rich, sugary pastry known as Galette de Perouges.  When you first see one, your first thought is ‘pizza’ but that is way off the mark.  It is served warm and is made with a buttery dough base and filled with sweet ingredients, often flavored with lemon zest. Traditionally, it's served dusted with powdered sugar and sometimes with a side of cream, honey, or fruit syrup

Galette de Perouges displayed outside a restaurant
Galette de Pérouges, Pérouges, France

Galette de Perouges
46 A7R5-#07897

====================================

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Thanks for reading – Dan

(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

Written July 2024

Even with all the best intentions and robust backup processes in place, sometimes things can still go sideways.  When images are shown as ‘missing’ in LrC, that is usually just a pointer problem and just have to be re-linked in the LrC catalog.  But, sometimes the missing images are indeed not present on any of your disk drives or backups you have and are also not in any cloud service or photo sharing website from which they can be downloaded. 

A user in one of the LrC Help forums I monitor had just such a case today.  I number of months ago they imported a bunch of images from a memory card using a card reader.  I assume their OS saw that card reader as a disk drive and thus allowed the import mode to be “Add” rather than forcing it to be one of the “Copy” options.  The result was that the LrC catalog was pointing to the memory card in the card reader as the official source image.  And, you guessed it, the user formatted and reused the card several times before noticing the problem.  It is also not surprising that there are no backups as almost no one takes backups of memory cards as a general rule (yes, I know many cameras with 2 slots can do this when shooting).  Rather they import or copy the contents of memory cards to local disk drives and then let their normal backup routines make extra copies.  That’s what this user assumed was happening. 

So, what is one to do when this happens?

If, after exhausting possible other places those images may be (Time Machine, File History, local backups, cloud backups, photo sharing web sites, Adobe Cloud, etc.), it may come down to them ONLY being available as previews in LrC.  If this happens to you…

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT REMOVE THE IMAGES FROM LrC. 

What you need to do is to create JPG’s from those LrC Previews. I’m sure there are other tools, but below are two tools to do this.  It should be noted that the resolution (pixel dimensions) will only be as good as the size of the previews you have available.

Extract JPG’s from Previews (JFriedl plug in)

This plug in from Jfriedl ( http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/preview-extraction ) is a good tool and the one I recommend.

NOTE:  Jfriedl’s website is having issues with the Chrome browser which won’t let you use “http:// “as it automatically changes it to “https://” producing a page not found error.  Use FireFox, Edge, or Safari instead if you hit this problem.Unlike the Adobe script (below) this plug in:

Unlike the Adobe script (below) this plug in:

•          Can retain the original folder structure of the missing images

•          Can copy metadata to the recovered images from the missing image entry in the LrC catalog

•          Shows you the preview size (quality) for each image.

•          Can be used to only process selected imagesHere are the steps…..

Here are the steps…..

1. Install and activate the plug in from the website (instructions are on the website)

2. In LrC, select the images you need to recover
3. Use Menu  “Library -> Plugin Extras” and select the “Extract Preview Images…” from the plugin extras dialog box
4. This will open the settings dialog for the plugin.  Information about filling what the buttons and checkboxes do can be found on the website.
   02 JF Settings
5. Click the “Begin Extraction” checkbox
6. A dialog progress window will open and will populate as the recovery process moves along.  This progress box shows you the image, file name, pixel dimensions of the orginal file, when last edited, and pixel dimensions of the preview that will be recovered
   01 JF Progress Box

When complete you can then import the recovered images into your LrC catalog.  Depending on your particular situation, you may want to:

• Check what (if any) collections the 'missing' original images are in and put the recovered images in those same collections
• Same for Publish service collections
• You may want to leave some sort of notation on the recovered images that they were recovered from Previews.  This could be something in the file name or copy name, a keyword or collection,  or some other metadata field of your choosing
• Removing the original "missing" images from the LrC Catalog is an interesting question. If you do remove them you will lose the history steps of what edits had been done to those images resulting in what the recovered version looks like.  But there's really not much you can do with that history information other than look at it.  So it's a toss up if it's worth keeping those entries in the catalog "for the record" so to speak.
• If it suits you move the recovered images to a folder that fits your folder scheme if not already there.

Extract JPG’s from Previews (Adobe Script)

A second way to recover JPG’s from Previews is to use a script provided by Adobe.  While quite functional, it is not as comprehensive as the plugin discussed above.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/extract-previews-for-lost-images-lightroom.html

The script extracts previews for all the images that are selected at the time you run the script. It extracts poster frames for any video clips that are selected at the time. You can choose a location for these files. The previews are in JPEG format, and the name contains the size of the image (for example, _MG_0233-360x240.jpg).

The Above link has a button to download the script as well as step by step instructions

Note:

• The extracted previews don't contain any metadata from the original images
• The extracted previews don't contain an ICC profile.  So, if you import the extracted previews back into LrC, the images are imported with the sRGB profile

France Trip 2024 #01 - Paris

This travel log is for a trip to France in April of 2024.  This trip included a few days in Paris followed by a river cruise on the Rhone and Saone rivers through the Burgundy and Provence regions.

Areas Visited map
03 Map Visited Areas

This episode covers our 5 days in Paris.  The map below shows the places visited and will talk about in this article.

04 Map Paris

The River Cruise portion of our trip started in Chalon-Sur-Saone, which is a small town in the eastern side of southern France with no airport at all, let alone an international airport.  So, with an international flight we pretty much had to land in some major city in Europe and then get ourselves to the embarkation point somehow.  So, we figured we might as well spend a few days in Paris to get un-jet lagged as is our normal routine, see some sights, and then make our way down to Chalon-Sur-Saone by train.

We had visited Paris once before in 2008 and had some idea of the layout of the city and the places we wanted to visit.  But before I get into the sites we visited, I’ll share some planning we did the prior year for this trip.

Planning for the trip

Now that we’re well into retirement we try to avoid peak seasons and instead shoot for the spring and fall when the weather is many times better than in the sweltering summers, there are less crowds (so they say), and prices of hotels are a bit lower.  I’m also getting less and less excited about driving or taking public transportation  in foreign language countries where we’d have to deal with all the logistics involved.  That’s OK domestically but not as appealing for international trips, so for international travel we tend to like formal tours rather than roll your own itineraries. And, we felt that the time had come to try and reduce the number of times we’d have to unpack and re-pack in order to change hotels every day or two as is the case with most bus tours.  And thus we decided to give a boat tour a shot.

Even though I marvel at the engineering and design elements of large cruise ships and would love to have a tour OF such a ship, we have no interest in actually taking a cruise ON one of them.   So, we decided to see how we would fare on a commercial river cruise.  It checks the unpack once box, it offers visits to multiple cities with guided shore excursions, and being on a river it wouldn’t be prone to motion related issues.  However at over 100 passengers the river boats have a larger group than we prefer.  We tend to like tours with around 20 to 25 guests where you can really get to know your fellow travelers.  So, we were a bit apprehensive about being with 4 to 5 times as many people.  But, Covid had diminished as a major concern other than in large crowds so 100 or so passengers would probably be OK in that regard.

So now that we had settled on the ‘how’, we came to the ‘where’ question.  We immediately rejected a river cruise in the topics as we’d already done one in Laos as part of a larger tour and after Peru, Guatemala, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, we were just not in the mood for more 3^rd world experiences.  So that ruled out most of Asia and South America leaving Europe.  Although we hadn’t done any river cruises in Europe we had already visited most of the places that the main northern European river cruises go to so those dropped off the list leaving southern Europe.  What we found though was that most of the France and Spain river cruises were heavily focused on wine, cheese, and high end cuisine with most of the shore excursions visiting wineries and food related attractions.  As we don’t really drink, and I don’t care for cheese or for that matter high end cuisine those also fell off the list.  So, we picked a Rhone-Saone river cruise that was more focused on medieval towns and villages and only offered a smattering of wineries and food related excursions. 

And then we came to ‘when’.  Fall was out do to the wedding of a nice at some undisclosed time in October or November, so spring it would have to be.  We actually were trying to get something in May but they were all sold out so we had to choose between mid summer with a high likelihood of excessive heat and possibly low water or mid April which could still have the remnants of winter.  So, April it was. 

Reality Sets in

So, “April showers” in Paris, right?  Well, yeah, that was expected.  What was not expected were temperatures in the 40’s with a rip roaring wind to add to the chill factor.  On some days it actually nudged into the 50’s, but that’s still pretty chilly when it comes with a good wind.  And, a shower from time to time is poetic but rain every day is just plain annoying.  Most of the rain was, indeed light showers or continuous drizzle but from time to time a real gully washer deluge came through which prompted us into some café for a lunch or snack that we stretched out till the rain stopped. 

On the morning we went to the Eiffel Tower it was so cold and windy that while waiting for the travel agency office to open where we were to meet our tour we found refuge in the only store that was open at that time (9:30 on a Sunday morning).  It happened to be a tourist oriented shop for sundries and trinkets.  Fortunately they had some very capable heaters running full blast where we could defrost.  And, conveniently enough, they sold nice warm gloves which in our infinite wisdom we didn’t think we’d need so hadn’t packed.  So, we bought a couple of pair to go along with the multiple layers of jackets, fleece, and flannel that we were wearing.

Even though this weather pattern persisted throughout our entire trip, the temperatures abated a bit for our week on the cruise.  Not sure if the weather actually got warmer or we were just further south but either way, it was tolerably warmer (most of the time) but that pesky intermittent rain was constantly getting at us as we walked around of our tours of cities and countryside.

On the bright side though, clouds make for better images.  However, cold and rain is not conducive to lounging on a chaise lounge on the upper deck and watching the scenery go by. 

Home Base

Not withstanding the expected unorganized chaos of CDG (Charles De Gaulle Airport) our flight from San Francisco to France was long but uneventful as was the jet lagged cab ride from the airport to our hotel.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza on the Place de la Requblique which is 0.4 miles NE of the Seine and Notre Dame.  Far enough away to escape outrageous prices but too far for us to walk to the main attractions.  There was a subway station right in front of the hotel but not being young and energetic anymore, we opted for Taxi travel. 

Speaking of Taxis, when grabbing a cab on the street, it turns out that some of them do not take credit/debit cards (most do) so if that matters to you, ask before you get in.  Even if you see the card reader sitting on the front seat, it’s good to ask.  We had one cab ride where the card reader was sitting right there but at the end of the ride the driver insisted on cash.

We arrived at our hotel from the airport in early afternoon and after a nap and a chat with the concierge we walked down to “the canal” for a suggested restaurant – which was right were they said it would be.  Always a nice touch. 

Although it was probably a commercial canal at one time, it now seems to be more of a long skinny reflecting pool.  In some blocks they narrowed the water channel to almost nothing in order to put in a wide walkway (and skinny park) between the water and the road.  In other places they made the whole thing a park with no canal at all.

Canal Saint Martin
Canal Saint-Martin, Quai de Valmy

Café’s in Paris are quite similar to inner city establishments in New York or San Francisco, just with much smaller tables.  We found that they all take credit cards – even the tiniest ones that are not much bigger than a large closet. And most have some sort of a bar in the middle.

La Marine Restaurant (by “the Canal”)
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On our way back to the hotel, we noticed some sort of brouhaha going on in the plaza in front of our hotel.  Turns out it was a food giveaway and allocation point for homeless shelter beds.  Our room on the 2^nd floor overlooked the plaza which allowed us to keep tabs on the events in the plaza.  This event broke up around 8:00 after all those in line had been given food and “tickets” to various homeless shelters.

Musee d’Orsay

Like most major attractions in Paris, unless you love waiting in long lines it is best to pre purchase timed entrance tickets.  When you arrive there is usually either a very short line or none at all for holders of such tickets compared with a long line for non ticket holders.

The Musée d'Orsay is on the Left Bank of the Seine and is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay train station.  It was built for the 1900 exposition (same one that the Eiffel Tower was built for) and was the first ever electrified urban terminal station.  For the next 30 years, along with its adjoining posh hotel, it was the mainstay of intercity travel for both business and pleasure.  This lasted into the 1930’s when newer longer intercity trains could no longer be accommodated on the shorter Gare d’Orsay platforms and there was no place to expand.  So the intercity traffic migrated to other stations.  After WWII, it continued to be used for local suburban commuter trains for a bit of time but these too changed over to other stations with better connections to local buses and subways (when the last trains stopped coming is unclear).  The posh hotel closed in 1973.

Still retains much of it’s “train station” architecture
Inside clock, Musee d'Orsay, Paris

Between its demise as a train station and the opening of the museum at the end of 1986 it had several uses.  During WWII it was a prisoner of war mail center and then in 1945 was used as a reception center for released French prisoners of war.  After the war the grand and somewhat empty space of the Gare d'Orsay Station was used in several films including Orson Welles' adaptation of Franz Kafka's "The Trial" (1962) and Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist" (1970). 

Another notable use of the building was in 1958 when General Charles de Gaulle used the opulent hotel ballroom for a press conference announcing his return to national politics, marking a turning point in French politics.

One of two outward facing clocks left over from the train station
Back of the Musee d'Orsay clock

As far as it becoming a museum, planning started around 1970 and after extensive remodeling it finally opened to the public in 1986.  The museum is known for its French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography.

It is one of the largest art museums in Europe and houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world with work by painters such as Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh.  Many of these works were held at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening

When visiting, be prepared for crowds, especially around the most famous paintings by Van Gogh and Monet. 

The most popular way of enjoying fine art these days.
“Starry Night Over the Rhône” by Vincent van Gogh
Most Common method of viewing art these days

Vincent Van Gogh Self Portrait
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Like most major museums in Paris, this one too has a café and a restaurant.  In fact you have to walk through the café to get to where most of the paintings are exhibited.  The Restaurant is on a lower level. 

Café d’Orsay with the other clock
Restaurant in Musee d'Orsay

It is well known that the busiest time for tourists to visit Paris is in the spring and summer, with the 2024 Summer Olympics (July 26 through August 11) expected to bring 15 million people to the city just on its own.  One would expect that most of those Olympics fans will also be interested in seeing what Paris has to offer as long as they in town.  And, here we have a prime example of exquisite foresight and planning.  The restaurant is closed for renovation from June 10^th to September 30^th.  After all, why would they think that the peak tourist season with 15 million people arriving for the Olympics would not be the best time to close the already overcrowded restaurant for renovations?

Jewish Museum

The next day we taxied (is that a word?) over to the Museum of the Art and History of Judaism also known by its initials MAHJ.  It is located on a quiet narrow residential street off the beaten path in the Marais district.  Even though it is tiny when compared to Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre it is the largest museum in France dedicated to Jewish art and history.  It was founded relatively recently in 1998 in the old Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, a beautiful 17th-century mansion.

Their collection numbers around 12,000 objects of which around 600 can be displayed at one time.  It offers a comprehensive look at Judaism in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, spanning from antiquity to the present day.

Knocker on the front gate to the museum
Door Knocker, Museum of the Art and History of Judaism

The Statue of Captain Dreyfus by Tim Louis (Lejzor) Mitelberg
“A Tribute to Captain Dreyfus by Tim Louis (Lejzor) Mitelberg

Notre Dame de Paris

Although Cathedral Notre Dame was (and still is) closed to the public due to a significant fire in April 2019 one can still stroll around the perimeter of the construction zone.  On the perimeter fence they have placed a series of quite interesting billboard size signs that describe the day of the fire and provide all sorts of interesting factoids about the reconstruction effort. 

For those of you who were visiting another planet 5 years ago in April 2019. a major fire broke out in the rafters of the cathedral, most likely related to some restoration work that was underway at the time.  The fire destroyed the cathedral’s ancient timber roof structure and caused its spire, rebuilt in 1859, to collapse.  Most of the roof structure and roofing material fell onto the top of the vaulted stone ceiling that you see the underside of when inside the cathedral.  That it could hold up under that amount of weight is a testament to the medieval builders who constructed it.  However, the collapsing spire and other heavy items did penetrate the ceiling in several places leaving large holes.  These holes in the ceilings allowed a lot of debris to fall all the way to the floor.  This included molten lead from the roof sheeting which had melted due to the heat of the fire. In addition there was significant water and smoke damage throughout the structure.  In other words, it was a real toxic mess.  But miraculously the massive stained glass windows, while soot covered, where not really damaged.

2019 fire


Courtesy of Friends Of Notre-Dame De Paris website
https://www.friendsofnotredamedeparis.org/notre-dame-cathedral/fire/

The $767 million repair is nearing completion and is expected to be done by the end of 2024, sadly not in time for the Olympics even though that had been an initial goal.  But not to worry, $928 million was raised in donations (I guess the Catholic Church doesn’t have any money to spend on such things).  Those donations came from 340,000 donors in 150 countries.

The reconstruction is being done to be as close as possible to the original construction.  Many times the crafts-people use the same types of tools originally used and follow drawings and diagrams created over the years, including many from the restoration project that was underway when the fire erupted. 

In the plaza in front of the Cathedral, they have erected some bleachers facing the relatively unscathed front of the building.  As almost every tour of Paris makes a stop here, these bleachers are usually full of tour groups listening to their guide explain what they are looking at in all sorts of different languages.  Closer to the building are fences with some of those informational billboards I mentioned earlier.

Plaza in front of Notre Dame Paris
Notre Daem Paris viewing plaza

You can circumnavigate the Cathedral on foot along the outside of the construction fence except for one area where you have to cross the river to a street on the other side.  Other than the front as shown above, pretty much the entire rest of the building was still completely covered with scaffolding. 

Scaffolding covers all the core structure except the front twin towers which were not really damaged
Notre Daem Paris viewing plaza

After Notre Dame, we went back to our hotel for a bit of a rest before dinner.  On this day, the plaza in front of the hotel was hosting a kids ‘auto-mania’ (for lack of a better word).  Apparently the city or some charitable organization takes over several hundred square feet of paving and sets up a  kid size automotive zone including a gas station a store and wooden road signs.  They also provide (free of charge) a whole range of foot powered vehicles for the kids to race around in and play “driver”.  It was really quite cute even though kids at that age having so much fun can be quite loud.  Most likely imitating the vocalizations they hear from their parents while being driven around Paris on various errands.  Of course since we don’t speak French it was all just happy noise to our ears. 

Kids auto-mania in the plaza outside our hotel
Learning to Drive

Eiffel Tower

The following day we had tickets for the Eiffel tower in the morning.  I already told you about the weather and the what-not shop where we got gloves so won’t go into that again. 

The Eiffel tower, is arguably the worlds most recognizable landmark (or at least in the top 3).  It was built for the worlds faire of 1900.  The design was initially criticized by some top artists and intellectuals for its “terrible aesthetics” such as ‘Paris does not need its skyline marred by a skeleton’, and a letter signed by several prominent artists that in part read that the tower would be “a gigantic black factory chimney, its barbarous mass overwhelming and humiliating all our monuments and belittling our works of architecture, which will just disappear before this stupefying folly.”  But construction went ahead anyway from 1897 through 1889.

As it turned out, Mr. Eiffel didn’t even design it.  That was done by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, two engineers who worked for his company.  The construction was only approved because it was to be a temporary structure which would be taken down after 20 years.  However, Eiffel cleverly put a radio antenna and wireless telegraph transmitter in the tower. After proving radio’s usefulness to the government in 1910, Eiffel was granted a 70-year extension to his lease.  By 1980, of course, the tower had become an indelible symbol of both Paris and France, and it was in no danger of demolition. 

But, it almost met its demise in WWII. In August of 1944, the Nazis were losing control of occupied Paris, and Adolf Hitler commanded his generals to level the city. Plans were drawn up to mine the Eiffel Tower with explosives. Thankfully, Allied troops swooped in before the order could be carried out. Subsequent air raids over Paris caused significant damage, but the Eiffel Tower survived the war.

The massive iron structure is wind resistant and will sway during a storm. But wind isn't the only thing that makes the enormous tower move,  The expansion due to the heat of summer causes it to get taller in the summer and shorter in the winter,  It will also lean an average of six inches away from the sun, as the side facing the direct light heats up faster than the other three sides

Other than the plaza at ground level there are 3 levels (they call “floors”) one can go to in the tower itself, the first level (or floor), the second, and the summit.

• The first level is at 187 feet (18 stories).  This is the lowest level accessible to the public. It offers a variety of restaurants and shops, as well as exhibitions about the history of the tower. You can also find a glass floor here, which provides a thrilling view straight down to the ground below.
• The second level at 377 feet (34 stories) is the most popular level as it offers panoramic views of Paris. There are also restaurants and cafes on this level. You can access the second level by stairs or elevator.
• The summit level at 905 feet (90 stories) is the highest level of the Eiffel Tower and offers the most breathtaking views of Paris. However, stair access to the summit is limited due to safety concerns.

Bottom up
Eiffel Tower 05

If you want to go up into the tower itself there are two options.  You can get in line and pay for an elevator ride up to the 2^nd level or you can climb the stairs which are 674 steps – all going up.   The 2^nd level is actually a two story platform with an inside section that is heated and is out of the wind and an outdoor perimeter where you can get right up to the edge on all sides.  Inside are small souvenir shops and snack counters and apparently a restaurant which I didn’t see.  If you want to go higher you have to pay more and take a different elevator to the summit platform – they don’t allow you to take the stairs as too many people were, let’s say, blown off their feet while ascending the steps in the olden days.

Inside Out.
Eiffel Tower structural view

We previously visited the Eiffel Tower in 2008.  Even though that was 6 years after 911, one could just walk up to the base of the tower and wander around.  But, things are a bit different now.  The entire area around the tower is surrounded by a security fence about 100 yards away from the base of the tower where you get in line to go through a TSA style security check.  This gives you access to the plaza at the base of the tower.  Assuming you want to take the elevator (excuse me, the lift) up to level 2, you get into another long line to get your tickets.  As I recall there was another TSA style security check there as well.  Now, you get to proceed to the lift where, guess what?  Another security check (just a rummage through your backpack this time) after which you can board the elevator.  

In 2008 the lines were too long for the lift and we were not ready to ascend 34 odd stories to get to the 2^nd level using the stairs so we stayed on the ground.  This time we booked a tour of the Tower we found on the Internet.  We met the tour at a travel agency office a couple of blocks from the park on which the tower sits.  The guide then led us through the security check points (providing little useful information along the way), got our lift tickets and took us up to the 2^nd level at which point he collected tips and departed.  Some people in our group had signed up for tickets to the top but other than being handed their lift tickets and being told the lifts for tht op were on the upper level of floor 2, they were not accompanied by the guide.

Elevator cable wheel
Eiffel tower elevator cable wheel

The view from the 2^nd level was wonderful and among other things we could see several temporary stadiums nearby being built for the Olympics.  But it was freezing cold out there with gale force winds making it not quite as pleasurable an experience as it might have been.  Even with our new gloves, it was too cold to stay out there more than 5 or 10 minutes.  But I got some shots and marveled at the architecture. 

Champ de Mars Arena. Temporary stadium for judo, wrestling and beach volleyball events doe the 2024 Olympics
Eiffel Tower view to SE from 2nd level Platform

Looking up from the2nd to the summit level.
Eiffel Tower "Y" perspective

Painting the Eiffel Tower

At the time of our visit the tower was being re-painted in honor of the upcoming summer Olympics. 

Since it was built, the Eiffel tower has had 7 different color schemes.  Each color scheme is made up of three different tones, darker at the base and lighter towards the top to create a visual impression of uniformity.

18 Eifell tower Colors

• 1887/88: "Venetian red" paint, applied in the workshop before the parts were assembled.
• 1889-1891: Application of a very thick, reddish-brown coat.
• 1892-1898: The Tower turns "ochre brown".
• 1899-1906: A coat of 5 colors is painted in shaded tones from yellow-orange at the base to light yellow at the top. It was after this repainting campaign that the 7-year cycle was adopted for the renewal of the paintwork.
• 1907-1953 (re-applied 6 times at 7 year intervals): The colour is called "yellow-brown". The 1917 repainting was delayed because of the war.
• 1954-1967 (re-applied once): A new color for the Eiffel Tower: "brownish-red".
• 1968-2024: The color “Eiffel Tower Brown” was chosen for its harmony with the Parisian cityscape.
• 2024: Starting in 2019 in preparation for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, the 20th paint job of the Eiffel Tower commenced.  The last one in 1968 was about 55 years ago.  Changing the tower’s color from “Eiffel Tower brown” to “yellow brown” (gold as some say) started in 2019 but was delayed due to the pandemic, rust, and the presence of lead in the old paint.

Sporting it’s 2024 color scheme,
25 of the 2,500,000 rivets (0.001%) used to hold
18,038 prefab iron parts together
Like a giant erector set
Eiffel Tower rivets.

And. no – it was never red, white and blue as some swear it was at one time.  However, in November of 2015, the tower was illuminated in blue, white and red, the colors of the French flag.  This was to pay tribute to the victims of a series of deadly attacks in the French capital.

19 Red, White and Blue
Courtesy of https://www.nbcnews.com

Flea Market and Demonstration on the Plaza       

After the Eiffel Tower we headed back to the hotel to get off our feet for a bit, to find some lunch and to pick up a few things at a local store.  The concierge directed us to a large supermarket-drug store establishment which would have what we needed.  It was across the other side of the plaza and then a few blocks down a major boulevard. 

On this Sunday the plaza had morphed into a massive flea market so we decided to walk through the plaza.  Just like in the US there were booths selling small appliances (newly stolen?), clothing, and other new items but mostly it was used items like dishes, lamps, silverware, books, vases and old hardware.  Pretty much just junk but even so sales were brisk. 

We then crossed a major boulevard on the far side of the plaza to head down to the store.  Not unusual but I noticed a couple of policemen standing by a shop having a conversation.  Nothing unusual about that except for the assault rifle each was carrying.  Not used to that but, perhaps that’s SOP in Paris. 

Just a bit further down the street was the cop car that they evidently came in.  But, it was full of other cops.  Wait a minute, there was another cop car full of cops right behind the first one.  Holy cow, the entire block, as well as the next block, was lined with a variety of police cars, troop transport vehicles, riot trucks with water canons on the roof, and police trucks apparently loaded with tactical gear.  I lost count at 47 such vehicles.  What the heck is going on?

So, I couldn’t help myself but to ask one of the officers (who was also in full riot gear and similarly armed) what was going on.  Turns out there was a pro Palestinian, anti Gaza War, march headed to the Plaza of the Republic outside our hotel where they planned to have a demonstration and rally later that day. 

After our shopping we went back to the street bordering the plaza for a bite of mid afternoon lunch and while at the restaurant watched the world go by.  The Flea Market was winding down and folks had started dismantling their booths and wheeling their unsold merchandise to vehicles parked down various side streets.  From time to time a convoy of police vehicles – may 10 to 20 at a time – raced by going one way or the other. 

We overheard other English speaking diners near us in the restaurant say that they had also seen massive numbers of cops and cop vehicles staged along other side streets leading to the plaza.  At that point  I realized that the very busy boulevard along the side of the plaza in front of the restaurant had no traffic at all.  It was completely empty of vehicles.  The traffic lights were still going green to yellow to red and then back to green but there were no cars on the street to pay any attention.

So, after paying our tab, we scurried back to our hotel – circumventing the plaza this time rather than going through it.  Once back in our room overlooking the plaza the march came up the street on our side of the plaza.  and ended right in front of our room.  The march was led by a small flatbed truck with a PA system aimed at the marchers following along which was festooned with posters and filled with stacks of fliers being handed out to those on the sidelines watching the parade go by.

The protest Marh ends right in front of our hotel room
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By the time the march got to our hotel most of the protestors had filtered off into the plaza where a stage and PA system had been set up.  It wasn’t long before the speeches started.  All in French of course but liberally sprinkled with words we knew such as Palestine, Gaza, Netanyahu, and Israel .  Even though it was all in French, it was pretty easy to figure out what was being said.  Between speeches they brought musical bands onstage and there was literally dancing in the street – more like a music festival than a protest demonstration.  But, then back to more speeches while the next band set up their equipment.  It was hard to tell if this was a regular Sunday concert series that a protest had latched onto, or a protest that included a bunch of music.

There were a few cops milling around the perimeter of the crowd but not all that many.  I guess those parked along the side streets were waiting there ‘just in case’.  Actually the whole thing was quite civilized and not crazy as we many times see in the US media.  No riot.  No looting.  No breaking store windows.  Just several thousand people listening to speeches and enjoying music from several different bands.

Not wanting to get mixed up in whatever this might turn into after dark we opted to have dinner in the hotel that night, watched a bit of TV and found that this was just one of several such protests taking place all over the city.  On about 10:00 PM it was still going strong and there was no way one could go to sleep with loud pounding rock music just outside the window (which had to be left open as the hotel had yet to activate the AC for the summer and otherwise the room would be quite warm and stuffy). 

We called down to the front desk to see if they had any info on how late this would go on.  He didn’t know but said he’d call us back.  About 5 minutes later he called back after walking out front and asking a cop the same question.  Turns out it was scheduled to break up at 11:00.   And just like clockwork, the noise stopped right at 11:00 and all was quiet.  Quiet, that is until around 5:00 am when the street cleaning trucks came through. 

By the time we left the hotel around 9:00 AM, everything had been cleaned up.  The entire plaza was devoid of trash and liter, all the trash receptacles had been emptied, and the plaza as well as the surrounding streets and sidewalks had all been washed. 

The Louvre

On our last full day before making our way down to Chalon-Sur-Saone for our river cruise we visited the Louvre museum (Musée du Louvre).  As mentioned earlier we had pre purchased entry tickets but also due to mobility issues were able to enter via a handicapped entrance which has an elevator from the plaza to the main lobby below the plaza. 

This is arguably the most famous (or at least in the top 3) museums in the world and contains some of the most famous works of Western art, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.  The museum itself is housed in the Louvre Palace which was originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II.  It was built over the old Medieval Louvre fortress, remnants of which are visible in the basement of the museum.

Foundation for a round towe of the old fortress
Louvre Basement

The collection spans work from ancient civilizations to the mid-19th century and contains 500,000 objects (of which 35,000 are on display) and these are divided among eight departments.

• Egyptian Antiquities
• Near Eastern Antiquities
• Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities
• Islamic Art
• Sculpture
• Decorative Arts
• Paintings
• Prints and Drawings

This is the world's most-visited museum at around 10 million per year (2018) and if you visit, this fact becomes quite obvious as all 10 million seem to be there the day you visit.  I don’t know if the museum is big to accommodate that many visitors or they have that many visitors as it is so large.  Either way, there is 782,910 square feet of exhibit space.  This is approximately 18 acres which is tiny in regard to a farm but is quite a lot in regards to walking it, no matter how fit you are.  But your step count app will be very happy if you try. 

In other words this place is gigantic and way too big to cover in single day and maybe not even in 2 or 3 days if you like to stop and read the signs and no matter how many days you plan to visit, go early as it just gets more and more crowded as the day goes on.

We limited our visit to just a few of the departments (or sections).  However to get from one to another sometimes we passed by or through other sections.  In fact in one of those cases, we had to pass through the room with the Mona Lisa which was absolutely filled to the brim with people shoulder to shoulder all trying to get a cell phone photo over the heads of the crowd.

From the Egyptian section
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Opulence at its best
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After a weary day walking the Louvre we headed back to the hotel for some greatly needed R&R.  On this day the kids Auto-mania was back again.  It seems that every day this plaza is used for some sort of event which is a good thing.

Tomorrow we are off to navigate the French railroad system as we make our way to Chalon-Sur-Saone to meet our cruise.

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       https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/blog/2024/7/France-01

Or, the whole 2024 France trip  series here (as they are created)

       https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/blog/keyword?k=dantravelblogfrance2024

Check my travel blogs for other trips here:

      https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/travel-blogs

Thanks for reading – Dan

(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

Article written June, 2024

The purpose of this Blog is to help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of Folders, Collections, and Keywords.  All can be used to organize your images and to help you find images when you want but each has pros and cons.  And, there is no reason why you shouldn’t use all of them for different purposes.

16 LR022 Folders, Collections, Keywords Cover Graphic

I will leave the discussion of Ratings, Flags, and color labels (which can also be used for image management) for another time

In the old world, we had to rely on our computer operating system directory structures and file names to organize files.  In this world we were limited to placing files in a folder structure and relying on folder and file names to be able to find them.  In fact, if you’re as old as I am, you may remember that you were limited to no more than 8 character folder and file names.  But, we’ve come a long way since then.  Now we have many different ways to keep our photographic world organized.

The goals of a good image organizational system include:

• Does not require you to make copies of your image files in order to find them in different ways.
• Allows you to find images based on a multitude of different attributes such as. date/time taken, subject matter, location, type of image, quality of image, camera or lens used, camera settings, etc.
• Categories and classifications assigned to images for the purpose of searching and filtering can also be attached to images exported and sent out into the world. 
• Is easy to understand and to implement

LrC provides for all of these and offers several ways to help manage and organize images to achieve these goals such as Folders, Collections, Keywords, Pick Flags, Color Labels, and Star Ratings.  All of these have a use and can be used to help find and manage images but today I want to compare and contrast Folders, Collections, and Keywords.

FOLDERS

Folders in LrC, represent the actual physical location of images on your system disk drive(s).  As such, the Folders Panel in the Library Module mimics what you see in Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows), but with some exceptions. 

01 LR022 folders Combo

The first exception is that the Folders Panel does not show you every folder on every drive on your computer system.  It only shows you folders which contain images that have been imported into LrC along with some level of parent folders.  By default it shows you a limited number of parent folders but if you right click on a folder name and select “Show Parent Folder” then it will expose the next higher parent of that folder.  Sometimes you need to repeat this for each successive parent in order to get to the level you wish to see.

The second exception is that information in the Folders Panel may become invalid.  This can happen if you make changes to the folder structure outside of the LrC Folder Panel.  For example you use Mac Finder or Windows File Explorer to rename or move a file or folder, or do either of those things to any parent folder of a folder known to LrC.  In addition, on a Mac if you change a drive name outside of LrC or on Windows the drive letter changes.  In all of these cases, what you see in the LrC Folders Panel is the last place LrC was able to find the folder.  If the path to that folder no longer exists as it had, then it still shows the old path and names but with a “?” on the folder icon. 

To get the screen shot below, I renamed the “2023” folder using my OS to “2023x” resulting in the folder, and it’s subfolders, all now  showing as missing in LrC

11 LR022 Folders Panel Missing Folder

The “?” indicates that LrC can no longer find that folder using the path and name it had before.  When this happens, right click on the folder name and select “Locate Missing Folder”.  This will bring up a Finder or File Explorer dialog box where you navigate to the new location or renamed folder and select it.  This will cause LrC to update its folder path and name information.

Every image in LrC can only be in exactly 1 folder – no more – no less.  An image that is missing, is still thought by LrC to be in the last folder it was seen in even if that folder is no longer on your system with the same name and in the same folder structure.  This does not mean that you may not have duplicate images scattered around your system, but each image in the LrC catalog is associated with one and only one image file on disk (I’m ignoring VC’s which allow 1 physical image to be shown more than once in LrC with each one having different treatments and different data). 

If you have “Show Photos in Subfolders” turned on (menu “Library”), then when you look at a parent folder the image counts include that folder as well as all of its subfolders and if you select that parent folder the grid/filmstrip will include all the subfolder images as well.

12 LR022 Show in Subfolders Menu Setting

Use of Folders

Folders are useful as a rough cut way to group images and to keep things in order in your computer file system and not have tens of thousands of images all in one folder which can become unwieldy.

Many people let LrC automatically manage the folder structure by date when importing new images.  This automatic date structure uses the capture date of each image to determine what folder to put it in and LrC automatically creates new folders as it goes along when needed .  The user has some control on the structure of these date oriented folders.  For example, do you want a year folder with a folder for each day under it vs. a year folder containing month folders which in turn contain day folders.  Also, do you want 2 digit month numbers, 3 character month name abbreviations or spelled out month names.  Those are just a few of the options but the result is a date based structure.  Here are the options with an example (a slash in the options name indicates a new folder in the hierarchy)

     01 LR022 Fiolders by LrC Date combo

But, an equally large number of people manage their own folder structures in whatever way they see fit.  However, in the majority of cases the detail folder is usually for a specific shoot, trip, or event with some identifying text as part of the folder name.  For example “2023-03 France”, or “2010-07 Fred’s Birthday Party”.  Structures like this make browsing easier than just having a date.  This is the method I use.

One should be warned that using folders for other purposes is not a great idea.  For example, using folder names for subject classifications has some deadly pitfalls such as what do you do with a photo that fits the definition of more than one subject folder?  For example, a photo of my family in front of Yosemite falls could go into the family folder or into the waterfall folder or even a landscape folder.  In fact, as it turns out, there should never be ambiguity as to what folder any image rightly belongs in and any image should not rightly belong in more than one folder. 

Except for some odd cases, the only metric which meets this criteria is a chronologically based structure where any one folder encompasses a defined period of time.  Any individual image can only have one capture date/time or one creation date/time so can logically only belong to one folder (assuming date/time ranges for folders do not overlap). 

Of course there are exceptions like a wedding photographer who has one folder per wedding with subfolders for different phases of the wedding (proposal, stag/hen party, rehearsal dinner, getting ready, ceremony, reception).

Some people like having one folder per day.  Others like one per month or even year.  Others, like myself, use one folder per shoot; where a shoot is a specific event (e.g., wedding, birthday party, solar eclipse, etc.) or a trip (e.g., 2018 trip to France).

But, at the end of the day, the folders panel can be a very easy way to limit the set of images in the grid and filmstrip to just those from a particular trip, event or time frame. 

COLLECTIONS

A collection is like a virtual folder, or a playlist in Apple Music or Spotify.  When you place an image into a collection, it does not make a copy of the image but rather it puts a pointer to the image into the collection.  In other words it is a list of images but rather than showing you a list it shows you the images referenced by the list.  Unlike a Folder where any particular image can only be in one folder an individual image may appear in any number of collections.  Much like a song can appear in multiple playlists.

Collections come in two flavors, Smart Collections and Regular (or Dumb) Collections.  With a Regular Collection you manually place images into the collection by dragging them to the collection from the grid or filmstrip.  To remove images from a Regular Collection, you select them and hit the “delete” or “backspace” button on the keyboard or right click and select remove from collection. 

A Smart Collection works differently.  Here you specify a set of rules and LrC automatically adds or removes images depending on whether or not the image satisfies the rules of that collection at that moment.  For example, a Smart Collection may be set up to show only images that were taken within the last 2 years and have a star rating of 3 or greater; or were taken at any time but have 5 stars.

The Collections Panel can be seen in all the modules

01 LR022 Collections Panel

If you wish to sync images with the Adobe Cloud based LR ecosystem, those images must be placed in regular collections – one of which is the “All Synched Photographs” special collection in the Catalog Panel.

Use of Collections

Collections are used to group images that have some common attribute or for some common purpose.  In many regards this can also be done with Folders and Keywords.  Some folks mimic their entire folder structure as collections but I don’t see the value in doing so other than being able to select them in modules other than the Library Module. 

Many other people, especially those that just let LrC deal with the folder structure by selecting one of the date structures, use Collections to group images from the same event or trip. 

Collections (like Keywords) can also be used for categorizing or classifying images.  For example you could have a collection of waterfall images, and another of family members and maybe a collection for each trip.  Whatever grouping comes to mind can be implemented as a collection without having to move images about on your hard drives.  So, the sky’s the limit. 

14 LR022 Collectiions Panel Subject oriented

This can go further into using collections to help keep track of image workflow or status.  For example a collection for images that need to be edited, images that need certain keyword types, images that are good candidates for your camera club competitions, or those you have sent to dad.

15 LR022 Collection Panel Workflow

For workflow type collections, if you use smart collections in conjunction with Keywords, many times the images self populate into the collections making it much more reliable.  For example here are some of my Workflow oriented smart collections

06 LR022 Collections Workflow SC list

If you want more information about using Smart Collections for workflow, see this article

KEYWORDS

Keywords are like hash tags in many ways.  Keywords can be individual words or short phrases that provide some information about the image they are attached to.  Any individual image may have many keywords and, of course, any keyword may be assigned to any number of images.  Keywords can be used to help find images and to provide information about the image.  Unlike Folders and Collections, Keywords are designed to (optionally) be included in the metadata on images when they are exported.

Like folders and collections, keywords can also live in a hierarchy.  Hierarchical keywords have a great advantage as an image that has a keyword inherits the parent keywords.  Those inherited parents are called “implicit” keywords.  For example, if I have a keyword structure like this…

04 LR022 KW Panel Fauna Parrot

… and I explicitly assign keyword “Parrot” to an image, it automatically inherits “Bird”, “Wildlife”, “Fauna”, and “1-SUBJECT”.  Any one of these 5 keywords can be used in filters, searches, and smart collections.   Here’s a sample of a keyword hierarchy for the Siem Reap area of Cambodia.

02 LR022 KW Panel Location Cambodia

By checking or un-checking boxes when creating/editing the keyword you can specify if the keyword is to be included on export.  In my parrot example, I’d set “1-SUBJECT” to not export but would allow “Fauna”, “Wildlife”, “Bird” and “Parrot” to export.

05 LR022 KW Edit Dialog

If you use the Face Detection feature of LrC, a Keyword with the “Person” attribute is used for each named person.

Use of Keywords

Keywords are great for documenting the content, other shooting information, history of images and Misc other information.  Below is an image with a list of the keywords that will export with the image.

22 LR022 KW Exported list House on Fire

For content type keywords we’re talking about two things.  First is the actual content of the image.

• Where in the world is it (e.g. San Franciso)
• Who are the people in the image
• What sort of thing is in the picture (e.g. waterfall, bridge, canyon, etc.)

The other includes  things like

• Weather conditions (e.g. snowing, misty, foggy)
• Other conditions (e.g. sunset, fall, spring, night)
• Generalizations (e.g. ruin, amusement park, national park)
• Photographic Style (e.g. arial, action, star burst, portrait)
• Photographic technique (e.g. panorama, macro, HDR, focus stack, composite)
• Color palette (e.g. redish or cool palette)

Anyway the list goes on and on

For shooting information, much of it comes from the camera but here I’m talking about things like multiple exposure or time lapse types of things.

And then there is history.  By this I mean the history of where this image has been distributed. 

• Who have I emailed it to
• What social media sites have I posted it on
• What competitions have I entered it in and has it won anything
• What Galleries have I submitted it to and was it accepted
• What image sharing web sites have I posted it to?
• Has it ever been purchased?

Then, of course, there is the ever present “Other” or “Misc”.  for anything else you may want to associate with the image that doesn’t fall into any of the above such as

• Who took the photo if it wasn’t me
• What commercial tour or workshop was I on when it was taken
• Have I registered it with the US Copyright Office and if so what year
• Etc.

I have two other articles related to Keywords

A more detailed explanation of setting up a keyword structure can be found here.

Special considerations and techniques for setting up keywords related to people to allow complex mix and match searches can be found here.

Keywords vs. Collections/Folders

Folders and Collections both are considered “sources” of images within LrC and determine the unfiltered set of images which can be seen in the grid and filmstrip.  Keywords are attributes associated with individual images.

There is a lot of overlap in the usage of folders and collections (not as much between Keywords and folders/collections) but there are also a lot of differences.

01 LR022 Folder Collection Keyword panels combo

Similarities

1. Folders and Collections can both can be used as the source for images being shown in the grid and filmstrip (before filtering)
2. Keywords, Folders and Collections can all live in a hierarchy in which sections can be expanded or collapsed 
3. Collections and Keywords can be used to group and find images that share a common attribute (e.g. waterfalls, or Fred, or Need to Print, or San Francisco) – Folders should not be used this way.
4. Keyword, Folder and Collection lists can be filtered
5. Folder name, Collection name and Keyword can all be used in filters and smart collecitons
6. Images can be assigned in bulk to any of the three
7. If you want to see images from two or more entries at once folders, collections and keywords are about the same.  With collections or folders multi select using Shift+click or Ctrl/Cmd+click.  With keywords set a text filter for keywords using the “contains” operator or select multiple KW’s in the metadata filter.

Differences

The checkmarks are my opinion of which type of organization (Folder, Collection, Keyword) has the upper hand for various features or uses.

How I Use These

There are as many different answers to the question of how to use these 3 panels as there are people using LrC.  If you do any research or take workshops you will find that every instructor, blogger, and YouTube influencer suggests something different.   So, the best I can do is to tell you how I use Folders, Collections, and Keywords.  I’m not saying this is the best, just that after experimenting with most of the others, this is the one that works for me. 

How I use Folders

I manage my own folders by shoot/trip/event rather than letting LrC mange a date only folder structure even though it requires a bit more attention during import.  I use a structure that has a master parent folder for all images.  Inside that is a folder per decade and inside that is a folder per year.  Within the year folder is a folder per shoot/trip/event as shown below.

17 LR022 Folder Structure windows annotated

You’ll notice that this too is a date oriented structure but with just a bit of info about what the folder is pertaining to.

How I use Collections

I use Collections for more process oriented information.  In most cases these are Smart Collections based on various metadata fields.

I have many collections for different attribute combinations, for example images that are in a particular Collection but don’t have a particular KW. 

I have a set of collections for images I sync to the LR/Cloud or were created by LrC from the Print or Book modules.  There are also collections created by various Plug-ins that I use from time to time.

But, my main use is a set of Smart Collections which I use to manage my workflow.  These smart collections auto update based on the status of the metadata.  For example if I assign GPS coordinates to an image, it immediately comes out of the “WF-B Needs Geo Tag” smart collection without further action on my part.  See this article for more information.

06 LR022 Collections Workflow SC list

Still in the workflow area, I use smart collections to identify images that are not published to my websites but should be and another set for images that are published to my websites but that I should remove from those sites (they are too old, or I lowered the rating in LrC).  Here’s a sample showing images that should be added to various sections of my Zenfolio website.  There are also sections for Flicker, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), and Fine Art America (not shown)

07 LR022 Collections To Pub SC list

I also have a set of collections for images that are synced to the LR Cloud.  These collections mirror the Album structure I have in the LR Cloud.

18 LR022 Collections LR Cloud

You’ll notice that I don’t use Collections to group images by shoot, event, date, or trip as I do that with folders.  You’ll also notice that I don’t have Subject or Location related collections as I do that with Keywords.

Collection tip

1. Don’t duplicate collection names (including those in Publish Services).  Let’s say I have a synced collection called Peru and also have a an album in my Flicker Publish Service (which shows up as a collection in LrC) also named Peru as well as one in my Zenfolio publish service it is hard to know which is which when looking at the collections for an image.  However If I name those things with some sort of common pre-fix or suffix I can tell them apart.  I didn’t figure this out right away so my Zenfolio galleries don’t have a prefix and can’t be renamed
   24 LR022 Collection Names tip

How I use Keywords

This is the heart of my method for finding images based on subject matter, names of people and places, and image aesthetics.  I do this by having groups of keywords where each major group contains keywords of a certain type.  For example I have a group for SUBJECT, another for LOCATION, and several others. I also have a group of keywords that I use in conjunction with my workflow related smart collections.  For example, I have a smart collection that contains images that need to have GPS coordinates added.  But, some images like a photo of a paper document has no need for GPS coordinates so I have a KW that tells the smart collection which images it should ignore.  '

See here for a more detailed discussion of how I use keywords

See here for more information on my use of smart collections and keywords for workflow

Here is a condensed overview of my keyword setup.  First, is the set of Keyword “groups” some of which I mentioned above.  I number them just to keep them in the order I tend to think about them in.

19 LR022 KW level one groups

And a 2^nd level example of my SUBJECT section

20 LR022 KW Subject group

And, the 2^nd level example of the LOCATION section

21 LR022 Location Group sample

The bottom line for keywords is that they can be used for anything you think will be useful in the future to either help find images, document something about the image, or to keep track of what has or hasn’t been done with the image. 

Conclusion

By using a combination of Folders, Collections (both Smart and Regular) and Keywords you can pretty much cover all your image management needs.  I’m not saying these are all perfect solutions but they are certainly able to do the job. 

I want to leave you with one final thought.  However you decide to use Folders, Collections, and Keywords, be consistent.  For example if you decide to use keywords for the subject matter of images, then don’t all of a sudden decide to create a collection for some subject.  Creating a Smart Collection based on the subject keyword is fine but start with the Keyword if that’s what you decided would be the repository of subject matter information.

Thanks for reading and I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d leave a comment at the bottom of this article and would post a link to this (or other) articles on whatever social media sites you use.

Article written June, 2024

01 Cover Graphic

There is a great deal of confusion and misinformation related to digital image size metrics, resolution meaning and how this all plays into creating image files for printing.  In this article, I explain the meaning of the various values related to image size, aspect ratio, resolution and also how to use LrC Export and Print Modules to produce files for printing, websites, gallery shows, and competitions.

Pixels and Resolution

For those new to this whole thing, a “pixel” is a dot of color in an image file.  One pixel represents one, and only one, color.

The more pixels your image has, the more detail can be represented and as such would have a higher resolution.  For example, if I have a photo of something that has, say 100x100 pixels.  That means that the scene is divided into a 100x100 grid where each cell in the grid can only be a single color.  Now, let’s take that exact same scene and photograph it at 200x200 pixels.  What had been 1 cell in the 100x100 version containing 1 color per cell, is now 4 cells in the 200x200 version where each cell could contain different color.  In other words, you can have up to 4 times the amount of detail.   If you’re photographing a clear blue sky this is not relevant as all 4 of those cells would be the same anyway.  However if you’re photographing something with fine details, like sand on a beach, you may now be able to see individual grains of sand in the higher resolution version where you would not in the lower resolution version.

Pixel Dimensions

The first and by far the most important values in relation to digital image files is the pixel dimensions.  These are two values that show the number of pixels in the horizontal and the vertical direction.  So, in my prior example, the 200x200 image has 4 times the number of pixels over the 100x100 image so has 4 times the resolution.  Everything else is either just a convenience or a vague value that could be used as a rough representation for comparing the quality of a set of similar images.

Camera manufacturers describe how many pixels files from their sensor can produce using “Mega-Pixels” (Mpx).  “Mega” means “million” and is usually rounded to the nearest integer (but sometimes with one decimal value).  So, a camera that produces 4,000 x 5,000 pixel images is a 20 Mpx camera.  The actual number of pixels in images though is usually a bit less as pixels on the edges of the sensor are usually not used in the final image.  On the sensor, these are actually "Photo Receptors", or "Light Wells" - but we'll just call them Pixels there too.

In LrC, you can see both the un-cropped and the cropped pixel dimensions in the “Exif” section of Metadata Panel

01 LR021 Pixel Dimensions

As shown above my Canon 5D Mark III is said to be a 22.3 mpx camera which produces images of 5760x3840 pixels (22,118,400 total pixels).

File Size on Disk

This is a value that is many times inaccurately used to assess image quality.  It is the number of bytes that the image file occupies on disk.  For images this is usually represented in  Kb (K=1,000) or Mb (M=1,000,000).  The file size can be seen in Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder and can also be seen in the Metadata panel (when “EXIF and IPTC” is chosen)

02 LR021 File Size (LrC)

A typical, uncompressed RAW file from my 5dK3 camera is roughly 29.3 Mb as shown below.

03 LR021 File Size (Windows)

Here is why this is for the most part a non-meaningful number for evaluating resolution or quality.  How much space an image file consumes on disk is vastly dependent on the file type and the amount of compression used on the file.  Here is that same image in several different formats (the Jpg’s have different “quality” settings).  As you can see the original 29.3 Mb RAW file grew to 64.8 when converted to PSD or TIFF and down to 1.7 when saved as a Jpg with a quality of 25.  In all cases the image files all contain the same number of pixels

07 LR021 File Size by File Types

But even with the same file type and same compression, the amount of detail in the photographed scene also affects file size.  Below are 4 images from the same camera with the same file type and same settings.  The variation in file sizes is due to some images being a more complex (detailed) scene than others.

06 LR021 File Size by content

And, another little known fact is that brighter images are larger than dimmer images.  Below are 3 bracketed shots of the same scene where 0041 is the middle, 0042 is the under exposed, and 0043 is the over exposed

08 LR021 File Size by Brightness

The bottom line here is that File Size on Disk is not at all useful in determining the resolution or quality of an image.  About the only thing it is good for is seeing how much space on disk the file is occupying.

Resolution, DPI and PPI

Now we get into another murky area.  First, let’s define some terms.  I should note that even though DPI and PPI are different, in general use the terms are many times used interchangeably.

PPI stands for Pixels per Inch.  This relates to display screens.  Your display screen has a specific number of pixels it can display.  For example HD monitors are 1080(h) and 1920(w).  But that is just the number of pixels available on the physical screen.  Another factor is how big (in inches) that screen is.  Let’s say the HD screen in question 26.6 inches wide.  That means the resolution is 72 PPI (1920/26.6).  But if the screen were only 10” wide, the resolution would be 192 PPI (1920/10).  In both cases you still have the same number of individual dots of color meaning that the true resolution is the same, but in the later case those pixels are each smaller and closer together.

DPI stands for Dots per Inch.  This relates to printed images.  Each printer has a specific number of dots it can print across the page, usually in the 300 range for consumer printers.  When the width of the printing area is taken into consideration this then determines the size of each dot.  But, just like displays that is just the number of dots it can print across the page.  When that number of dots is divided by the width of the print area it is referred to as the “resolution of the printer” and is usually measured in DPI (DPC for centimeters in metric countries). 

The other factor is how big the paper is you are printing on.  If you put in a piece of paper that is only half the width of the printer, then it can only print half as many dots on that piece of paper.  In other words the DPI does not change with paper size.

Resolution is the murkiest of all as it means so many things to so many different people.  For an image file the only true measure is how many pixels in each direction are contained in the file.  But when talking about screens and printers, the PPI and DPI are considered the measures of the resolution.

Let’s take an example.  If I have an image file that is 600 x 600 pixels and in LrC, when zoomed into 100%, I can see a certain amount of detail.  I then print that image on a 2” x 2” paper on a 300 DPI printer.  If my eyes are good enough I can still see each and every pixel from the file and the same amount of detail is in the print as was in the file itself.  However if I printed that same image on a 300 DPI printer that was 60” wide each image file pixel would need to occupy a tenth of an inch giving me 10 DPI and the image would look very pixilated even though all the image pixels were used.  In reality that doesn’t generally happen as the print driver would realize that it has 300 dots per inch available but is only being given 10 pixels per inch and rather than printing the same color 30 times in a row it would extrapolate from surrounding pixels to form “made up colors”  which is still not great but not as bad as the repeating option.

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio is the ratio of 2 adjoining sides of the image.  For example a print that is 3” x 4” has an aspect ratio of 3:4.  But, a print that is 6x8 or 9x12 also has the same 3:4 aspect ratio.  Aspect ratio has nothing to do with inches – it is only the ratio of one side compared to an adjoining side. 

So, let’s start with the aspect ratio problem in printing.  In LrC, your (cropped) image has a certain aspect ratio.  For example, let’s say the (cropped) image is 3000x4000 pixels, which is an aspect ratio of 3:4.  This can easily be printed as a 3x4 or 6x8 or 9x12 print as those print sizes also have a 3:4 aspect ratio. 

The problem arises when we need a print that has a different aspect ratio than our image.  Let’s say you have panorama image that is wide but not too tall. 

11 LR021 Pano

I know this is an extreme example, but if you try to print it on a square piece of paper you have a problem.  There are really only two solutions (other than changing the paper size to match the aspect ratio of the image file). 

1. You can crop the image (the width in this case) so that the aspect ratio of the cropped image file is also square.  If the aspect ratios are only slightly different this is many times an easy solution.  However in our example, this would mean losing most of the panorama image

12 LR021 Pano Square Crop

2. The second option is to include blank space along the top and bottom to make a square aspect ratio.  This is called “letter box” style.  The blank space can be white, a color, or even a texture.  If you also add a bit to the sides this can look a bit like a mat.  In this case I used a color.  By using the letter box style you can still show the entire image but it will fit a cell. frame, or mat having a different aspect ratio.  I’ll explain how to do this further down.

13 LR021 Pano Add Canvas

Using LrC to create files for printing

When we want to have an image printed (other than on a locally attached printer) we need to create a file (usually Jpg) which will be what is printed.   Sometimes we need to send this file out to be printed by some 3^rd party like a print lab or a gallery.  In some of these cases we need our print to fit into a pre-defined mat or frame. 

When dealing with these cases many times the print lab or gallery will indicate the specifications for the output file.  Sometimes this includes a maximum file size, and/or a maximum number of pixels on the long edge.  Although it is useless, for some reason galleries and competitions also tend to specify a “resolution”. 

To create such a file we use the Export dialog in LrC (see letter boxing below for exception). In the export dialog there are two panels where these parameters are specified.

The first is the “File Settings” panel.  Here you specify the export file type, JPG compression (quality slider) and the color space – none of which relate to this discussion.  However, if you are required to keep the size of the file on disk under a certain size you need to check the “Limit File Size To:” check box.  Then type in the limit size.  This number is shown in K (Kb), so if they specified the limit in Mb just multiply their number by 1,000.  For example 8Mb becomes 8000K and 3.5Mb becomes 3500K.

09 LR021 Expoort File Settings

The next Panel is the real resolution panel which is called the “Image Sizing” panel.

If you don’t check the “Resize to Fit:” box, your output file will contain the same number of pixels as does your cropped image in LrC.  Once you check this box then the other fields become usable. 

04 LR021 Export LE in Inches at PPI

The first pull down (“Long Edge” in screen shot above) determines what you want to use to limit the number of pixels and has these options

10 LR021 Export Img Size pull down options

Depending on which one you select, other fields in this section change to allow you to enter constraint values relevant to what you selected.  For example, if you selected “Percentage” then you’ll get a field to enter a percent value. 

• Width & Height and Dimensions are virtually the same.  You get two boxes to type in along with a pull down where you select the unit of measure for those values (Pixels, Inches, Centimeters).  LrC will resize the image to fit inside a box having the dimensions you type in.  Depending on the aspect ratio of the image itself, it may not use the entire height or the entire width you typed in.  This tool cannot be used to produce a “letter box” output or for cropping.  For example my NY skyline image is roughly 5800x2800.  If I type in 5800x5800 my output file will still be 5800x2800.  But if I type in 2900x2900 (half of 5800) my output image will be 2900x1400 (both directions will be half their original value)
• Long Edge and Short Edge have you specify the limit of just one edge with the other edge being calculated by LrC based on the aspect ratio of the image file.
• Megapixels.  Here you specify the maximum number of pixels of the output image
• Percentage.  This is used reduce the number of pixels by a certain percentage.  You cannot use this to increase the number of pixels regardless of the state of the “Don’t Enlarge” checkbox

In all cases, the aspect ratio of the cropped image in LrC will be maintained in the output file even if this means that fewer pixels result in one direction than the maximum you specified or it calculated. 

Also in all cases, if you have “Don’t Enlarge” checked LrC will not expand the number of pixels in either direction in order to reach the maximums you specify.  If you leave this unchecked then if there are not enough pixels in the image to meet your specified values, LrC will create them through mathematics based on surrounding pixels.

The Resolution value and unit of measure IS ONLY USED by LrC if you specified a length measurement (inches or centimeters) in the sizing fields.  LrC must know the maximum number of pixels to allow in the output file, so if you told it that you want the long edge to be 15”, then it needs to know the resolution of the output device (screen or printer) in order to calculate the number of pixels.  E.g., if you specified 15” as the Long Edge and a Resolution of 300 PPI, LrC will calculate that the Long Edge can be up to 4,500 pixels.  If you specified anything other than a length in the sizing the values you put in the Resolution fields are just included in the output file’s metadata in case some other program later on cares to see what you selected.

Creating “Letter Box” output

Let me start out by saying that there are some 3^rd party LrC plugins that, among other things, can produce letter box output.  One of these is LR/Morgify2 (https://www.photographers-toolbox.com/products/lrmogrify2.php) which can do all sorts of other things as well. 

However, LrC can also produce Letter Box jpg files using the Print Module.   It should be noted though that when using the Print Module to output a JPG, you may have to do some math by hand instead of LrC doing it.  But you can pretty much get the same amount of control as you have in the Export Dialog, its just a bit more complex to get there.  Here are the major panels needed for a letterbox output file (in the order I set them)

Layout Style.  The only thing here is to select Single Image.  This will give you one JPG file per selected image.

17 LR021 PrinMod Layout Style

Image Settings.  Nothing here unless you want some colored borders around the image.  You may want to select “Rotate to Fit” if you have some vertical and some horizontal images.  Zoom to fill will crop the image thus defeating the purpose of letter boxing.

01 LR021 PrintMod Image Settings

Print Job. Now we jump down to the bottom panel.  Here you set the output to “JPEG File” and set your File Resolution.  The file resolution is important in this case.  Then in the Custom File dimensions section put in a number of inches wide and high for the jpg file.  What you’ll get are these numbers multiplied by the File Resolution.  In the screen shot below, my output file will be 3000x3000 pixels (10 inches x 300 PPI).  If you’re after a certain number of pixels, then you have come up with a custom dimension that when multiplied by the PPI gives you the number of pixels you are after. 

Further down select your Color Profile.

18 LR21 PrintMod Print Job

Page.  Moving up from there, If you want a color canvas behind the image rather than white, check the box as shown below and pick a color with the color box.  This panel can also be used to add an Identity plate, water marks, titles, captions and the like.

15 LR021 PrintMod Page

Layout.  Moving up again, this panel has lots of values but what you want is for all the margins to be zero, Rows and Columns to each be 1, and the cell sizes to be at their maximum.  The maximum will be the same number of inches you specified in the Print Job Panel. 

16 LR021 PrintMod Layout

The cell size section relates to the image itself so if you don’t want the image to consume the entire width or height, back off on one of the sliders in the “Cell Size” section.  In the example below I left ¼” on the left and right sides

19 LR021 PrintMod Estra side space

Now click the “Print to File” button at the bottom of the right Panel group. 

Saving your settings as a preset

Many of us tend to post images on the same websites or have them printed at the same print labs or submit them to the same competitions or galleries over and over.  If that is your case you should save the settings for each of these uses as a preset.  A preset is nothing more than a saved set of values you’ve entered into LrC.  In this case it would be the values you used in either the Export Dialog or the Print Module for a specific purpose. 

For example, let’s say your camera club requires that images be no larger then 1920x1080 pixels and must be a JPG in the sRGB color space.  Once you input those requirements into the Export Dialog, click the “Add” button at the bottom of the left panel in the Export dialog and then give it a name.

01 LR021 Export PACC

From then on, to use it, just click on it in the list.  DO NOT check the box – rather highlight the name.  This will fill in all the info on the right side from what was saved in the preset.  At this point you can just use it as is or change any values you wish then export.

02 LR021 Export Select Preset

In the Print module, after setting all the parameters in the right panel group as desired, click the “+” on the “Template Browser” panel name in the left panel group.  Then give it a name

03 LR021 PrintMod Add New Preset

To use such a template, just click on it’s name which will set all the parameters in the right panel group at which point you can change any you wish prior to clicking the print button.

04 LR021 PrintMod Select Template

Sharing your LrC Images with others
(V01, June 2024)

This article discusses how to share images from LrC with others on the Internet or through email.

Most of us like to have other folks see our images and the most popular way to do that is to share them on the Internet.  But, there are many ways one can do that – some are somewhat easy and some are more complicated.  Here are some examples that I’ll talk about in this article:

1. Upload images to social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Etc. or image sharing sites such as Google Photos, Flickr, SnugMug, 500px, Apple Photos, Etc.
2. Put images in a file sharing system such as Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, Etc. and share the link with others
3. Email limited number of small versions of your images
4. Create a web page for a group of images using LrC or LR and share the link
5. Build a custom web site using Adobe Portfolio
6. Build a web site with Web Module
7. Build a web site  using non Adobe services such as SmugMug, Zenfolio,

Lightroom has facilities for several of these options.  So let’s start at the top.

Social Media & Image Sharing Sites

Most social media sites these days have the ability for you to upload and share images.  Some examples are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Many of these allow you to place your images into folders, albums or collections. 

In addition to these are sites that are designed for the sharing of images.  These sites tend have a bit more flexibility and also include social media aspects like posting messages, adding comments to images, allowing “likes” or “favorites” and permitting others to include your images in their galleries. Some examples of these sorts of services are Google Photos, Flickr, SmugMug, and Apple Photos.   Some of these services have a few rudimentary image editing capabilities thrown in as well.

Placing your images in such services can be done in a couple of different ways.  In the base case you simply export selected images to a temporary folder on your computer and then log onto the web service and upload the images into the photo stream and/or folders/albums/collections you create on the service.  Below is an example from Flickr.

03 LR020 #02 Flickr Example home page

A second method of managing images in some of these websites is to use an LrC feature called Publish Services.  Using an adobe or a 3^rd party Publish Service plug-in simply allows you to manage the content of your images on the web service from within LrC itself.  In most cases you can create folders or albums on the service as well as add and delete images from the service.  In addition LrC keeps track of any changes you make to images in LrC and then gives you the opportunity to update those changed images on the web service – all from within LrC.  With Publish services in LrC you see your albums/folders in LrC along with the images in each.

Below is an example from my Flickr publish service showing one Flickr Album

04 LR020 #03 Pub Serv Fllickr_

Here’s that same album as seen in Flickr itself.

05 LR020 #04 Flickr one Gallery

Another benefit of using LrC Publish Services is that in many cases comments on your images entered on line by your followers come back to LrC and can be viewed in a special section of the Metadata panel.

Cloud File Sharing Services

There are many cloud file storage/sharing systems on the market today and most have an amount of storage you can use for free before having to pay for more.  Some of the more popular ones are Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive and Google Drive. 

Some of these tools are designed to act like an additional disk drive on your computer and can accept pretty much any type of computer file.  These types are many times integrated with your operating system and mirror the content of a designated folder from your computer to the cloud.  For others you need to upload files from your computer to folders in the cloud system.  Some of these tools have web viewers that can display the content of the most popular file types such as Word , Excel , PDF files, and JPG images. 

I’m not going to teach you how to set up or use these services, however from LrC just export the images to a folder on your computer.  If the folder you export to automatically syncs with the cloud service then that is all there is to it.  If not, then after the export completes, open the cloud service in a Web browser and upload the images from the folder.

Attach images to an Email

If your preferred sharing method is to attach images to email messages, you can do that as well.  However as I’m sure you’ve discovered if you do this much is that email servers have a size limit of how large an email can be.  This size limit includes the message itself plus the size of the attachments.

With LrC you can do this in two ways.  As in each of the above cases you can simply export JPG’s of your images (probably with reduced size) to a temporary folder and then attach those image files to an email message.

If you’d like to skip a step or two in that process you can chose the “For Email” preset from the Export Dialog or pick any other preset and then change the “Export To:” box at the top of the dialog box to “Email”. 

06 LR020 #05 Export as email dialog box

Doing this will cause your selected images to be exported to a temporary folder as before but instead of just stopping there the export process will then invoke your system default email client with the “new message” option selected and with the exported images already attached.  Then all you need to do is supply the email address(es) of the recipient(s), add a subject and type a message.

07 LR020 #06 Outlook Compose

Single Webpage on Adobe Server containing LrC images

So, now we’re going to get to features built into LR (Lightroom cloud based) and LrC (Lightroom Classic).  The first is a simple creation of a single web page hosted on an Adobe Server and accessible to anyone with the URL. The good news is that you are already paying for this feature with your Adobe Plan so there is no extra cost unless you run out of cloud storage space.

First turn on syncing between LrC and the LR/Cloud ecosystems if not already on (Edit -> Preferences menu, Lightroom Sync tab).  You will have to sign on with your Adobe ID if not already signed on.  

Then “start” syncing.  To start syncing prior to LrC/10, click the down arrow to the right of the identity plate and click “Start” on the first line
08 LR020 #07 Sync status old

After LrC/10 (or perhaps LrC/9.4) , they moved this option to a cloud icon at the right end of the top panel group. 
01 LR020 #08 Sync status New Start

In either case, Click the “Start Syncing” button in the pop up box.

Once syncing is turned on and running, create a regular collection in the normal manner and populate it with images you want to share.  You can’t use Smart Collections for this.

Follow this by enabling sync for that collection.  You can do this by right clicking on the collection name and selecting “Sync with Lightroom”.  You’ll know the collection is syncing when it has a double headed arrow to the left of the collection name.  You can also turn sync on and off by clicking on this icon (or the place where the icon should be).

When viewing a collection that is set to sync, you will get a line above the filter bar in the Grid view.  At the right end of this line will be a button labeled “Make Public”.

11 LR020 #10 Make Public button

If you click this button, it will create a web page containing the images in the collection and the button will change to “Make Private”.  The URL of this web page will show up just to the left of this button. Clicking “Make Private” will remove the web page.

12 LR020 #11 URL of Web Page

Click on the URL and you’ll go to that web page.

01 LR020 #12 Make Public Web Page

Changes you make to the Collection in LrC or the Album in LR/Cloud are synced to the web page automatically so it always stays current with tweaks you make to images or the addition/removal of images to/from the collection/album 

Anyone you give the short URL to (found above the filter bar in LrC) or the full URL it resolves to in your web browser will be able to see the page.  Here’s a sample “shared” LrC Collection Example of "Make Public" LrC Collection

Custom Web Site using Adobe Portfolio

While sharing a collection is easy and quick, the resulting web page is rather simple and is a unique individual page per collection - if there are too many images for one page you'll be able to go to additional pages for the remaining images.  But it is not an integrated set of pages which would be considered a web site.  But, Adobe has another product called Adobe Portfolio which is also included in your plan.  This product is a more robust photo website builder tool.  It is a bit more complicated but is substantially more configurable and the result is a web site (not just a page) with navigation between pages and many other features.  With Portfolio you start with a template and then customize from there to your hearts desire.

Here’s a link to my demo Portfolio website Example of a Portfolio web site (home page shown below)

01 LR020 #00 Sample Page

I am not going to teach you everything there is to know about Adobe Portfolio in this article but will give you enough to get started and create a basic website. 

Go to https://portfolio.adobe.com/.  If you’re not already logged into your Adobe Account, click the Sign In button at the top right and log in.  On the login screen you may want to check the “Stay logged in” button so you don’t have to keep logging back in.  You will now get a welcome screen with a “New Site” button (white plus sign in blue circle).  If you already have one or more Portfolio websites they will also be shown and you can pick one to edit.

The first step is to pick a theme for what you want your website to look like.  This can be changed later and can be tweaked (for example if you don’t like their choice of colors or fonts) as well. But for now just pick a theme.

14 LR020 #13 PF Theme selection

For this example, I selected theme “Hegen”.

What you see next depends on which theme you selected.  The screen will show you a sample page for the selected theme.  Click the “Use this Theme” at the top right

15 LR020 #14 PF use this theme

Next you’ll get a blank version of the landing page for the selected theme.  As you move the mouse around, you’ll get a little blue pop up button that allows you to edit the content of each section.  For example, the top center is the “masthead” section and if you click the Edit button you can change the text as well as the font, colors, etc.  Depending on which section you edit, the editing tools may be different.  For example, if you click in the grid you can change the number of rows and columns and add space between the cells.

From here there are all sorts of things you can do, but probably you should start by adding pages with your images.  In the menu of things on the left is an “Add Page” button (plus sign in blue circle) at the top right.  Click it and you’ll get a list of page types you can add.  You can also click the “Pages” menu item to see a list pages already present and the “Add Page” button is at the bottom of the list of pages.

18 LR020 #21 Add Page menu

In this example we want to add pages for LR/Cloud Albums (which came from synced LrC Collections) so we choose the “Lightroom Album” option.  Clicking “Lightroom Album” will then take you to a screen showing you all your Adobe Lightroom folders and albums.  These are the ones in the Adobe Cloud which may or may not have come from syncing collections from Lightroom Classic.  The top section contains the Adobe/Cloud Folders and the bottom section are individual albums.  Click on an album or click on a folder to see the albums in that folder.

19 LR020 #21b PF Select Cloud Album

In this case I clicked on my “Subject” folder, then I selected the “Wildlife” album (as shown below) and clicked the “Import Selected” button.  This will build a page for that album by importing the images from Lightroom/Cloudy.  As before, you can mouse over things like the album name and change them.

20 LR020 #21c Select Cloud Album 2

You can now go back and add other albums as desired.  

Once you have a bunch of PF pages created from your Lightroom images, you can then create a page from which the user can pick which one they want to see.  PF calls this type of page a “Collection” but I’ll call these “PF Collection” pages to differentiate them from “LrC Collections”.  These are pages containing a grid of PF Albums to choose from.  This is like a menu of albums. Here’s an example of a PF Collection page of albums by Subject.

21 LR020 #22 PF Colleciton page sample

Using this same menu you can also add these page types:

• A custom page you design on your own
• A welcome page (Home Page)
• Or a link to another website.

As was the case with the initial home page, each page is made up of blocks (or sections) of data and you can alter the look and text in each block.  As you hover your mouse over these different blocks on the screen, a blue “Edit” button will pop up and if you select it, a dialog box will appear in the left panel with all the changes you can make.  For example in the above PF Collection block I made it 4 columns wide and put a bit of space between the thumbnails.  Had I clicked on the edit button on the mast head, I could change the text and the font attributes.

You can then build a menu across the top of your PF website.  This menu can contain the names of your pages, PF Collections and a few other things.  You turn on this menu using the “Navigation” tool in the left panel.  Click the slider button to the right to turn it on and then select which types of items you want on the menu.  Below is what I selected the result of which you can see.

23 LR020 #24 Menu Navigation

Anyway, that’s a quick get started set of steps.  I’m sure you can find more detailed info on the internet about all the functions and features of Adobe Portfolio.  If you dig down it can be quite customizable, but has some shortcomings.

The net is that you can build a pretty good website but a couple of things.  One is that images are populated into the PF Albums when you create the PF Page.  Subsequent changes to the LR/Cloud Album (probably synced to a LrC Collection) do not migrate to the PF Album page unless you

1. Click the “Pages” menu item in the left panel
2. Click the gear icon on the PF collection name
3. Click “Reset from Lightroom”
4. Repeat for each PF album needing to be updated
5. Click “Update Website” at the bottom of the left panel

22 LR020 #23 Refresh Images

Web Module

Way back in the early releases of LR (as it was called then), they added the “Web” module to the program.  This was way before LR/Cloud was even an idea.  This is a very rudimentary web page builder tool that has for the most part become obsolete – not that it was ever that useful. 

What you do is that using this module you build what will become a web page containing the images selected. 

24 LR020 #25 Web Module tool

Then you export (or upload) the web page content as a file to your computer.  In the exported folder you can click on the “Index.html” file and see your generated web site.  The next step is to copy this code to a Web Server someplace where others can access it.  The generated website looks like what you see in the central viewing area of the Web Module.

There’s nothing really wrong or bad about the Web Module, but in order to make it visible to others you’ll have to have access to a web server someplace and would also probably need to create (register) a domain name for your website and deal with all the issues involved with managing a web site (security, hacking, backup, Etc.).  So, in general more work than its worth considering that you now have all these other options.

Non Adobe Custom Web Site

The last option is to create a custom website using a commercial development tool.  There are many on the market and each one can be anywhere from simple for non techies to complicated needing programming skills and anywhere from one size fits all to highly customizable.  The simpler and less customizable sites may be better for folks who just want to get something up and not spend a lot of time on it.  On the other hand, tools that allow more customization or even programming will take longer to learn, and customize but you have way more control over the final product.  It is really up to you.

Some popular such tools are

• SmugMug
• Flickr
• Zenfolio
• WordPress

SmugMug and Zenfolio are template driven (similar to Portfolio) but more sophisticated and more configurable than Portfolio.  These two also have 3^rd party plug-in for LrC Publish Services which allow you to manage the images and folder/album/collection structures on the website from within LrC.  I use Zenfolio for my website (www.danhartfordphoto.com) but SmugMug is an equally fine choice. 

WordPress on the other hand is a generic website framework that can be used to build any sort of website.  It is incredibly flexible, but is high maintenance.  It is constantly changing and unless you put in a fair amount of effort keeping an eye on upcoming changes and testing new versions, sometimes those changes can cause your website to behave differently or even to break.  I do not suggest this type of tool unless you want to go through a steep learning curve and then devote a fair amount of time being an IT department for your website.

ESCAPE TO IRELAND #02 – Dublin City

Map of our route

01 2016-05-31 Map day 02 Dublin

Dublin is a fair size city, similar in population to Boston, with plenty of sights to see.  Driving in big cities is a pain even in the best circumstances and just plain out of the question in tenuous circumstances such as an unfamiliar city, where you drive on the wrong side of the road with a jet lagged driver.  So, all along we had planned to let the car rest in the FREE parking lot of our suburban hotel and see Dublin without the aid of our own vehicle. 

Seeing as how we were armed with a totally useless guide book we planned to grab one of those “hop on hop off” sightseeing busses that all major cities seem to have these days.  There were a few things we knew we wanted to see, but felt the best bet was to take a seat on the top deck, do a full circuit to get the lay of the land and then decide on the places we wanted to “hop off” as we went around the 2^nd time.  So, the day before we went down to the concierge of the hotel to see about cab fare into the city and where to go to hook up with one of those buses.  Conveniently enough, it turned out that one of the 3 such bus companies in town has an arrangement with our hotel.  At 10:00 AM, at no charge, they’ll come out and pick up folks wanting to book a ticket on their bus.  So, we signed up and the concierge called to confirm that they would be there at 10:00 to collect us.  It would only work one way though.  We’d need to grab a cab to get back (we’re not up for public busses in strange cities if at all avoidable). 

The next morning after the included “Irish Breakfast” at the hotel we made our way to the front door by 10:00 to await the bus.   Ten past 10 no bus.  So back inside, and the front desk called the bus company again.  “Oh, we didn’t know anyone had signed up.  You really need to call the day before so we have you on the list.”  Wait a minute.  We did call the day before and got on the list.  Really, hmmmm.  That must have been Megan who’s off today.  Ok, we’ll send a bus on over.

“Half 10” as they say on that side of the pond, meaning 10:30, no bus.  Finally it showed up near 11:00 and off we went – the only 2 people on the bus.  The bus wound its way down broad 4 lane boulevards lined with shops and squeezed down narrow lanes barely wide enough for a Pedi Cab let alone a bus and into a 6 lane divided thoroughfare lined with hotels and large stores.  Here we were asked to get off so we could get in line with a bunch of other folks for a bus actually on the official route.  I guess they decided sending a bus to the hotel to collect 2 people was more practical than having someone drive a car out.  Oh well, not my problem.  10 minutes later another bus showed up – this one already being about ¾ full and we all piled on. 

DUBLIN

Let me switch gears now for a brief history of Dublin.  The oldest recorded info starts with Viking raids in the 8th and 9th century.  The folks being raided joined forces and established a settlement on the Southside of the Liffey River near the sea and named the place  Dubh Linn - which translates to “Black Pool”-  after the lake where the Danes first moored their boats.

Despite stone fortifications, Dublin was sacked many times over the next two hundred year but always recovered. By the 11th Century, it was doing quite well, mainly due to close trading links with the English towns of Chester and Bristol.

Moving on to the middle Ages, the year 1169 marked the beginning of 700 years of Norman rule. The King of Leinster, Mac Murrough, enlisted the help of Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, to conquer Dublin. After Mac Murrough’s death, Strongbow declared himself King of Leinster, defeating both the Vikings and the High King of Ireland to win control of the city. However, the king of England, afraid Strongbow might become too powerful, pronounced himself Lord of Ireland and gave Dublin to the merchants of Bristol.  Sounds like a soap opera.  Anyway, Dublin burned down in 1190, only to be rebuilt again.  

Moving on, it was part of the English Crown from the 14th to 18th centuries, and known as “The Pale”.  For the Brits in London this was considered “out there to the west somewhere” giving us the phrase “beyond the pale".  In 1537, a revolt occurred when the Lord Deputy of Ireland was executed in London. His son renounced English sovereignty and set about gathering an army to take Dublin away from the English. However, he was defeated and subsequently executed as well – I guess being executed runs in the family.

Dublin continued to prosper in the 16th Century and boasts one of the oldest universities in the British Isles, Trinity College, which was founded by Queen Elizabeth I. By 1640  the city had grown to 20,000, but the plague in 1650 wiped out almost half of the population.   But the city prospered again soon after as a result of the wool and linen trade with England, reaching a population of 60,000 by 1700.

The city grew even more rapidly during the 18th century. The beginnings of the City Corporation was created in 1757 when a group of men formed to widen, pave, light and clean the streets. Ireland's famous Guinness stout was first brewed here in 1759 and a stagecoach service to other towns began. A police force was established in 1786.   By 1800 the population was up to 180,000. However, this overpopulation brought with it great poverty and disease making the place less than ideal to live in.

Dublin suffered a steep political and economical decline when the seat of government moved to Westminster in 1800 under the Act Of Union.  However as we moved into the 1900’s change was a foot.  Around Easter time in 1916 there was a War For Independence (The Easter Uprising) and a subsequent Civil War which eventually led to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland.

Since the mid-1990s, an economic boom they call the ‘Celtic Tiger’ brought lots of expansion and development to the city which is now the single largest metro area in Ireland with some 1.2m people which is 28% of the country's total population of 4.2m. 

Hop on Hop off tour

Getting back to our visit, we decided to take the full route on the city Hop on Hop off bus (red route to be exact).  This is a roughly 90 minute loop which hits all the major sights in the city.  As mentioned, Dublin is a proper city about the size of Boston, but way older.  Most of the downtown and commercial areas are 3 and 4 story brick or masonry buildings with stores on the first floor with apartments above with a very odd, and totally out of character, ultra modern building popping up from time to time. 

Typical Dublin Commercial Street

01 7d2R02-#0065

And, like most cities, especially Boston, the downtown is a mess of construction.  It turns out that they are installing a light rail system throughout the city and pretty much every street of any significance is torn up with heavy construction, diverted traffic, and only one driving lane.  A real mess.  Thank goodness we didn’t try to drive as I’m sure our GPS would not understand all the blocked roads, restricted turns, and temporary one way streets.  However, our bus knew how to adapt to the situation.  Along our route we passed Trinity College, Dublin Castle, too many churches and cathedrals to keep track of, the Guinness Brewery (a very popular stop for people getting off to tour the factory), the Kilmainham Gaol, and many others.

One of the places we knew we wanted to tour was the “Kilmainham Gaol.”  In Irish (Gaelic) the word for “jail” is “gaol” which interestingly enough is pronounced the same as our word, jail.  Unfortunately, there were 2 cruise ships in port at the time.  With Dublin being a recent addition to cruise ship itineraries the tourist infrastructure is still trying to figure out the logistics involved with these massive influxes of people all at once.  As it turned out all the tours of the Jail (or Gaol) were already full for the entire day so we didn’t bother getting off the bus.  As the bus wandered back in toward the center of the city we decided to forego the portion of the route that goes off to the zoo and the outskirts of town and got off nearer the main action – much of which we passed earlier. 

River Liffey and North vs. South

We got off the bus at the River Liffey which divides North Dublin from South Dublin.  For as long as Dubliners have lived on either side of the river there has been fierce debate as to which side contains the biggest pack of losers, criminals, and idiots. When Dublin first became fashionable in the Georgian era, the Northside was considered the place to be.  No self-respecting aristocrat would want to spend time among the Southside lowlifes. Then, suddenly, the Earl of Kildare decided that, actually, he'd quite like to build his new palace on the Southside and, just like that, the whole argument got turned around and to this day Dublin's Northside is considered to be a sort of genetic waste bin for substandard Irish DNA -  well, perhaps not by the majority of Dubliners who actually live on the Northside.

As it turns out the Liffey River as it flows through Dublin isn’t even a river.  It is actually more of an estuary with the water level rising and falling with the tide in the bay.

River Liffey

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Christ Church

On our way to Dublin Castle, we made a quick photo stop to shoot the exterior of Christ Church Cathedral.  Dublin has the dubious distinction of being one of the only cities with 2 cathedrals – the other being St. Patrick’s - in this case only a few blocks apart.  I never did quite get how that happened but there seems to be all sorts of church rules pertaining to what each was used to be used for (e.g. this one for inaugurations, that one for state funerals, etc.) – and even more documentation of all the times some king or bishop did it the other way around.

Christ Church Cathedral stone bridge

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Temple Bar Area

As is the case with any self respecting city, Dublin has its cultural and nightlife zone.  In Dublin’s case, both of these are the area called the “Temple Bar” which sits more or less between Dublin Castle and the River Liffey.  Given its role as the cultural center of Dublin, it was only fitting that it is made up of the two most popular aspects of the Irish culture.  Of course I’m referring to Music and Beer.  This area is chock full of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, pubs, saloons, taverns, and even more pubs.  In the daytime one can get lunch here and check out the architecture, but at night it is a mecca for traditional (or “trad” as the signs say) Irish music and the Irish beverage of choice.

Temple Bar in, well, Temple Bar

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Sick & Indigent Society rooming house, AD 1790

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Metal Door on night club

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Street in Temple Bar area

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Dublin Castle

Dublin was the seat of the United Kingdom government administration in Ireland until 1922, and is still a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland. The Castle served as the seat of English, then later British government of Ireland under the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541), the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1800–1922).  After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, the complex was ceremonially handed over to the newly formed Provisional Government led by Michael Collins.

As with most medieval castles it has had many incarnations.  It was established by King John of England in 1204AD.  This Norman Castle was built within the SE corner of a pre-existing Viking town which had been founded in the 10^th century at the confluence of  the Liffey and Poddle rivers – probably at the site of a Gaelic ring fort.  Starting as a wooden fort it eventually evolved into a large fortified stone complex inside a walled area where hundreds of people worked in support of the royalty of the house.  Originally the river more or less came right up to the castle walls but over time the river was corralled a few blocks away.  If one goes down a few levels in one of the buildings one can still see the original moat (which connected to the river) and the narrow stairs cut through the perimeter wall to allow access to and from the river. 

Today, the Upper Castle Yard is overlooked by the State Apartments which are still used by visiting dignitaries, state functions, and for the inauguration of a new president every 7 years.  It is also where the handover of power to the new Irish State took place in 1922 after the Irish won independence from England.

Today, one can wander around the grounds and visit the Royal Chapel as well as the State Apartments.

As a side note, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula worked here from 1866 to 1878 in the Register of Petty Sessions Clerks office – whatever that is.

Royal Chapel

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Grand Staircase, State Apartments

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State Apartments

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State Apartments

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Trinity College

Trinity College is the sole college of the University of Dublin. It was founded in 1592 as the "mother" of a new university modeled after the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but, unlike these, only one college was ever established. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland's oldest university.

Originally it was established outside the city walls of Dublin in the buildings of the dissolved Augustinian Priory of All Hallows (as in Halloween).  As are many things in Ireland, it too is caught up in the Catholic vs. Protestant tension.  It was set up in part to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland – in other words for the Protestant Ascendancy. Although Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter as early as 1793 certain restrictions on their membership of the college remained until 1873 (professorships, fellowships and scholarships were reserved for Protestants). From 1956 to 1970 the Catholic Church in Ireland forbade its adherents from attending Trinity College without permission from their archbishop. Women were first admitted to the college as full members in January 1904

Trinity College is now dab smack in the middle of downtown Dublin on College Green, opposite the former Irish Houses of Parliament. The college proper occupies 47 acres.  As of 2015, it was ranked by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as the 160th best university in the world.  The Library of Trinity College is a legal deposit library for Ireland and the United Kingdom, containing over 4.5 million printed volumes and significant quantities of manuscripts (including the Book of Kells), maps and music.

The college is built around a series of grass quadrangles, like many universities.  But oddly enough in this era of Ultimate Disk and Grass Volleyball, no one is allowed to walk on or sit on the grass.  So, when the sun shines (rarely so they say) and the temperatures get warm (equally rare so they say) all the college folks head over to St. Stephen’s Green which is only a few blocks away.  On our day in Dublin, the sun was shining, the temperature was warm and the park was full.

Fellow Square, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

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Hardly an unused patch of grass in the sun.  St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin.

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Book of Kells

So what is this “Book of Kells” thing?  It is a stunningly beautiful manuscript containing the Four Gospels and is Ireland's most precious medieval artifact - generally considered the finest surviving illuminated (illustrated) manuscript to have been produced in medieval Europe. 

The Book of Kells was probably produced in a monastery on the Isle of Iona, Scotland, to honor Saint Columba in the early 8th century. After a Viking raid the book was moved to Kells Ireland sometime in the 9th century only to be stolen in the 11th century, at which time its cover was torn off and the book itself was thrown into a ditch. The cover, which most likely included gold and gems, has never been found, and the book suffered some water damage; but otherwise it is extraordinarily well-preserved.  In 1541, at the height of the English Reformation, the book was taken by the Roman Catholic Church for “safekeeping” – kind of like all the gold they took out of Central and South America “for safe keeping”.  It was returned to Ireland in the 17th century, and Archbishop James Ussher gave it to Trinity College, where it resides today.

After some prefaces and canon tables, the main thrust of the book is the Four Gospels. Each one is preceded by a carpet page featuring the author of the Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John).  The Book of Kells was written on vellum (calfskin), which was time-consuming to prepare properly but made for an excellent, smooth writing surface. 680 individual pages (340 folios) have survived, and of them only two lack any form of artistic ornamentation. In addition to incidental character illuminations, there are entire pages that are primarily decoration, including portrait pages, "carpet" pages and partially decorated pages with only a line or so of text.  As many as ten different colors were used in the illuminations, some of them rare and expensive dyes that had to be imported from the continent.  The workmanship is so fine on this artwork that some of the details can only be clearly seen with a magnifying glass.

Example of an illumination page from the Book of Kells

12 Day 02 Dublin - 12 Book of Kells

Stairs to upper deck of library (Trinity College, Dublin)

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Antique books library, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

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Antique books library, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

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So ends our 2^nd day in Ireland, again Bright Sun, mid 70’s (f), and no rain

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Next on our agenda – County Wicklow

I hope you enjoyed reading this travel log and will read accounts of future trips.  

- Images of this trip will are published on my website

https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/ireland-2016-10

Thanks for reading -- Dan

Four Corners October 2023 - #04 Goosenecks, Forrest Gump and Bridges

This Four Corners series of articles is for a one week driving trip we took to the Four Corners area of the USA in October of 2023.  The main destinations on this trip were Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley with some other stops along the way. 

Entire Trip map
02 Map 1 - Full Trip

In this article (the last of the 4 Corners series) I’ll talk about Goosenecks State Park, Forrest Gump Hill, and Natural Bridges National Monument.

Route on our Goosenecks and Natural Bridges day
01 Map 6 - Natural Bridges Day

Other side of Monument Valley

While still staying at Gouldings, we spent a day driving north up into Utah to see some other sites.  US-163 heads northeast from the Monument Valley Turnoff and skirts around the north side of the Monument Valley Tribal Park on up to Mexican Hat.  From this road you can see many of the same monuments that you see from inside the park but now you’re looking at them from the North and East rather than from the West and South.  In the morning you get more front light on these features but in the late afternoon they are illuminated with side light or are silhouettes with backlight.

The photos below show some or all of Brighams Tomb,  Stagecoach, Castle Rock, Bear and Rabbit Summit, Big Indian, and King on his Throne  from along US-163. Unfortunately, other than Brighams Tomb, it is not clear which of these is which.  Doing a Google search for these monument names produces loads of photos which are mostly not labeled, but for each feature the few photos that labeled their photos have different labels for the same features, with no apparent majority of which name goes with which feature. 

Brighams Tomb from US-163
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Probably Castle Rock, Bear and Rabbit, and Stagecoach Monuments.  From US-163
King on his Thrown

From US-163
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Forrest Gump Hill

Many of you may recall the Forrest Gump movie.  At the end of his 3 year running phase where he crisscrossed the country several times he was running through a desert with an entourage of followers tagging along.  At one point, to the puzzlement and dismay of the groupies following him he just stopped.  Turned around and just started walking back the way he came.  When asked what he was doing he just said he was tired and it was time to go back home to Alabama.  And he just strode off down the road leaving his followers just standing there in the desert looking bewildered.  Well that scene was shot along this section of US-163 with Monument Valley in the background.

Over the years since the movie debuted, and this location was identified, tourists have flocked to this isolated stretch of road to see the location, to run along some of the same stretch of road and to film themselves re-enacting that scene.  This has gotten so popular that the highway department had to lower the speed limit along this stretch of road to try and keep crazy tourists from being run over as they jog, sit, and even lie down in the middle of the highway for the sake of a selfie.

It’s really quite weird driving along an otherwise remote desert highway and all of a sudden coming upon several dozen people standing in the middle of the road taking selfies or running up and down the middle of the road with someone filming them with a cell phone.

Forrest Gump Hill (US-163)
Forest Gump Hill

Mexican Hat

As you continue NE on US-163, you dip down into a valley and cross a canyon with the San Juan River at the bottom and drive into the little town of Mexican Hat.  ‘Town’ may be an overstatement for this widely spaced handful of businesses.  As I recall there was a motel, gas station, restaurant, and general store.  The town name of “Mexican Hat” stems from a nearby balanced rock that goes by the name of “Mexican Hat Rock”.  This geological feature has been used as a landmark going way back to the wagon trains and I’m sure the indigenous people also used it as a reference point as well as a sacred site. 

It has also been featured in films including  the 1950 film "Wagon Master" and the 2006 and 2011 animated features “Cars” and “Cars 2” where it was called “Willy’s Butte” and was said to resemble a classic Pontiac hood ornament.  And, for you old timers who remember the old slow speed ‘Mine Train’ ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA this rock formation was part of the outdoor portion of the ride through the desert.  I’m not sure if it is still part of the replacement faster roller coaster ride called ‘Big Thunder Mountain” or not.

Mexican Hat Rock
Mexican Hat

Goosenecks State Park

Just up the road from Mexican Hat is Goosenecks State Park (Utah) which you get to after a couple of left turns.  The San Juan River, which eventually joins up with the Colorado River above Lake Powell goes through this park.  Starting in Mexican Hat there is 15 to 20 miles or so of river through a series of tight “S” curves at the bottom of a deep canyon.  That 15 to 20 miles of river advances you only about 5 miles as the crow flies. 

Goosenecks of the San Juan River
San Juan river at Goosenecks State Park

Goosenecks State Park overlooks this deep ‘meander’ of the San Juan River.  Millions of years ago, there was some serious uplift of this area (similar to the Grand Canyon area) which forced the river to carve down as the land rose up.  This resulted in a canyon here that is over 1,000 feet deep (300 m) that twists and bends like a Side Winder snake.  The official name of this sort of geologic feature is an “incised meander”. 

Other than the view there’s nothing else in the park except for a few picnic tables, pit toilet and some primitive camp sites.

The rim where you can look over the edge is about half a mile long providing a range of different views.

San Juan River from Goosenecks State Park
San Juan river at Goosenecks State Park

Up a Level

From here we headed off to Natural Bridges National Monument.  One of our GPS devices had us take a route of 81 miles at 1 hr 25 min.  The other GPS plotted a route that was 41 miles and 55 Min.  That’s quite a difference.  Usually the two devices (Google Maps vs. Garmin GPS unit) agree for the most part so seeing that much of a variance was quite odd, but there must be something about the short route that prevented the other device from recommending it.  There are no tolls or freeways involved with either so that couldn’t be it.  But, throwing caution to the wind, we opted for the shorter route – if nothing else it would be an adventure.  This route took us due north on UT-261 across the Valley of the Gods. 

The Valley of the Gods was not much different than all the other areas we’d been driving through over the last several days which was flat scrub desert.  Easy driving but the road seemed to be heading directly into the base of a huge cliff.  I kept expecting the road to turn but straight as an arrow it kept heading directly to the base of the cliff face.  But, I figured they knew what they were doing and we pressed on.  As we approached the base of the cliff, still no turns and no apparent pass, tunnel, or road zig-zagging up the vertical cliff.  I sure do hope it doesn’t just dead end at some one’s ranch or some forgotten local park.  It was encouraging though that every now and again a car passed us going the other way, so one must have faith.

05 Valley of the Gods (google)

Just as we got to the base of the cliff, we were presented with a thought provoking sign, indicating a 10% grade (presumably up), loss of pavement on the road, and a 5 mph speed limit.  And the road still headed right into the base of the cliff – but wait, there was just a hint of the start of a switch back.

Base of the cliff
06 Valley of the Gods 2
(photo from Google Street view)

Well we’d already invested a dozen miles that we’d have to backtrack if we bailed out here to go around the other way.  So, nothing ventured, nothing gained and we started up the side of the cliff to the next higher mesa.  And, it was well worth the effort.

The road did indeed become a dirt road in short order, but it was well graded and just as wide as the paved road leading up to it had been.  Yeah, a bit steep in a spot or two and you had to plow through a dust cloud whenever a car came by the other way – but all in all not bad.  And, the views were out of this world.  There were even places to park off to side to admire the view of Valley of the Gods and take a few photos.

Valley of the Gods
Valley of the gods from UT-281

Up the switch backs
UT-261 7.7 Mi N. of Jct UT-316

Once we reached the top of the next plateau (or is it a mesa?), the asphalt pavement reappeared, the road straightened out and the speed limit went back up to 55mph.  About 40 minutes later we arrived at Natural Bridges National Monument.

Bears Ears National Monument

Bears Ears is named for a pair twin buttes which have been a significant landscape landmark for thousands of years.  This area was inhabited by the Ancestral Puebloan people (Anasazi) and subsequently tribes like the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and Ute who still maintain deep cultural ties to this area.

If you pay any attention to current events in the US, “Bears Ears” should ring a bell.  As background, this part of the Four Corners area is a patchwork of Native American reservations, National Parks, National Monuments, National Recreation areas, Bureau of Land Management land, Forest Service land and private land. 

In the late 1800’s, when the US government finally saw fit to actually give native tribes their own swaths of land, this was deemed to be the most inhospitable and useless land there was with absolutely no economic value or resources – not even trees – so naturally it was the perfect place for the reservations. 

But, over time, various natural wonders in these lands started to become more well known and that attracted tourists.  Many of these areas eventually became National Parks, Recreation Areas, Forests, and Monuments.  For the most part the tribes were not in favor of the government taking land for such public use as they just saw it as yet another instance of the US going back on treaties and taking away their land once it gained some value.  And, I suppose they were not wrong. 

A few such places escaped this such as Monument Valley that was ‘discovered’ late enough that the Navajo were able to fend off the movement to make it a National Monument or National Park and instead made it into their own Tribal Park.  I bet the movie industry helped that out as Hollywood certainly did not want to have to deal with US government red tape each time they wanted to make a new film here had it been a National Park.  Canyon de Chelly turned out to be a hybrid where the land is still owned by the natives but the historical and archeological features are protected by the National Park Service.

But, technology marches on and it was discovered that what was once considered worthless land had some valuable resources after all.  Petrochemical deposits where the technology had advance to make extracting it profitable were found.  Other minerals and elements that are found in these lands all of a sudden became way more valuable for use in electronics and batteries.  And, of course mega corporations descended into the area to exploit these resources.

This caused much turmoil in the tribal governments as one faction wanted to lease the land to these developers and reap badly needed profit, even at the risk of the natural environment.  Another faction was more keen to keep these corporate leeches out altogether.  As time went on, mining and drilling was allowed by some tribes in some areas while other tribes kept them out and of course on the non reservation land it was full steam ahead.  But, the corporate interests had way more money than the tribes, had much better lawyers than the tribes and owned way more legislators than the tribes.  A legal and legislative onslaught ensued and in many cases the corporate interests won and environmentally disastrous extractions started taking place. 

By 2015, some of the tribes saw the hand writing on the wall and formed the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, advocating for federal protection of the land.  The idea was that if the area was designated a National Park or National Monument, the corporations would have to fight it out with the US government which has way more and better resources to fight such things than the tribes.  So, after much lobbying they persuaded the Obama Administration  that the Bears Ears area with more than 100,000 archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings, rock art panels, and artifacts that offer insights into the lives of the Hopi, Zuni, ancestral Puebloans, Ute, and other tribes who have called this area home, was worthy of protection. 

House on fire cliff dwelling in Bears Ears (Mule Canyon 2013)
House on Fire

Then, in December 2016, then-President Barack Obama designated 1.35 million acres the Bears Ears National Monument, citing its cultural and historical significance and the need to protect it for future generations.  The designation was made under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows the President to designate national monuments to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features.  This was the first monument designation that was to be administered by Native American tribes.

Bears Ears National Monument Map
09 Bears Ears (Wikimedia)
(Wikimedia.com)

However, the establishment of Bears Ears was controversial with some local residents, politicians, and industry groups opposing it. They argued that the designation would restrict access to the land and limit economic opportunities, such as mining and grazing.  Of course that was the whole point in the first place.

But then Trump was elected.  He figured that if a president could declare an area as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act, a president could likewise un-declare such an area under the same act.  So, he had a study done to determine which areas should be removed from the National Monument.  The committee he set up to draw these maps decided to ask the big corporations who had been complaining the most what they thought and would they please draw up some maps showing the areas they were interested in exploiting – which they did.  And, guess what?  The committee decided that this saved a lot of time and just plain adopted the maps drawn up by the corporations. 

Using those maps, in December 2017, President Trump signed an order reducing Bears Ears by 85%. and dividing it into two separate monuments, Shash Jáa National Monument and Indian Creek National Monument. This 15% that remained were the areas where the commercial interests, well, had no commercial interest.  This move was met with legal challenges from tribes and conservation groups who argued that the President did not have the authority to shrink a monument.  The legal battle over Bears Ears National Monument continued throughout the Trump administration. 

Then Joe Biden was elected and his administration indicated its intention to review the monument's boundaries and potentially restore them to their original size and a committee was formed to do that.  As of this writing in March of 2024, the fate of Bears Ears National Monument remains uncertain.  Its smaller size is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, with a focus on protecting cultural and natural resources. Hopefully it will be restored to its original size and management turned over to the Tribes as originally planned.

So, why am I telling you all of this?  Well, Goosencecks State Park marks the southern tip of Bears Ears National monument, and Natural Bridges is nestled inside of Bears Ears.

Natural Bridges National Monument

Natural Bridges National Monument (not to be confused with Arches National Park which is a totally different experience) is located in the western side of the Bears Ears National Monument about 50 miles Northwest of the Four Corners. 

It features three massive natural bridges carved from the white Permian sandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation. The bridges are named Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo, all Hopi names.

The monument is also home to some of the darkest skies in the country, making it a great place for stargazing. In fact, Natural Bridges was designated the world's first "International Dark Sky Park" by the International Dark-Sky Association.

The park has a nice visitor center with real restrooms and an 8.7 mile loop drive mostly along the rim of the mesa you are on with around 9 parking areas at trailheads leading to viewpoints or down into the canyons.  There is also a nice picnic area with shaded tables as well as a campground.  Even though you can see some of the bridges after a short walk from the parking areas on a paved trail, the best views are if you hike down the trails to the canyon floor.  Due to physical limitations (we’re old) we opted to stay on the rim, but we did walk out to the view points at most of the stops.

Owachomo Bridge (1 min walk from parking lot)
Owachomo Bridge Overlook, Natural Bridges US-Monument

Kachina Bridge from View point (4 min walk from parking lot)
Kachina Bridge Veiwpoint, Natural Bridges US-Monument

In addition to the bridges, the canyons themselves are also quite lovely.

Waterton Valley from Sipapu Overlook
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Waterton Valley from Sipapu Overlook
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As you wander around this park, from the various viewpoints and overlooks sometimes you stumble on some interesting rock formations, many times hiding in plain sight, maybe on the other side of the canyon, but sometimes closer at hand.

Beehive formation at Kochina Brige Overlook
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Mushroom formation at Kochina Bridge Overlook
Kachina Bridge Veiwpoint, Natural Bridges US-Monument

Parting Shot

The next day we started our trek back home to California from Gouldings at Monument Valley.  As most of this route was backtracking through areas we’d already explored on this trip as well as previous trips we opted to do this in just two long drives.  The first took us from Monument Valley to Barstow and then the next day from Barstow to Palo Alto.  As the first day would be 530 mile drive taking over 9 hours including a quick lunch stop in Williams we rose before dawn to get packed up and on the road.

Sunrise over Monument Valley from the front porch of our Cabin at Gouldings
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====================================

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(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

Four Corners October 2023 - #03 Monument Valley

This Four Corners series of articles is for a one week driving trip we took to the four corners area of the USA in October of 2023.  The main destinations on this trip were Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley with some other stops along the way. 

Entire Trip map
04 Map 1 - Full Trip

In this article I’ll talk about Monument Valley and some more Navajo History.

Gouldings and Monument Valley
05 Map 4b - Monument Valley Day

On to Monument Valley

After leaving Chinle and Canyon de Chelly we headed almost due north to our next stop at Monument Valley.  This took us along 2 lane roads through the deserts of the Navajo Nation.  This is mostly flat scrub desert with isolated homesteads scattered around at great distances from each other.

Indian Rt 93 near Rough Rock
06 Rough Rock (Google) (Google Maps, Street view photo)

After a half hour or so, we gradually climbed out of a flat valley and more into red-rock country.  We could hardly tell that we were gaining elevation but the landscape started having Buttes and mesas which definitely indicated a change in elevation. 

NW of Many Farms
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Lone spire in a cataract canyon
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Eventually we went through the town of Kayenta before reaching our destination at Monument Valley.  Kayenta is not much more than a greasy smudge on the map with absolutely nothing going for it.  We were forced to find lodging there on a prior trip in 2011 and found that there were absolutely no redeeming qualities of the town.  The lodging options were dreadful and restaurant selections were even worse.  And, add to that it wasn’t even all that close to Monument Valley.  

The only other option for lodging, both then and, now is Gouldings (just outside the entrance to Monument Valley) and the View Inn (inside Monument Valley Tribal Park).  Unfortunately both Gouldings and the View Inn were fully booked in 2011 so we had to make do with Kayenta and deal with getting ourselves to the park in the pitch dark in order to be on time to meet our guide for a sunrise shoot in the park.  On that trip we swore to never make the mistake of staying in Kayenta again if we ever returned.  Even though Kayenta has since grown quite a bit with more lodging and eating options with new schools and parks, it’s still not the best choice if you are there to see Monument Valley.

From Kayenta you head north on US-163 and once you get near the turn off for Monument Valley, buttes and mesas start appearing all around you.  In essence you are on the top of a mesa where the soft sandstone of a once present higher mesa has eroded away leaving the harder rock “monuments” sticking out of the ground.  And, with Monument Valley as a prime example, the mesa you are on is in turn eroding way exposing a lower level leaving rock formations, or monuments, sticking up.  But this is going on all over the area, not just in the formal Park and you can see these things just driving along the highways.  Or, if you have 4WD for the sandy spots, the area is crisscrossed with dirt roads that are quite drivable if it’s dry.  The three photos below were taken from one of the dirt/sand side roads which was labeled tribal road 6410 in AZ.  In this case it was just a few miles past Gouldings Lodge.

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Possibly ‘Devils Palm”
TR-6431 SW of Gouldings

West & East Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte (which are inside Monument Valley)
East Mitten, West Mitten and Merrick Buttes Buildings in front of Merrick Butte (on the right) is the View Inn and visitor center complex

Gouldings & Movie Making

Having had the Kayenta experience, we made a point for this trip to book early.  But, even though we were booking in May for a mid October trip (which is way off peak season to boot) we were still too late to get a room in the View Inn.  It seems that large tour groups book all the View Inn rooms a year or more in advance.  But Gouldings still had vacancies and we booked a nice cabin in a new development with a kitchen (they didn’t have this cabin village back in 2011).  This put us within a mile or two of the entrance to the park.

Gouldings is a sprawling landmark fixture at Monument Valley with an old west theme.  It has a couple of rows of single story motel style rooms on a hillside so that even the rooms in the back row have a clear view of the landscape. They have a restaurant, museum in what was the original Gouldings house, theatre, and trading post.  Down the hill is a large gas station, much needed car wash, convenience store, air strip, laundramat, super market, and a cluster of around 50 standalone cabins on a slope so that they all have a view.  And a little bit up the road is an RV park tucked in a canyon to be out of the wind as well as a small USU (Utah State University) campus.

The story of Gouldings begins in the 1920s with a sheep trader named Harry Goulding and his wife Leone, nicknamed "Mike" for some unknown reason.  When looking for a place to settle down and build up a homestead, they were captivated by the majesty of nearby Monument Valley. As the Paiute reservation had relocated at that time, it left areas open for purchase.  So they seized the chance and bought a hunk of property in 1923.

Starting off in tents, they established a trading post to get things going, bartering with the local native people who traded handcrafted goods like rugs and jewelry for staples like sugar and flour and some manufactured goods. This early interaction laid the foundation for Gouldings' long-standing commitment to supporting the local Native American community.

Recognizing the tourism potential, the Gouldings expanded their operation with permanent buildings.  1928 saw the construction of a permanent wood house, now the Goulding's Trading Post Museum, and eventually, comfortable guest accommodations arose, forming the foundation of today's lodge.

Eagle Mesa from Gouldings Lodge parking lot
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But then the 1930s brought the Great Depression impacting their business.  By mid decade things looked pretty bleak for the Gouldings.  People were not coming to stay at their Inn or buy things in their store.  But Harry was a creative sort and realized that the movie industry had not been all that impacted by the depression and was going strong.  He figured that the scenery of Monument Valley would be a grand place to film westerns which were starting to show up in movie theaters.

Around that time their path crossed that of a fellow named Joseph Muench.  You photography folks should recognize that name.  Joseph was a German who had to flee Germany at the age of 27 in 1927 after hitting Adolf Hitler with a tomato during a speech (even though Hitler was surrounded by SS officers at the time).  After escaping Germany he worked in a Ford Motor Company factory.  Eventually he saved enough to afford a Model-A roadster and headed west landing in Santa Barbara near Los Angeles where he worked as a landscaper.  This was in 1930 and by this time he had become interested in photography and started making photographs.  Apparently he was pretty good at it as he sold his first commercial photograph the following year to Trailway’s Magazine.  He continued working as a professional photographer with the popular Arizona Highways Magazine where they were a regular customer of his work. 

In 1935 Joseph found his way to Monument Valley and stayed at Gouldings Lodge.  He immediately fell in love with the scenery and it became his favorite shooting location.  In short order, he and the Gouldings became fast friends.  So, when Harry came up with the idea to pitch the area to the movie industry, he called upon Joseph to provide photos.  Joseph produced a book of stunning black and white photos of Monument Valley for Harry to take to Hollywood.  With photo book in hand Harry headed off to Hollywood where he wangled a meeting with John Ford and showed him the photo book.

Harry's gambit paid off.  In 1938 John Ford filmed Stagecoach in Monument Valley.  The movie became a success, not only reviving the western genre but also permanently associating Monument Valley with classic Westerns and in the process sparking tourist business for Harry and Mike, saving their little enterprise. 

1939 “StageCoach” movie poster
16 Stagecoach Poster (www.movieposterdb.com) Poster from www.movieposterdb.com

This marked the beginning of Monument Valley's ascent as a cinematic icon, with countless Westerns like "The Searchers" and "Fort Apache" following suit.  Each evening Gouldings offers a free showing of one of these movies in their little theater.  We saw Stagecoach with a very young John Wayne in a lead role with an equally young Andy Devine.  The cinematic beauty of the area still attracts movie makers to this day.  Some more recent movies that used Monument valley include Back to the future III,  Wild Wild West,  Lone Ranger (the Johnny Depp version), and A Million Ways to Die in the Old West.

During the filming of the many John Ford movies here, he treated the Native Americans quite well.  Even when not filming, he came back every 2 years and threw a big barbeque for the local population.  The film crews also treated the locals quite well with plenty of food on set and good working conditions in general.   Out Guide, tells:

One of the earliest films shot here was Stagecoach,  When the native people heard that John Wayne and John Ford were coming here to make a movie, they rode their horses from 50, 60, 70 miles away to be in the movie and be able to chase the cavalry and shoot bows and arrows.

Each of them was paid $20 for the day and that was a lot of money in those days.  You could buy almost anything for $20.  With $20 in your pocket you were a rich man.  And if it went for 2 or 3 days that money could last the whole year. 

And so they came out here with their horses.  But of course none of them could speak English and the film crew could not speak Navajo.  So with hand gestures and a word or two of English, it was just enough to get by.

In one of the movies they were told ‘OK, we want you to come charging out of that canyon on your horses and John Wayne is going to take a shot at you and one of you has to fall off your horse.  So, here they come charging out of the canyon go around the corner and John Wayne takes a shot and all four of them fall off their horse.  It’s still in the movie.  It was such a beautiful shot, they never took it out.

The grandfather of one of tour guides was in that movie.  If you have the movie and turn the volume way up you can hear the others watching the filming laugh like crazy.

That money that comes from filming, goes into an educational fund for Navajo kids who want to go to college.  My son was able to get one.  He went off to get his degree and has returned and now runs a Utah State off campus program here in the reservation. 

In about 3 years they’re going to build a University right here at an old high school.

But the Goulding’s vision wasn't limited to lodging and commerce. Appreciating the Navajo culture and land, they advocated for responsible tourism and respect for the environment.  This legacy continues through guided tours led by Navajo guides, offering deeper insights and access to restricted areas.

From Gouldings Lodge
Eagle Mesa from TR-421 by Gouldings Lodge

Today, Gouldings stands as a historical landmark, inextricably linked to Monument Valley's story. It's not just a hospitality complex, but a testament to entrepreneurial spirit, cultural respect, and a deep connection to the land. With every visit, guests step into a place steeped in history, adventure, and the unique beauty of Monument Valley.  --- And it’s a nice place to stay.

Oljata Mesa (behind Gouldings Cabins)
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Seeing Monument Valley

The Navajo name for Monument Valley is “Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí Naʼashjéʼígíí” (at least according to a translate app I found) which means “Trails of the Wind”.  And, indeed, the constant swirling winds in the valley are largely responsible for carving the features of the park. 

Monument Valley is essentially a large box canyon with mesas scattered about which form visually stunning shapes.  But, even though Monument Valley is a tribal park (a Native American equivalent to a US National Park) underneath it all it is part of the Navajo Nation reservation and is Navajo Tribal land. 

Whereas National Parks prioritize the preservation of natural and historical resources for the public, Tribal Parks often have a deeper emphasis on cultural preservation, traditional land uses, and the continuation of tribal knowledge and practices connected to the land.  So, for example, other than park staff, individual families and commercial enterprises like farms, ranches, logging and mining are not permitted in National Parks.  But Navajo families do live in Tribal Parks where they have traditional farms, ranches and can make money providing services and selling crafts to tourists that are attracted to the park.  As an example, at the present time, 14 separate families live inside of Monument Valley Tribal Park.

The entrance to Monument Valley is on US-163 right where it crosses the Arizona-Utah boarder halfway between Kayenta and Mexican Hat.  At the turn off from US-163 to the park entrance is a brand new Navajo Welcome Center.  It looks like it was built within the last year or so.  Thinking this was the Monument Valley visitor center we stopped to get some information and use the restroom.  The museum area had literally nothing in it.  There was a walk up window where you could ask questions but they had no maps or for that matter not much info on the park either.  Maybe they were just ramping up the facility and hadn’t really gotten it going yet.  But the bathrooms were very good.

From here, you get into the park by turning east at a round-a-bout.  Gouldings would be turning west at this round-a-bout.  Three miles down this road is the pay gate where you get a map and then you are at the main parking area for the View Inn, the park Visitor center, large gift shop and a restaurant.  This area is right on the rim looking over the valley.

There are 3 ways to see Monument Valley beyond what can be seen from US-163 to the north of the park (we’ll see this in the next installment).  The first is that you can just go out on the large patio by the gift shop on the rim of the canyon on look over the edge.  This is a great spot for getting a late afternoon shots of East and West Mitten Butte with Merrick butte or a sunrise shot putting those buttes in silhouette. 

 East and West Mitten Butte with Merrick butte at sunset from rim (2011)
West, East and Merrick Buttes, Monument Valley

 East and West Mitten Butte with Merrick butte at sunset from Patio (2023)
West Mitten, East Mitten and Merrick Butte's

But you didn’t come all this way to stand on a paved patio looking over the rim. 

So, this brings us to method 2 for seeing the park.  If you have a reasonably high clearance vehicle there is a 15 mile self driving scenic drive with numbered stops annotated on the map you got at the pay gate.  OK, let’s get real here.  The first quarter mile is terrible driving.  Our guide said that there is talk of paving some of the drive and hopefully this would be the part they pave.  This is the section that descends from the upper mesa to the valley floor through a series of switch backs.  This is said to be a dirt/gravel road but mostly it was a boulder strewn, pot hole laden affair.  If you take this at more 3 or 4 MPH you’re going too fast if you want to have any suspension left when you’re done.  It’s pretty wide with plenty of room for two way traffic (of which there is usually a lot) and when there is no oncoming traffic you can delude yourself into thinking you can move over and find a smoother part to drive on – there is none.  Make sure your seat belt is tight because you’ll be banging against your doors with each bump and divot.  OK, I paint a pretty bleak picture but a regular car, driven carefully should have no problem.  A rough ride but the car should be capable of doing it unless it’s a low slung ‘sporty’ model which is likely to bottom out quite often.  If you have a trailer with you on your trip, leave it in the parking lot up on top.  I would also not try it in any RV bigger than a camper van.

But once you get to the valley floor things get much better.  It’s still a dirt road but now it is mostly compacted dirt and in some places gravel.  You can actually get up to 20 mph in spots with no problem.  There are 11 marked ‘stops’ which you can follow along with on the map.  Each stop has a large graded parking lot and some have trails if you’re in the mood for hiking.  However, I don’t think we ventured more than a hundred yards from our vehicle at any of them. The first 5 or so miles is two way traffic, but then there is a one way loop that circles Rain God Mesa so be sure to keep track of which part you’re on so you don’t inadvertently go against one way traffic.

Many of the main features are included on this scenic drive.  On our first visit we did this route in our 2WD Volvo station wagon laden with camping gear.  On this trip we did the drive in our 4WD Volvo XC70 which is a cross between a station wagon and a mid size SUV.  We left the rim about 9:00 am and got back to the rim around 11:00 AM. 

Self driving loop map
15 Map 4c - Monument Valley Loop Drive (map from www.truckcamperadventure.com

The third method of seeing the park is with a Navajo Guide.  These guided tours usually cover the same 15 mile self driving route but also go off into the back country where many of the more interesting park features are located.  These tours can be canned group tours that are offered at set times and durations throughout the day or you can book a private tour.  The group tours, especially in peak season, are in open vehicles but some can be found in enclosed SUV’s.  Be aware though that the driving is on very dusty and sandy tracks through the desert and much of that dust and sand envelopes those folks in the open vehicles.  So, if you have any notion of taking a camera with you – which of course you will – it’s either going to spend a lot of time in your camera bag or will be covered in dust within a few minutes.  Also note that it can be quite hot or quite cold depending on the time of year and time of day which may become quite uncomfortable in an open vehicle.  The private tours can be booked for a closed SUV. 

There are a dozen or so companies which offer tours including Gouldings Lodge, The View Inn and dozens of other companies and independents.  After a day or two on Google reading web sites and emailing back and forth we opted for a private SUV tour with “Monument Valley Safari” (https://monumentvalleysafari.com/ ).  Our guide on this private tour was a Navajo elder named Don Mose who not only told us about the scenery but also told us all sorts of stories about the area, its people and personal experiences.  I’ll scatter some of these throughout this article and put a long “Grandpa’s Origin Story” at the end – more or less as an “extra”. 

Here’s what the website says about Don Mose:

A respected elder, educator and ambassador of the Navajo Tribe, Don Mose has made significant contributions in fostering the Navajo culture through his involvement in developing the Rosetta Stone Diné Bizaad course and the Navajo Language Curriculum for the San Juan School District.

He considers Mother Nature the master artist of Monument Valley. The Diné (Navajo People) have an old saying, “Beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty above me, and beauty below me.”  This is called the “Beauty Way,” or Hózhó – a Navajo concept of striving to live in balance and harmony; spiritually, physically and mentally.

Through his knowledge and understanding of Navajo lore and ceremonies, Don shares a deep and important message with his visitors. His passionate storytelling leaves his guests inspired and asking for more.

On our ‘inside the park’ day, we decided to use the morning doing the 15 mile self driving loop, have a picnic lunch back at the valley overlook by the View Inn and then do the private guided tour from around 3:00 pm to sunset followed by dinner in the View Inn Restaurant.  What follows is a combination of what we saw on the 15 mile loop and the private tour.  A map of our entire route is at the top of this article.

It should be noted that you are only allowed beyond the 15 mile scenic drive, into what they call the backcountry, if you are with a Navajo guide.  Once you leave the Loop Drive the roads are just 1 car wide and are in many places quite sandy.  It is not uncommon for tourists who don’t think the rules apply to them to get stuck in the back country even though they are in expensive 4WD SUV’s or pickup trucks. Having 4WD is important but that by itself, without knowing where the soft spots are is not enough. 

East & West Mitten Butte

The first stop on the loop drive is the East and West Mitten Butte view point.  From here you get the same view direction as from the rim but from a lower angle.  According to ChatGPT, the Navajo names for these are  "Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii" (East Mitten Butte) and "Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaií" (West Mitten Butte).  But our guide later in the day told us that the Navajo called them "nłįįʼ yiłbah." Meaning “Hands of the Giant”.  The story goes that John Wayne couldn’t pronounce nłįįʼ yiłbah so the film crew started calling them East and West Mitten Buttes and those names stuck.

From here there are trails to each of the two mittens.  From right by the parking area there are many opportunities for finding foreground elements to enhance your images. 

West and East mitten butte from stop 1 on the loop drive
Monument Valley, AZ

East mitten butte framed in a dead tree
West Mitten Butte with tree

West Mitten Butte with two different foreground elements
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Three Sisters

The Three Sisters (stop 3 on the loop drive) are three 1,000 foot tall spires in a row at the end of Mitchell Mesa.  These naturally eroded figures are said to resemble a Mother Superior, a Sister (nun), and a tiny novice with a veil proceeding toward the bulky cathedral (Mitchell Mesa).

Three Sisters
Three Sisters

Indian Gold and Silver Story

When the Spanish were occupying the area it is no secret that the Natives used to raid their wagon trains and settlements.  Mostly they were after horses, rifles and cooking utensils.  But legend has it that in one raid they found a chest full of gold and silver jewelry that probably belonged to the Franciscans, which of course they took.  They had never seen these metals before and didn’t quite know what to think about them or what to do with the stuff.  So, they melted the objects down and made beads out of them and gave them to their women.  Later when the soldiers came to remove the Indians from the land they noticed all these silver and gold necklaces being worn by the Navajo women and they started asking questions about where they got the gold and silver.  The women told their men that some of the low ranking soldiers had been asking about the gold and silver so the men (supposedly) gathered it all up and hid all the jewelry out in a nearby valley.  From that time on, fortune seekers have searched high and low for this treasure but none has ever been found.  But due to this legend, that valley is now known as Mystery Valley since it’s a mystery where they hid the treasure.

Artist Point and North Window viewpoints

These are two stops on the loop drive with similar views across long distances to the North into the lower valley with an array of monuments, buttes, mesas, and spires.  On the map they give you Artists Point is labeled “Navajo Code Talker Outpost” but I did not see anything there pertaining to the Code Talkers.  These two locations are good both early in the day and in late afternoon when you have that golden side light.  On our trip we were at these two viewpoints around noon so did not experience the low angle light.

View from Artists Point
Monument Valley from Artist's Point

View from North Window Overlook
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Indian Warrior, Snoopy, and The Rooster

Even though many park features have traditional names going back perhaps hundreds of years, over time, tourists have come up with modern names for various rock formations.  They have posted these names online making them become more and more popular for others visiting the area to ask to see.  Here are a few.

Indian Warrior
Indian Warrior

Snoopy Rock (laying on the top of his dog house)
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The Rooster
The Rooster, Monument Valley

Pictographs and Petroglyphs

As we’ve discussed, pictographs are painted on and petroglyphs are carved in and Monument Valley has lots of them.  Just like today, where many people live, there is an urge to draw on walls.  Today we call this graffiti but back in the old days it was more story telling and the leaving of an historical record of who lived here, what animals were around and how they conducted daily life.  In almost every case, where you find a bunch of this rock art they also find evidence that there were houses or a village there as well. 

For years archeologists were puzzled as to how the Native peoples were able to create some of their rock art so high on the canyon walls.  Some thought the land had been higher and had since eroded away.  Others thought they repelled on ropes from above or had very tall ladders (even though wood to make them would have been extremely scarce).  However, today it has become more apparent that there had been houses built up against the canyon walls, some being 3 or even 4 stories high and they just stood on the roof to create the rock art.

In rock art of this area, a hand print symbolizes a clan group that lived there.  Near the hand print are other symbols that show which clan group it was (e.g. Tonal Clan, Turtle Clan, Snake Clan, etc.)  Ripples tend to symbolize canyons or a snake.  Stick figures that sometimes look like aliens are shamans or medicine men.

Petroglyphs, Monument Valley

When the Navajo arrived, the Zuni noticed that they planted their corn in a weird way.  Rather than planning in rows, they planted corn in a big spiral which they found particularly “foreign”.  As such they kept calling these newcomers “the nava” which in their language means “culturally different” and that is where the name “Navajo” comes from – “They that cultivate differently”.  And, you see this in Navajo pictographs all over the place.  A spiral pictograph means “we farmed here”.  It also means “good land for farming” and if there is an animal nearby it means “we also raised that type of animal”.   Two spirals connected with a line or symbol in the middle means that “we stayed here and didn’t migrate away”.  On the other hand a spiral with 1 line next to it that doesn’t connect to anything means that we farmed here but we left the area.

No, this is not a goat on wheels. Two spirals with line and goat between means: We lived and farmed here and raised goats and did not migrate to someplace else.
Petroglyphs, Monument Valley

The Navajo call themselves Dine and use the symbol of 2 diamonds touching each other which I’m sure you’ve seen woven in blankets or painted on pottery.  “di” means Father Sky (the heavens). “ne” means Mother Earth. Human beings are where the two meet (the tips of the 2 triangles that touch).  A Double diamond represents male/female, earth/heaven, harmony, equality, balance.

Diamond patterns in Navajo artwork
39 Navajo Designs (Google search screen shot)

The symbol for family is a hand print.  In a hand print the thumb represents yourself.  The Index finger is your mom (most important and next to you – lineage follows females), middle finger is your father (usually from a different clan group), ring finger is maternal grandmother and pinky is maternal grandfather.  So when they shake hands it is a spiritual greeting with your whole family touching their whole family. In old movies, Indians are shown greeting others by raising their hand in the air (and saying “how”).  Showing the hand in this way is saying “I’m greeting you with my whole family”

If you see 5 marks in stone, it represents a foot print that means “we heading in that direction” – sort of like a forwarding address

Big Hogan

Big Hogan is a large concave erosion in a butte which forms an amphitheater complete with a hole in the top.  Local guides will point out patterns and formations in the rock resembling a large eagle, a bear and a Navajo Man.  But even if you can’t visualize these things the scale of the dome you are in is impressive.  Many of the more talented guides will play a flute or sing a Navajo song here taking advantage of the superb acoustics. 

Big Hogan Arch
Big Hogan Arch #2, Monument Valley

Sun’s Eye

The Sun’s eye arch is another alcove in the side of a butte with a hole at the top. 

Sun’s Eye Arch
Sun's Eye Arch #2, Monument Valley

More Navajo History

We saw before that the Anasazi came to the area around 600 AD and then between 1275 AD and 1300 AD they vanished.  Well, according to our guide that isn’t exactly true.  From an archeology perspective the record of new buildings being constructed stopped and other evidence of inhabitation also disappeared from the fossil and artifact record.  Then, due to many reasons, when interviews were conducted with Navajo elders by historians and scientists, as there is no hard evidence, they chalked up what the Navajo told them to being “legend” and “myth” and that’s how they wrote about it in the literature.  So, when the Navajo told them that the Anasazi didn’t just vanish, but rather due to extreme drought they migrated to higher ground where water wasn’t as scarce it was described as myth, legend, and fairytale.  But those Anasazi who left became the Hopi, Zuni, Taos, Acoma and other Indian populations.  But not the Navajo who had a different origin story (see addendum at end of this article).  The Anasazi clans that had made Monument Valley their home went East into what is now Mesa Verde.

Ear of the Wind

This is one of the most photographed features in the Monument Valley back country.  The reason is that there’s this dead tree forming a “Y” shape that you can use to frame the hole.  In order to get this shot you have to climb a small hill then scoot your butt a few feet up onto a sloping rock to get the hole perfectly framed in the notch of the tree.   In fact this shot is so popular a photo to take that some enterprising guide carved a big “X” into the rock right where you should put your butt in order to get this shot.  I guess in the peak tourist season having this “X” there speeds the queue of people up quite a bit.

Ear of the Wind from “X” marks the spot
Ear of the Wind #1, Monument Valley

Of course that isn’t the only angle you can use to photograph the hole with the tree.  For example, on our 2011 trip, before the appearance of the “X” I framed the shot a bit differently.

Different framing of same scene
Ear of the Wind, Monument Valley

Or, you can walk on over to the arch itself and clamber up the sand dune at its base.

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Boarding School

In the late 1800’s the US government decided that the best way to deal with ‘the Indian problem’ was to turn them into white Americans by forcible indoctrination into American Culture and stripping them of their own culture.  This idea got into full swing in 1887 with the enactment of the ‘Compulsory Indian Education Act’ which funded boarding schools and fostered the removal of children from their families and communities. By the 1920’s there were over 60,000 kids in these far distant schools whose primary goal was cultural assimilation.  It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the program began to be dismantled and the last school was closed in 1972. 

These schools were poorly run prison like affairs where there was little regard for the well being of the kids.  Reports are now being verified of wide spread disease, terrible living conditions, inadequate food, almost non existent healthcare, and physical abuse.  Numbers are still being researched but some researchers estimate that considering all 408 such schools, upwards of 40,000 children died while attending these schools.

One of the stories Don (our guide) told us was about his personal boarding school experience.  Kids from his area were sent to schools in Phoenix, California, Brigham City, and Kansas.  He was sent to the one in Phoenix. He says,

 They were run like a military school.  It was horrible.  Once you got there, they cut your hair and told you it was forbidden to speak your language, perform ceremonies, or talk about home.  Of course you couldn’t talk to other kids since none of them spoke English and you were not allowed to speak your own language.

My sister went off to the Apache country, there was this boarding school there (White River).  Our little sister also went there and never returned.  They say she died of an illness.  And, now they’ve found that lots of them were killed.

Unlike others, when I went to boarding school, I knew just a bit of English.  When they put me in a classroom situation they thought I was retarded or something.  I wasn’t handicapped, I just didn’t understand the words but they thought I was slow mentally so they put me in a special Ed program.

They gave me a big old puzzle to solve and used a stop watch to see how long it would take to put it together.  I just put it together in no time and he just looked at me and thought I had cheated.  So he gave me one a little harder – try that one.  We went through 3 progressively harder and harder puzzles and I did them all in very little time.  He went back to the principal and said, ‘He’s not handicapped.  He’s not mentally deficient.  He just doesn’t understand English”

Both my parents went to Boarding School but they valued what they went through.  Because when they returned they were the only two in the village that spoke any English.  And, so when the new way of life started, they were right there at the pickup of everything because they did the interpreting.  They wrote letters.  They helped run new programs that were coming in like the Post Office, and things like that.  They were the ones that taught me that you can have both worlds.  You can learn from both worlds.  My mom was that way, she valued both worlds.  You always go through hardship but you learn from that. 

My son didn’t have to go to boarding school, he went to schools right here.  With a university coming here soon they have no more excuse but to be educated.

A lot of them that went off to get a degree, got so gung-ho that off they went in every direction.  But, two years later, here they come back to their homeland.  It’s a culture shock living and working in non native areas.  I mean coming from a place like this to the big city is just too much of a change.

Totem Pole & Yei Bichei

These features in the back country have been used in many movies. Here’s another little story from our Guide, Don, 

“One time I had an elderly German woman who wanted to see this area.  I took her to one of the high points where you could see much of this area. And she said, “I’ve been waiting all of my life to come out here.  Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to come out here.  I had all these John Wayne movies.”  She pointed and said “That’s where John Wayne came out and the Indians came from over there”.  She had memorized every bit of this place from all those movies.”

Totem Pole & Yei Bichei
Totem Pole & Yei Bichei #2, Monument Valley

Totem Pole & Yei Bichei #1, Monument Valley

Totem Pole
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Shadows

As you roam around Monument Valley in early morning or late afternoon light, the low angle sunlight projects shadows of one feature onto another making for interesting visual impressions.

Near “The Thumb”
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Near John Ford Point
Shadow on Snoopy Rock

Merrick Butte
Shadow on Merrick Butte, Monument Valley

ADDENDUM:  Grandpa and Navajo Origin Story

Our guide, Don, told us this story about the origins of the Navajo people. It is quite long with no corresponding photos so I put it down here at the end.  It is a good story involving a trip to Russia and some interesting information about connections to other places you may find surprising.  Here it is, in his own words

My grandfather who never went to school, didn’t have a word of English, and never left Indian land says, 'There's no Indian come from here, not even them [meaning the Anasazi or Hopi]'.

But I'm a small boy and I ask, well grandpa where do we come from?  ‘We come from the 'under world. The dark world, the blue world’. 

But I don't understand that, the Dark world?.  ‘Yes, the underworld. We once knew a group of people called ba-dah-de-deh which means they that stayed or we left them behind’ 

But I'm too young to understand the words.  Then grandpa says we also knew another group of people called Al-as-kai.  What does that sound like?  Alaska.

Exactly, Alaska. This word is interpreted in Navajo as 'They that went further'.  That's what Alaska means in our language - 'They that went further.'  So the word Alaska is actually a Navajo word.  In this case referring to the migration across the Bearing land bridge into the northwest part of the continent but rather than staying there 'we went further' - to what is now the Four Corners area of the US.

And grandpa said those people in Alaskai are called Na-din-eh which means another Navajo.  And that's what they call us all the way up in Canada "another group of Navajo".  But Alaska is not even near Four Corners. And, grandpa knew that.  But I don't understand at all I'm too young.

Well I grew up with that and I never argued with grandpa.

Years and years later [after attending boarding school] away from Navajo land I returned back home with education under my belt.  By that time the young people were losing the language and culture.  They wore their hats backwards, had baggy pants and had nothing to do with the language or culture. 

My job was to bring back language and culture.  'You're an educated indian now'.  You better get a school going to teach these kids the Navajo language and culture because you're an educated Indian now.  But, I don't even know how to read or write Navajo, let alone teach anyone. They told me that didn't matter as I knew how to speak Navajo and they put me in place with no qualifications.

So I went to work. But it wasn't long before I was ready to give up on these kids?  Lo and behold here comes a computer program called "Rosetta Stone".   Well, that was a way to learn language by using a computer.  So I said, well that's where the kids are.  I'm gonna see if the Navajo language and culture are in that computer.  That's the way the kids are learning to be sure.  And, it got so popular that one day my boss calls and he said Don. “How would you like take this program to Moscow Russia?

What in the world are the Russian people gonna do with Navajo language and Navajo culture?  Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, there's a group of people in Siberia, way up north who are losing their language. They're losing their culture.  They want to know what native people here are doing to preserve our language and culture here in our country.  Okay, we think you’ve got something going here that they could use. Take it. We'll pay your way. We'll give you college credit.  But you gotta go in December.  To Siberia.

Well, I've barely ever been out of the 4 Corners area let along out of the country in my life but what an opportunity.  So away I went to Moscow.  From Moscow they sent me off to Siberia.  Moscow to Siberia is like a flight from here in Arizona to New York City. That's how far Siberia is.  Yeah, there I was on the other side of the world. 

These people were coming to this small village called Khazim. Here they come and I'm looking at these people and I swear they were called the 'hunty' the 'montage' the 'kite' but are better known as the reindeer people. Here they come and I look at those people. I thought, that one sure looks like Aunt Louise.  Oh, it’s old Uncle Henry over there.  They look like Native [American Indian] people even though they had a very light completion because the sun doesn't shine much in Siberia. 

Well, here they came and I thought how am I going to introduce myself?  I'm standing there and I look at these people and decided I'm going to do this the old ancient way, by my clan group.  That's why our people put their hand prints on the walls, leaving a spiritual greeting to those that pass behind.  So I say "she-re- Don Mose. United States of America" followed by [in Navajo], "I greet you with my family" and held up my hand with palm facing them.

Well, I'll be darned, there was an elderly lady that came up to me and said, “Well I belong to the stone clan and also belong to the bear clan".

The bear clan are the Apache.  Adopted to the Apache are the Navajo. Navajo and Apache are the same people.  We speak the same language.  They speak a quicker tongue, just like Spanish from Spain vs. Mexico. And here they are, on the other side of the world.

I say, well how do you say sky in your language? We say 'a-kous' they say 'a-kous'. I asked how they say something is sweet and they say "su-kun" and we say "su-kun". The words are almost identical.  On the other side of the world we use the same words.  Suddenly my thoughts went back to Four Corners and grandpa, ‘We once knew a group of people, the ones we left behind'.  He does not speak English. He never went to school.  ‘We come from the underworld the dark world’.  He's really saying 'we come from the other side'.  We now know the world is round, not flat, but how did he know that?

Now take a look at this.  This is why native people are misunderstood.  They're trying to tell you the two are the same. Well, here we are in the Four Corners, and there is Siberia. Along the way between the two, I'll be darned, is Alaska.  Over 10,000 years ago, my gosh, you could walk into Alaska from Siberia, right?  This is only 60 miles, right?  You can see from here to there.  Scientists say, they went one direction'. Oh no, we went back and forth and scientists are just now beginning to figure that out.  But old grandpa, he knew it because he said 'the ones that went further'. It was back and forth.

If you and I, all of us went on to Australia. Where have we been?  Down and under.  That's the same theory grandpa is using to say we went that went further.  But I didn't understand that until I was educated and became aware of where Siberia and Alaska and Four Corners were.  That's important, why keeping education is keeping your culture.  If we all know one another's culture, we get along a whole lot better because we're pretty much all the same. 

Oh my goodness. Look at what this world is missing.  We fight over simple things. If we could just understand one another's Culture we probably get along the whole lot better. If I didn't learn from the white people…

Along with most Native American kids I was sent to boarding school.  It was horrible to be at boarding school, but there was a purpose for it.  So that I can have two worlds.

My culture, the anglo side of it, oh my gosh, I make a living out of that now because I have two worlds.  I didn't drop the other one. It made me better to appreciate it, especially standing on the other side of the world when that woman touched me on the shoulder.  Well, I think I understand. It totally changed my whole life.

Well, what happened is when there was this land bridge, there's ocean, water now, and it's how we crossed into Alaskai.  So, I went there. Those people heard that I was coming to Alaska and said, you're people and our people, we have the same name.  Come over here.  We found something you'd be interested in. I went and they took me over to a glacier. Well, yeah, it had been frozen solid but with recent melting they were able to begin to excavate down there.  They found bone tools, they found arrowheads, they found corrals, where a group of people once lived.

But before that, they kept saying there was already a group of people that once lived in the glacier.  But nobody believed them until it started to melt.  I'm standing there while they were excavating. 

I said, well, what happened?  He said, well, how can you live in the ice.  We tried to tell them for years that the Navajo's once lived in the glacier, but nobody believed us.  Grandpa already knew that.

Well, now.  I said, the Navajo lived here?  Yes they said.

So what happened, I asked?  A volcano erupted in White River Alaska!  "Boom" we're talking about 10,000 years ago.  When the ashes finally settled, four to five feet of ash settled and you could not live there anymore. That's what triggered the migration of the native people out of Alaska.

Away we went again, and here we come, we had a destiny.  It's like this pandemic, it's changing our whole world.  Ever since this disease came in, everything, boom, like a volcano, it's changing always.  There's something that has got to be renewed. 

Look at what Grandpa said. “There's going to be one more time in migration”. 

One day, we moan and groan about people coming into this country.  It's already happening from South America.  Well, I'll be darned, my people are lined up with these people.  We arrived here in 1600.  By that time these people were already gone.  Well, where in the world did they come from?  Grandpa said they didn't come from here.  No. Well, look, down here is South America.  The Aztec, the Maya, lined up with the Four Corners area.  They come from South America.  That's why they already knew how to make pottery. They first got here. they were great astrologers, and they built homes.  Everything the Anasazi have is like the Mayan style.  They come from South America to here.

Now, if you look clear beyond this side of the world, I'll be darned.  There's another group of people that look just like our native people.  They do sand painting.  They have sacred mountain stories, river stories.  They do weaving.  Their land, this is amazing, the latitude lines up with four corners. The Mongolian people.

So what are we looking at?  A connection here and a connection this way in the center.  Ah, that big spiral.  You see it everywhere.  These people had a destiny.  When they say sacred mountain, they're not talking about a pile of dirt.  It's sacred to them because I'll bet you anything that they are lined up with the stars. They were doing things like the Egyptian people.  You see, father sky, mother earth, and human beings are the centerpiece.  So that's why Navajo wear their hair style in a hair bun that's round and ties here.  It's that same diamond shape and if you fold it, it becomes a pyramid Like the Egyptian.

Well, grandpa's gone, the songs are gone.  He sang about it.  But I have knowledge.  I remember some of the songs. [sings a song in Navajo language] that tells story of how I journeyed till I found the sacred mountains.  So when you have that knowledge, you don't quit there.  It's in the smoke, it's in the air but with no written language it becomes a ceremony.

So I decided I'm going to do my DNA, spitting into a tube.  Not because I don't believe in grandpa, but I wanted to learn.  And away it went and I'll be darned.  Two months later it finally shows up.  It shows that I have 11% Asian blood.  Grandpa was right on the button that we come from the underworld - the other side.  He's talking about Asia.  But he can't say it.  He didn't know they had the word for it. 

That's why I think we're misunderstood.  Because he was trying to tell the whole world, this is our identity.  Nobody has a print like your thumb, they already knew about it.  This is so important to your hand.  How you greet people.  How you do things in a circle?  How you unite and stay united together.  It's human being.

If you and I, we put our hand prints in the sand, you won't see color, but you see human beings.  That's what native people have been trying to stress, but it's in the ceremony.  It's right under the nose but they haven't figured it out. 

Today in the Grand Canyon.  They're looking at pictographs like this, as I did.  They're well, well schooled people.  They're saying, hey, this doesn't look at all like the old Anasazi, but it does look like something what we saw in the pyramids in Egypt.  They found pottery which was very much like the Egyptian style down in the Grand Canyon.  They found caves.  Long before they even came up here, they looked in caves and looked at the artifacts.  My goodness.  Egyptian style there too.  The native people already knew about it.  So they came down and excavated these caves, and they said, forget it.  Too ridiculous.  Just close it down and don't let it out.  And today it's closed. 

But Grandpa, you can't keep that away from Grandpa.  He already knew it.  He said, well, yeah, these are what we call 'they who started a way of life'.  And then another group came, 'they who came and left too'.  Then the Anasazi, the small people he called them, then [garbled audio] they're the oldest tribe in the United States today.  We know who these people are.  Is he saying that Egypt people were the first ones here in America in the United States?  That's a whole new ball game. If they let that out they change the whole history of the world.  That's what they're afraid of.

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Thanks for reading – Dan

(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

Four corners October 2023 - #02 Canyon de Chelly and Chinle

This Four Corners series of articles is for a one week driving trip we took to the four corners area of the USA.  The main destinations on this trip were Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley with some other stops along the way. 

Entire Trip map
01 Map 1 - Full Trip

In this article I’ll talk about the Navajo Nation, the Navajo people , the Navajo WWII Code Talkers, Canyon de Chelly, the Anasazi as well as some other tribes that call the four corners area home, and Indian trading posts..

Three Days in Chinle Area
03 Map 3 - Chinle Days

Navajo Nation

This trip took us into the heart of the Navajo Nation which is mostly in the northeast corner of Arizona, in the Four Corners region where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet.  The reservation covers over 27,000 square miles and is the largest tribal land in the country.  If it were a state, its area would put it half way between West Virginia and South Carolina making it bigger than 10 other states (RI, DE, CT, HI, NJ, MA, NH, VT, MD, WV).  It is estimated that over 300,000 people call it home. 

Navajo Nation (with the Hopi Reservation insdie it)
01 Map 8 Navajo Nation

Like other tribal reservations in the US, the Navajo Nation operates as a sovereign nation with its own government which includes an elected president, vice president, and a legislative branch.  And like other sovereign nations, including the US, politics are messy.  As it turns out, the Navajo are one of the few tribes with no casinos.  According to our guide, it seems that an ex president of the Navajo Nation was publicly opposed to gambling in the tribal area  due to gambling’s negative impact on society, while at the same time embezzling the cash the tribe had been accumulating – much of it ear marked for economic development such as building casinos.  I wonder of those two things are related?  Nothing much was ever proven but much of the money that could have been used to build a Navajo casino was gone.  Now though they have new leadership and the discussion of casino building is back on the table.

The Navajo Nation is home to remarkable landscapes and cultural sites including Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, and the Painted Desert. These areas attract visitors from around the world and contribute to the local economy.  But not nearly enough to lift it out of poverty.

The tribal government owns all the land and leases it to residents for different purposes.  Let’s say you lease a dozen acres for a home.  You pay an annual Homestead fee (tax).  Then, if you want to raise a few sheep, you need a “livestock” permit which is an additional annual fee.  And, if you want to sell jewelry out of your front yard, yep another fee for that.  But, to prevent speculation or hoarding of land, all leased land must be in use for its leased purpose or the lease is forfeited.

Young Navajo relative of our tour guide.
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But, even so, homesteads of Navajo have stayed in the same clan for dozens of generations being handed down from generation to generation.  In the Navajo culture, land “ownership” follows the woman’s side of the family.  According to custom, Navajo rarely sell or otherwise give up their rights to their land as that is considered stealing the land from their descendents (current and future). 

Navajo Code Talkers

One thing that has fascinated me ever since I heard about it are the World War II Navajo Code Talkers.  While conducting wars being able to communicate with and between all of your far flung battle fronts is critical to success.  And keeping the enemy from intercepting and understanding those communications is equally important.  In the days before “data” over the air capability this was limited to either voice (telephone or radio) or a binary code such as the dot-dash Morris Code system.  Of course now days it’s all satellite encrypted telecommunication.  But before that what was one to do? 

Well, the answer was to use some sort of code in those communications.  This is so important that all militaries put a great deal of effort into creating “unbreakable” codes while at the same time employing hundreds of people and technology to break the codes of the enemy.  But developing a good code is not simple.  First of all someone in every platoon, ship and air force squadron needs to be able to translate messages, and that’s a lot of people that have to know how the code works.  Another factor is that the process of encoding and decoding messages must be speedy.  It doesn’t do much good to tell a gun battery where an enemy ship is if it takes so long to code and de-code the message that the ship is no longer there once the message is decoded.  And coding and de-coding must be error free and should not require any sort of machine or written keys or instructions that can find their way into enemy hands.  That’s a pretty tall order for a good code.

Navajo WWII Code Talkers
National WWII Museum, New Orleans, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers
National WWII Museum, New Orleans
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers

Due to these requirements, the best (pre computer) codes were based on a spoken language that was not generally known outside of a small area owned by your side.  It is also true that no matter what you devise, it will eventually be broken.  If it’s good it will last the entire war but all codes tend to be compromised either during or shortly after the end of each war and can’t be used again. 

During World War I, the Choctaw language was used in the transmission of secret tactical messages. It was instrumental in a successful surprise attack against the Germans.  Due to this, after the war Germany and Japan sent students to the United States to study Native American languages including Cherokee, Choctaw, and Comanche in preparation for the next war.  So, understandably the U.S. military was uneasy about using Indian based languages as a base for codes when World War II came along. They were afraid the code would be easily cracked, but that was before they learned about the complexity of Navajo. 

In 1942, Philip Johnston read an article about an armored division in Louisiana that was attempting to come up with another code. Johnston grew up learning the Navajo language and customs as he spent most of his childhood on a Navajo reservation while his parents served there as missionaries.  He became so fluent in the language that at age 9 he was asked to serve as an interpreter for a Navajo delegation sent to Washington, D.C., to lobby for Indian rights. He thought that Navajo would be perfect for a new unbreakable code.

Johnston pitched his idea to the Marine Corps and in spite of concerns about using a code based on a Native American language, they decided to give it a go.. They approved a pilot project to develop a code based on the Navajo language and Johnston recruited 29 volunteers to get it going.  The code was based on word association, where they would substitute bird names for different classes of aircraft and then the Navajo word for that bird was used in the message.   For example, a dive bomber was a chicken hawk which exhibited a similar behavior so was easy to remember.  The Navajo word for chicken hawk is “gini” which is what was put in the message.  A bomber became a buzzard or in Navajo “Jay-Sho” and so on.  They used other word substitutes for other words or phrases common in military communications.  A battleship was a whale, a destroyer a shark, Etc.  The initial code consisted of 211 words which during the course of the war expanded to 411.  For everything else each English letter of the alphabet was assigned a Navajo word for an animal.  For example and an ant was the letter “a” and a bear was the letter “b”.  A string of the Navajo words for these animals spelled out the text of the message.

During testing of the idea, Johnston’s group of “Code Talkers” could translate 3 lines of English in 20 seconds without error rather than the 30 minutes it had taken with the current codes in use by the Marines – and it did not require the use of machines or code books (which could be captured).  This coding system was only used in the Pacific campaign and eventually there were over 400 native Navajo Code Talkers throughout the course of WWII.  The code was never broken during the war.

WWII Code talkers Preston Toledo and Frank Toledo
Navajo Indian Code Talkers Preston Toledo and Frank Toledo (National Archives, The Unwritten Record, https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/)
(National Archives, The Unwritten Record,  https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/)

The Code Talkers were used in every major operation involving the Marines in the Pacific Theater. Their primary job was to transmit tactical information over telephone and radio.  During the invasion of Iwo Jima, six Navajo Code Talkers were operating continuously.  They sent more than 800 messages. All of the messages were transmitted without error.  The Navajo Code Talkers were treated with the utmost respect by their fellow marines. Major Howard Connor, who was the signal officer of the Navajos at Iwo Jima, said, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”

Canyon de Chelly Overview

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "de-shay") is next to the town of Chinle in northeast Arizona.  It is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation oversees the land area and activities within the canyon, and the National Park Service manages the visitor center as well as protecting the ancient ruins, petroglyphs and pictographs.

Unlike parks such as Yellowstone or Yosemite, there is no real entrance station or marked borders and there is no entrance fee to drive to various scenic view spots along the canyon rim.  However, you are only allowed to enter the canyon itself with a Navajo Guide.  In the past you could hike down into the canyon from the White House Overlook to the canyon floor at the White House ruins, but that overlook was closed in March of 2020 and due to COVID-19 and other circumstances has not re-opened (more on this later). 

Chinle is at the downstream (western) end of the canyon where it is hardly a canyon at all as the walls are only 25 to 30 feet ft tall.  As you head east up into the canyon you are in a section called “Chinle Wash”.  As you proceed the walls get higher and higher.  Along the way there are several side canyons on both sides.  After a few miles the main canyon splits into two separate canyons.  The south one (to the right) is Canyon de Chelly and the north one (to the left) is Canyon del Muerto.  Canyon del Muerto eventually becomes Tsaile Creek Canyon and Canyon de Chelly goes into Whisky Creek.

Most of the canyon (especially the downstream end) is a wide sandy riverbed festooned with countless tire tracks from passing tour vehicles and jeeps owned by residents of the canyon.   The sand in the river bottom is quite fine and powdery and forms quicksand when wet.  And it gets into everything.  According to our guide it really messes up their cars and trucks getting into the transmission, brakes, and steering box and everything else that moves.  It also gets into the electronics of the vehicles and shorts things out.  In the Chinle Wash section where it is quite wide the annual floods deposit sand gradually raising the valley floor.  But upstream where it is narrower the floods scour sand out sending it downstream making the valley floor lower than it had been in the past.  After each set of floods they always find newly exposed things in the riverbed like old vehicles and from time to time new archeological sites.

Chinle Wash section with wide sandy river bottom
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On tour the going is mostly on the sandy river bottom.  But where there are islands or shoreline with firm ground where we tended to drive when possible as the driving is easier and a bit faster.  These raised areas are covered with Cottonwood, Willow, Juniper, Pinyon Pine and the invasive Tamarisk (Salt Cedar) trees along with various grasses and shrubs.  Most of the vegetation is native but the Tamarisk was foolishly planted by the CCC in the 1930’s for erosion control and quickly became a problematic invasive species crowding out the native plants and causing more erosion by constricting the flow of the river.  They keep trying to get rid of it but it keeps coming back.

The climate here is called “semi-arid”.  The winters are not too cold with the days in the 40-60 degree range and nights many times below freezing.  However the summers can be quite hot (and dry).  Last year (2022) they clocked 112f on several days.  It doesn’t rain much but when it does it can be a doozy, especially in the late summer when a monsoon or two can come through causing flooding in many areas.  But, generally if you go in spring or fall the weather is ideal.

The canyon boasts 2,600 known ruins spread between the Anasazi, Hopi and Navajo.  Some are cliff dwellings and some - known as pict dwellings - are on the canyon floor but it is pretty certain that most of these Pict dwellings have washed away in floods.

Seeing the Park

There are two ways to see the park.  One way to see it is to drive the two Rim drives.  There is one along the north side of Canyon Del Muerto appropriately call “North Side Drive” which is also Route 64.  Similarly there is a rim drive along the south side of Canyon de Chelly which is Route 7 and turns into an unmaintained dirt road after the last Canyon de Chelly overlook. While you can’t actually see the canyon from either of these roads, they each have a multitude of paved side roads that lead to scenic overlooks.  Some of these overlooks have a short path from the parking lot to the rim while at others the parking lot is right at the rim.

Canyon de Chelly Scenic Overlooks
02 IMG_20231207_0001

The views from the overlooks are definitely worth going to and offer dramatic views of the canyons.  These can be photographed quite well with lenses in the 17-200mm range (full frame equivalent) but to really zoom in on some feature which are on the opposite side of the canyon you may want a 400mm (FF equivalent). 

However, if you want to get up close and personal to some of the ruins and be able to closely examine the petroglyphs and pictographs you’ll want to book a guided tour along the canyon floor which brings us to the other way to see the park. 

There are several dozen companies that provide group and private tours in the canyons.  Most of these tours range from 2 to 4 hours but longer ones can be arranged.  Some offer specialty tours such as star photography tours at night.   Most of the group tours put you on benches bolted to the back of a truck.  While this provides for great viewing in all directions it does have its drawbacks.  For one thing there are no roads in the valley only vehicle tracks in the dirt or sandy river bottom which throw up a lot of dust as you go along.  Another thing to consider is that the weather can be EXTREMELY HOT in the summer and VERY COLD in the shade of the canyon walls (which happens quite early in the bottom of the canyon).  Some tour outfits offer enclosed vehicles such as Jeep’s or SUV’s – at least for the private tours. 

On our trip we booked a 4 hour tour with Beauty Way Jeep Tours.  We opted for a private tour in an SUV rather than a group tour which would typically be in an open vehicle.  We did this as I wanted to spend as much time as I wanted to at each stop for photographing rather than having to adhere to the group schedule.  And, we wanted to have more control over when and where to stop and for how long which you can’t do in a group tour.  If you are looking for a tour, most all of them tout using only Navajo guides, but a couple, like the one we choose, only use guides that still live inside the canyon itself (other than in winter).  By growing up and living in the canyon itself they have more insight (and information) about the things in the canyon that they take you to see.

After meeting our guide at our hotel he drove us to the Navajo back country permit office where we paid our per person backcountry fee ($8.00 each) and filled out a permit form which then allowed us to enter the canyon, but still only with a Navajo guide. We then drove through a small picnic area, stopped to put the SUV into 4 wheel drive mode and bounced into the wash itself. 

Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center

As with most parks, a good place to start is the visitor center where you can pick up some maps, and ask about what’s worth seeing given the amount of time you have.  Many visitor centers also have a modest museum and perhaps a short film.  

As our guided tour was scheduled for 2:30 on our first full day in Chinle, we decided to do the North Rim Drive that morning, drive back to town for lunch and then meet our tour guide at 2:30 at our hotel.  Our first stop on the way to the North Rim Drive was at the visitor center to see what was there and to get a more detailed map and find out more about the canyon.  The visitor center is only a couple of miles from our hotel, the Best Western. 

Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center
(Halloween is not really a Navajo thing but I guess the rangers decided to go with the flow)
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At the information desk we picked up a “Motoring guide” which detailed the rim drive scenic overlooks.  There was no real museum but we watched a short video about the Navajo people and the canyon.  However outside there was a traditional Navajo hogan.

The term "hogan" is a Navajo word that can refer to any kind of dwelling, but when used without qualifiers, it usually means a traditional Navajo home.  The traditional ones are typically constructed with a framework of logs or poles and covered with a variety of materials, such as logs, bark, and mud. The traditional structure is round or octagonal, with a conical or dome-shaped roof.  Although most Navajo now live in modern homes which we’d typically call “tract style ranch homes”, some still live in the traditional hand made Hogan’s.  Many families living in modern homes have also built a traditional Hogan near their home or someplace they like to go for ceremonies, reflection or spiritual renewal.  In some places, Hogan’s are now used for cultural demonstrations of native craft making or for the selling of native crafts.

The entrance to most Hogan’s traditionally facing east. This is because east is associated with the rising sun, which holds spiritual importance in Navajo culture. The east is often considered a sacred direction.

Hogan at the visitor center
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Inside of Hogan at visitor center
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Geologic Features of Canyon de Chelly Monument

The lower end of the canyon complex is called Chinle Wash which is named after the stream that flows through it (Chinle Stream).  Eventually this stream joins the San Juan River near Mexican Hat Utah 75 miles to the north (near Monument Valley).  The geology of the canyons, which is mostly weathered sandstone, can be seen quite well from the various scenic overlooks on both rim drives as well as from the valley floor.

400’ tall Junction Rock at confluence of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto
Junction Rock

Canyon del Muerto from Antelope House Overlook looking east (North Rim Drive)
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Canyon del Muerto from Antelope House Overlook looking west (North Rim Drive)
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Many of the canyon walls have what is called “Desert Varnish” which is a dark staining of the red walls where years of water flow have left mineral deposits (mostly iron and manganese oxides) on the walls.

The Navajo call this portion of Desert Varnish in Chinle Wash on a 600 ft tall wall “Mother Earth Hair”
600 ft tall Desert Varnish Mother Earth Hair

Sometimes the desert varnish forms strange designs.  In this case it resembles a walking woman with a fancy hair doo
Water Stained wall looks like walking woman with fancy hair doo

Knobs
02 A7R5-#05356

Spider Rock (South Rim Drive)
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The Anasazi

In order to appreciate the features in the park it is good to get a sense of the history of the place.  The first people to inhabit the area are commonly referred to as the Anasazi even though there is a movement to change this to the more politically correct term of “Ancestral Pueblo” or “Ancestral Puebloan.”  The word Anasazi translates in Navajo to “people that moved on or migrated on”.  But, the Navajo and Hopi people don’t like the term Anasazi and prefer names like ‘The Ancient ones”, “Enemy Ancestors”, “basket makers” or “Pueblo people”. 

Whatever you call them, they were here from about 1AD to around 1300AD.  To put this in perspective, this was from the time of the Roman Empire through near the end of the Middle Ages marked by The Black Death plague, the Hundred Years War between England and France, the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and the establishment of the Ming Dynasty in China.  Over here on this side of the pond, The Aztec Empire was ascending and the Inca Empire was expanding.

The Anasazi were the only people who have wintered in the canyon.  They liked building houses in alcoves or caves in the cliffs, typically on the north side of the canyons.  These cliff dwellings were easier to defend and also helped with warmth in the winter and keeping cooler in the summers.  In the winters, the low angle of the sun would hit the buildings and warm them up,  In the summer when the sun was higher, the overhang of the alcoves would keep the buildings in shade.  The lifespan of a typical Anasazi was thought to be about 50 or 60 years and they were only around 4’ tall.  As they were not too tall they didn’t need very high alcoves to build in. 

No one is quite sure what happened to the Anasazi, not withstanding that almost everyone who has studied this has their pet theory.  The current majority theory is that a 26 year drought with extremely high temperatures dried up their sources of water and made summer unbearable.  But there are also theories of a plague or pandemic and just plain old political strife. 

An equal mystery is where they went.  Of course if they died off due to disease, we know where they went but most scientists believe that they just dispersed in all directions looking for viable living conditions.  Depending on where various groups went, some assimilated into other groups in surrounding areas, some were probably killed off by those other groups and even others found themselves in even less hospitable environments and just plain couldn’t survive.

First Ruin

The image below is called “First Ruin” which doesn’t refer to it being the oldest but rather because it was the first one excavated.  It is thought there were 18 to 20 buildings here with several being 2 stories with walls going all the way to the top of the cave.  The round structure in the middle is a Kiva.  Inside some of the storage rooms they found pinyon nuts, wild sunflower seeds, maize and beans.  They also found sea shells in the area so they must have either traded with coastal tribes or traveled to coastal areas.  These buildings did not have roof openings or a chimney as the later tribes used.  The smoke from the fire inside just had to escape through doors and windows which must have made it pretty rough inside when a fire was going. 

“First Ruin”.  Typical Anasazi Cliff Dwelling
First Ruin

During the time of the Anasazi, the valley floor was much higher.  For example in the photo above it is thought to have been where that line of grass is less than 100 feet below the dwellings. 

Getting up to these cave sites is pretty rough as they are several hundred feet above the valley floor.  In order to get up there they carved toe hold depressions in the cliff face, used ladders and sometimes a rope.  Even though there’s been erosion since that time, it’s hard to imagine a young woman with a baby on her back and a container of water balanced on her head or in one hand scaling a vertical wall just using those little toe holds.

As many of the cliff dwellings were built on the edge of the drop off, they placed the bottom of their doors high in the wall to keep kids from falling out of the room and down the cliff.

Rock Art

The Anasazi are responsible for most of the rock art one finds in this part of the country even though later inhabitants added their own art to rock faces and canyon walls.

Pictographs are painted on while petroglyphs or carved in.  The “ink” they used in pictographs was made from sand, water and tree sap to make it sticky.

Anasazi Pictographs
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From time to time they used “brushes” made from grass bundled together.  For example the negative hand prints above were made by placing their hand on the wall and dabbing it with a grass brush that had been dipped in the ink.

Antelope House

Antelope House is named for pictographs nearby of running antelope.  Some buildings were 4 stories high and there were at least 6 kiva’s underground.

Antelope House (from North Rim Drive)
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Antelope house from canyon floor
Antelope house

On the canyon wall above Antelope House is a backwards swastika.  It’s not certain what it means but is thought to represent either 4 clans or 4 seasons.

White House ruin

Another popular Anasazi ruin is White House.  The scenic overlook from on the South Rim Drive, which had been the most popular of all the scenic overlooks has been indefinitely closed and barricaded since March of 2020.  The official reason is “safety and law enforcement”.  The assumption was that this had to do with COVID-19 but many people in the area have other ideas – especially now since the Pandemic is largely a thing of the past and yet it remains closed.

Our guide told us that in 2020 a ranger shot a Navajo teenager in or near the parking lot as the teenager was suspected of breaking into and stealing things from vehicles.  And, theoretically the investigation is still going on – 3 years later.

The buildings here were built by the Anasazi in two sections.  The lower section on the valley floor was built first and the upper section was added later.  There had been two ladders extending from the roof of the 4 story lower section to the upper section. 

Two buildings coated with white plaster in the upper section give this ruin its name
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There is some evidence that the upper section was built as a residence for the chief and expanded to include ceremonial facilities as well.  The ruin gets its name from a pair of buildings in the upper section that are coated with a white plaster, making them stand out.  This special, and unusual, treatment reinforces the idea that these were very important buildings; probably the chief’s residence and perhaps the main medicine man lived there as well.

White House sit near the bottom of a 600 ft. cliff. 
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The Hopi

After the Anasazi came the Hopi (who are still around but no longer in this particular area).  The Hopi used Canyon de Chelly for farming in the summers but went up on the mesa tops (to 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd mesa) in the winter when the sun hardly hits the canyon floor at all.  The Hopi as well as the Navajo consider the Anasazi ruins as having sacred and mystical powers, or as just being bad medicine, and have for the most part just let them be.  For these reasons, it is rare that the Hopi or Navajo occupied or made use of the Anasazi ruins at all and (except for some adventurous teenagers) rarely even visited them.

Although not as prolific with their rock art as the Anasazi, the Hopi added their symbols and stories to the canyon walls.  Sometimes in the same areas as Anasazi rock art.

Hopi Petroplyphs
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In the image above, the “lollipop” at the far left is a symbol for “hand”.  The Circle with 3 spikes on top is the Badger and Bear Clan symbol and below that is the symbol for diamond back rattle snake.  The Hopi are the only tribe that danced with Diamond Back Rattlesnakes.  Eight to ten men would do the dancing holding and waving the snakes around (which I’m sure the snakes did not enjoy).  On the right side of the photo is a Hopi Rain or Snake dancer holding a snake.  The wavy legs show that the figure was dancing.

Navajo History

The third group to occupy the canyon were the Navajo who pushed out the Hopi.  The Hopi now occupy a section of Arizona just to the west in a separate reservation inside the Navajo Nation Reservation.

The Navajo are not related to the Anasazi or Hopi.  The history of the Navajo people - who call themselves “Diné” (Din-eeh) which means “people that move around”  - dates back thousands of years. 

The word "Navajo" is a Spanish adaptation of the Tewa Pueblo word navahu’u, meaning "farm fields in the valley."  Early Spanish chroniclers referred to the Navajo as Apaches de Nabajó ("Apaches who farm in the valley"), which was eventually shortened to "Navajo." What is clear from the history of this word is that the early Spanish settlers recognized the close historical and cultural connections between the Apache and Navajo peoples.

But before that they seem to have migrated across the Bearing Land Bridge from northeastern Asia during the last ice age 15 to 20 thousand years ago and settled in northwestern Canada.  They then migrated to what is now the four corners area of southwestern US around 1400 AD.  They had typically been nomadic in nature following food supplies from season to season.  However at some camps along the way they farmed some crops such as corn, beans and squash.  Why they left the northwest is not really known but it is pretty certain that they did.  Maybe this was just a continuation of the migration across the Aleutian land bridge from Asia to the Americas.

When they first got to the 4 Corners area they settled on the mesa tops but it was too hot there in the summers.  So, some split off and found their way into the Canyon where it was cooler.  But they also found that there were Hopi living there.  Now, based on our western programming we’d assume that a big battle between the Navajo and Hopi ensued with one side driving the other out.  But that did not happen.  The Hopi and Navajo lived side by side for 300 years and got along just fine.  Well, that is, until the 1700’s.  By that time the Navajo greatly outnumbered the Hopi and decided that things in the canyon were getting too crowded and after a number of battles the Navajo drove the Hopi out and things settled down for another hundred years until the Spanish showed up.

After watching many “wild west” movies and TV shows over the years, it is hard to imagine SW American Indians not riding horses, but horses did not exist in this part of the world until the Spanish came along with their horse mounted soldiers.  The Navajo had never seen such a thing before and once they figured out that horse and rider were two separate things, they became quite intrigued by the idea of easier transportation over longer distances so, of course, they stole a lot of the horses as well as other things the Spanish brought along like sheep.

Navajo Petroglyph hunting deer or antelope from horseback
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In the rock art above, you may notice that the riders have no weapons.  Here’s the story behind that.  When someone needed the medicine man, he would come and perform the necessary ceremony, but as the Navajo did not use money the medicine man was paid with jewelry, livestock, or hides.  But, a medicine man was a pretty important figure in the society (2^nd only to the chief) so the buckskins used to pay the medicine man had to be the best quality – and this meant no arrow or bullet holes.  To get such a thing, they’d chase a buck from horseback along the sandy river bottom where the narrow hooves of the deer made it hard to run.  When it finally fell down due to exhaustion they’d jump off their horses, and one of them would hold the antlers down while the other would put a bag full of pollen over the nose and mouth of the heavily breathing deer.  This pollen would get into the lungs of the deer and it would suffocate.  The skin would be used for barter or for paying the medicine man but the meat and bone would be shared

In addition to introducing horses to the native people the Spanish also brought sheep and more advanced technology – including new weapons.  The Navajo readily adopted these new things into their culture and day to day life.  The Navajo also incorporated Spanish clothing into their wardrobe and inserted some Spanish words into their language but never really assimilated into the Spanish society. 

During this time, most of the Navajo became less and less nomadic and moved from a hunter-gatherer life style to more of a farmer-rancher life style.  Once they started staying in one place for longer and longer periods of time to farm or raise livestock they started building more permanent homes.  Many settled into having a winter house in one place and a summer house in another place (no not the Hamptons). 

During this time the Spanish were after gold, not territory, and once they figured out there was no gold in the area they pretty much left the SW Indians alone.

And of course, we also can’t forget another important thing the Spanish, and later Americans, brought to the native populations of North America.  And, that would be European disease which killed large numbers of the native people who had no built in resistance or immunity to these imported plagues.

Like many cultures at that time (Aztec, Inca, etc.) the Navajo also found it useful to have some sort of written calendar even though they had no written language.  Although nowhere near as elaborate as the Aztec calendar, the figure 8 dots in the Navajo petroglyph below represents the annual cycles of the moon

Navajo: Skinny horse and annual cycles of the moon
Skinny horse from Navajo Figure 8 on end has 24 dots. Representing the moon over the course of a year

Throughout the 16^th and much of the 17^th centuries, Spain claimed the territories in what is now the SW US.  During that time, the Spanish were fixated on finding lost cities of gold throughout the area and in pursuit of that gold sent a parade of military expeditions into the area looking for the gold.  Many times though these expeditions left settlements behind and then of course forts followed to protect the settlements.  What ensued were decades of minor skirmishes between the Native Americans and the Spanish army. 

One such event happened in 1848 when a contingent of Spanish Cavalry chased some Navajo men up to the end of the North Canyon where they killed a bunch of them and took others as slaves for the Catholic Church.  During this the Navajo women and children hid out in some old Anasazi ruins (which archeologists later named “Mummy Cave”) high up on the cliffs where they were out of sight.  As the Spanish came back down the canyon with their prisoners, an old woman hiding in the cave got so angry that she shouted an insult at the Spanish, thus revealing their hiding place.  This caused the Spanish army to attack the hiding place where they killed over 100 women and children.

Mummy Cave (from North Rim Drive)
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Then in the mid to late 1800’s settlers started invading from the east.  Some were just passing through on their way to the west coast but some decided to stay and start farms and ranches.  Of course small conflicts erupted here and there and as time went on, and more and more Anglos showed up these conflicts escalated into larger and larger events.  All of this prompted the U.S. government to build forts along the wagon trails and to deploy the military to the area to protect the settlers and travelers. 

The Long Walk

But the situation continued to deteriorate until 1863 or 1864 when these tensions got so bad that the U.S. government under General Kit Carson initiated a brutal campaign to subdue the Navajo people and evict them from their land. They rounded up thousands of men, women, and children, forcing them to leave their homes and embark on a grueling walk of approximately 300 miles to Bosque Redondo, a barren reservation in eastern New Mexico.  This event is known as the “Long Walk”. 

The Long Walk took place in the freezing temperatures and blizzards of winter.  The military didn’t really supply food or water and being the dead of winter and being confined to a single trail it was nearly impossible to find food or water.  Add in outbreaks of smallpox brought in by the soldiers and it is no wonder 300 to 500 (and possibly as many as 2,000) Navajo men, women and children died in this forced march. 

Once they arrived at Bosque Redondo, they were treated as prisoners.  But despite all of this they demonstrated remarkable resilience. They maintained their cultural identity and traditions through storytelling, singing, and ceremonies. Their strong spirit and determination helped them survive this ordeal.

But not all the Navajo took the long walk.  Some escaped into the wilderness and others went northwest and were taken in and hidden by the Hopi tribe which was quite nice of them considering the Navajo had thrown them out of Canyon de Chelly. 

Those that went on the Long Walk were imprisoned in New Mexico for 4 years.  In 1865 a treaty between the Navajo and the US was signed.  This treaty created a reservation in what is now the 4 Corners area where they were before being forced to leave.  After the signing of the treaty, the Navajo were allowed to leave the area where they had been confined.  Most came back to the 4 corners area and reoccupied their prior homesteads.  Of course this meant that they had to walk the same 300 miles back to their historic area and rejoin those that had been in hiding.  

During their confinement, not being able to rely on the US for food, they started growing crops in the small area they were allowed to be in.  So, when they returned to the 4 Corners area they just continued with farming and pretty much abandoned the nomadic hunter gatherer life style.

The Navajo Today

Recent climate change has not spared this area.  The hot summers are getting hotter and the area is in a prolonged drought.  As a result there has been a significant increase in the number of mountain lion attacks on livestock and people.  In fact the problem has gotten so bad that local rangers advise the Navajo to just shoot any mountain lion they see.  But this has also prompted residents of areas like Canyon de Chelley to improve their alarm systems.  By this, they mean getting more dogs to sound the alarm if a mountain lion comes near the farm.

While some Navajo live in towns, many live in small communities of a dozen modern government built houses and others consist of more make shift hand built homes loosely clustered together, and still others live in single family compounds in the backcountry – such as in the upper reaches of the Canyon de Chelly complex.

Cluster of more recently constructed houses
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An older community consisting of a mix of individually built homes, mobile homes, and a few more recent style homes
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Individual family cluster of houses, including a modern style Hogan (back right)…
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… along with traditionally constructed buildings used for various purposes
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Demonstrating native weaving in traditional Hogan
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Hubble Trading Post

Navajo trading posts were quite popular in the area from around 1866 until 1970.  During the roughly 200 years prior to their defeat by Kit Carson in 1864 the Navajo were both raiding and trading with the settlers who had been moving in throughout that time.  But then came the Long Walk which decimated the Navajo economy and made them almost totally reliant on army provided rations and manufactured products.  So, in 1868 when they were allowed to return, the US government pledged to provide them with the means to make a living by farming and ranching in return for the Navajo pledging to halt the raiding.  To facilitate the new agreement, a couple of dozen or so trading posts sprang up throughout the reservation.  After WWII there were over 100 of them.  These were almost exclusively owned and operated by non-Navajos and soon became the center of commerce, as well as cultural and social life for the Navajo.

As the name implies, much of the commerce was conducted through trading (or barter) with the Navajo trading wool, sheep, goat skins, and woven textiles.  In exchange the trading post provided flour, sugar, coffee, tobacco, cloth, and canned goods.  This isn’t to say that cash wasn’t also used.  However, in the 19^th century cash itself was in short supply so cash substitutes were used.  Many trading posts issued their own metal tokens to use instead of cash.  Mexican silver dollars were also quite popular with the Navajo, but they didn’t use them for buying and selling.  Rather they melted them down in order to use the silver to make jewelry.

By the 1960’s with more motor vehicles and paved roads along with increasing wages, the trading posts went into decline.  They were more and more replaced with Navajo owned businesses, shopping centers and convenience stores. 

The Hubble trading post is one of the last trading posts remaining in operation today.  However, now most of the sales are of Indian made art work (blankets, jewelry and the like) to tourists..  John Hubble purchased the trading post 10 years after the Navajo were allowed to return after the Long Walk.  In 1960 it was declared a National Historic Landmark and in 1967 the Hubble family sold it to the Western National Parks Association who run it today.

Hubble Trading Post
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Hubble Trading Post
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Hubble Trading Post
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In addition to the actual trading post store, there is a modern Hogan set up as a rental for overnight guests (yes it has a bathroom and little kitchen as well as a heater).  The site also has a garden where they grow vegetables and they do some ranching.  In one of the buildings, the Tribal Park Service has a ranger station with a small museum and a place for the demonstration of native craft making.

Some more Pictographs

The “wipti-line”, according to our guide, represents either water or a snake.  Below the wipti-line are depictions of bear, antelope, mountain lion and coyote.  On the right are several figures that are probably a medicine man
Below Wiptiline are animlas: Bear, Antelope, Mountain Lions, Coyote

Wild turkey’s and Kokopali (medicine man)
wild turkey’s and Kokopali

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Thanks for reading – Dan

(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

Four corners October 2023 - #01 Barstow to Chinle

This travel-blog is for a one week driving trip we took to the four corners area of the USA.  The main destinations on this trip are Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley with some other stops along the way.  Unlike my previous travel articles which mostly talk about the destinations and cultures, I’m going to include more observations, anecdotes and remembrances than one typically finds in travel articles including some text on old Route-66 and how I remember family trips on that storied road as a kid. 

Entire Trip map
16 Map 1 - Full Trip

This edition takes us from our home base in Palo Alto CA to Chinle AZ which is the gateway city for Canyon de Chelly.  The drive from Palo Alto to Chinle is about 14 hours (not including stops) which we spread over 2 days stopping overnight in Barstow.

In this episode I’ll talk about finding food on I-5, Barstow, trains, Route-66 now and then and Chinle

Palo Alto to Chinle map
17 Map 2 - Palo Alto to Chinle

Planning for the trip

Although this trip was in mid October which is near the end of the travel season for these areas and certainly well after the peak tourist season, we did the planning and started making reservations in May.  Even so, we were too late to secure lodgings at our desired accommodations at Monument Valley (The View Hotel inside the park).  I’m not sure how early one must make reservations these days to get desired hotels in popular areas but it’s looking like 9 to 12 months is the new normal or even longer for peak travel season .

We knew we wanted to do a driving trip after the prime tourist season but before the Halloween to New Years Eve holiday chaos so this put us in October.  But we were not quite sure where we wanted to go.  Of course due to potential cold and snow at that time we figured heading into the southwest was more likely to yield good driving and sightseeing weather than heading north or northeast. 

One concern we had was that due to the make up of the dysfunctional Congress it looked quite likely that there would be a lengthy government shutdown starting on October first.^.  And as this would close all the National Parks for an unknown period of time we decided it was best to avoid such parks which ruled out the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, and several other National Parks in the southwest (most of which we’d been to one or more times anyway).  But, Tribal Parks (even those jointly administered by the US government) would not be affected by a government shutdown.  So, we targeted Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley as our prime destinations.  And we made our reservations.

All through the summer Congress edged closer and closer to an October shutdown and the weather where we were going kept getting hotter and hotter breaking all time records along the way.  In the area we were heading it was well into the 100’s and over 110 pretty much every day through August and September and even into October.  We don’t do well with 100+ degree temperatures when touring outdoor landscapes.  So, when it was still over 100 a week before our trip it was more than a bit concerning.  But, the weather gods were looking kindly on us and a few days before our departure the SW heat wave broke and daytime highs came down to the upper 60;s and low 70’s just like they were supposed to – perfect.  The evenings were chilly (40’s) but that’s grand as we are usually not out and about at that time.  I would have liked more big white puffy clouds for my photography rather than cloudless skies but cloudless skies are certainly a better option for us these days than rain or 100+ degree days.

On to Barstow

The first leg of our trip was getting from the San Francisco area to the Four Corners area.  As all of our south and southwest bound driving trips do, this started by driving south on US-101 from Palo Alto, then over the beautiful rolling hills of Pacheco Pass and dropping down into the agricultural Central Valley. 

Pacheco Pass (image courtesy of Google Maps)
01 Pacheco Pass (Google Maps Street View)

From there we headed south on the interminably boring I-5 toward LA while watching the fields of nut and fruit trees roll by interspersed with massive fields of other crops.  As we drove, we tried to guess what they were growing in these fields with no way of verifying our guesses unless a sign showed up.

Leaving the Bay Area around 9:00 am always puts us near Bakersfield at lunch time and this is always a dilemma.  The restaurant options along I-5 are either fast food from the big chains (Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, Etc.) or big chain restaurants (Denny’s, Applebees, Etc.).  And trying to find a decent restaurant in Bakersfield itself that is not too far off our course and not in a sketchy part of town has always been a challenging proposition and never quite successful – even with all our smart phone capabilities.

As we drove down I-5 I vaguely recalled a decent non chain family style restaurant right by an I-5 exit that was not bad.  We had stumbled upon this place during a previous trip to LA a number of years ago but of course could not recall its name or what exit it was.  We had looked for it a couple of times on subsequent trips but without luck, so maybe this time we could find it.  I just recalled that it was near Bakersfield and a bit beyond where we normally got off for lunch.  So, determined to find it again I went past our normal exit (and the exit the GPS suggested for this trip).  We thought we’d found it on our mapping app at the following exit so we exited the freeway.  But, wrong again. We’d been to this place before when looking for the one we were really after and although not a chain and maybe a step up from the hamburger/chicken joints Wild Jack’s Tex Mex BBQ was still in the fast food category.  But, here we were so we ate there anyway.   Maybe we’ll find the place we’d been looking for the next time through the area – assuming it survived Covid and was still there (wherever “there” is).

We then left I-5 and turned east toward Bakersfield, wrestled our way through town and started up the Tehachapi Pass.  Once out of Bakersfield, this is a good 4 lane road that climbs up a lovely grassy valley as the road plays tag with a railroad line off to the right.  Along the way we pass massive wind farms with giant blades turning slowly in the breeze.  Freight trains of 50+ cars are spotted from time to time laboring up the hill with 5 to 7 locomotives or riding the air brakes going the other way down into Bakersfield. 

Sometimes along this route you can spot the “Tehachapi Loop”.  This is a spiral-shaped section of track completed in 1876 to lessen the steepness of the grade.  The loop is approximately ¾ miles long, and trains traveling on it pass over themselves as they complete the loop.  It’s a bit hard to spot from the road, but if you know it’s there and keep your eye out for it you can sometimes spot it and even better if there happens to be a train there at the time.

Although we’ve never done it, if you exit CA-58 at Keen (exit 139), then head east on Woodford-Tehachapi Rd for about 3.2 miles you can find the Tehachapi Loop Scenic Overlook.  It looks like the photo below was taken from there.

Tehachapi Loop (image from www.asce.org website)
19 Tehachapi Loop

Arial view (Image by Keavon Chambers, public domain)
20 Tehachapi Loop Aerial

After ascending out of the central valley you are in the Mojave (high) desert with even more wind farms.  Along the way we pass the Mojave Air and Spaceport at Rutan Field in Mojave, California.  This is the first facility to be licensed in the United States (certified as a spaceport by the Federal Aviation Administration) for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft.  The spaceport has become a significant center for the commercial spaceflight industry with several private aerospace companies such as Virgin Galactic, Stratolaunch, and Masten Space Systems having used the facility for testing and launching their spacecraft.

Rutan Field is also used as an offsite parking lot for commercial airlines as well as an airline junk yard.  Many dozen commercial airline planes are parked there wingtip to wingtip waiting peak travel season or waiting to be disassembled for parts.  This spot is ideal for such a parking lot as it is close to LA and SF which feed the Asia Pacific air routes as well as most of the western US.  It rarely rains and the air is very dry so the planes tend to stay in relatively good condition over long periods of time.

Rutan Field Airline Storage (Images courtesy of Flickr and Google)
21 Mojave Airline Storage

Rutan Field Airline Storage (Images courtesy of Flickr and Google)
22 Mojave Airline Storage 2

Continuing along CA-58 toward Barstow, we pass not far from Edwards Air Force base where several Space Shuttle missions landed when the weather in Florida was not suitable. 

We also passed by the little town of Hinkley which you may have heard of.  Hinkley was made famous by the fact based 2000 movie “Erin Brokovich” staring Julia Roberts.  The movie chronicles the investigation of ground water contamination caused by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) involving the highly toxic chemical hexavalent chromiumby.  The investigation was conducted by a legal aid working for a small law firm in Los Angeles.  This contamination resulted from the operation of a natural gas compressor station owned by PG&E and the toxin permeated the water supply throughout the whole town.   The case eventually led to a settlement in which PG&E agreed to pay $333 million in damages to affected residents. The company also committed to cleaning up the contaminated groundwater in the area.  As of 2015 (20 years after the lawsuit was won) the clean up of the ground water is still underway.  However, most of the residents have moved away and Hinkley is now just a few scattered homes and acres of alfalfa and other grasses planted to help clean the contamination.

Barstow

Our first overnight on this trip was in Barstow CA, about an hour west of the Arizona and Nevada border.  It seems we always wind up with a night in Barstow whenever we go into the desert southwest and we always seem to wind up at a Best Western by the intersection of I-15 that goes up to Las Vegas and I-40 which heads East through northern Arizona and New Mexico.

Although not incorporated until 1947, Barstow really got its start much earlier when the tracks for a transcontinental railroad made it to the area in 1883.  This was the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, which later became part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) and is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) which is the largest railroad company in the country. 

But why did they choose this place in the middle of a god forsaken desert for the location of a major rail yard and maintenance facility?  Well, there are several reasons.  First of all there is access to water required by steam locomotives.  But topography played the most important factor.  This location turned out to be where the rail line from the east split with one leg heading southwest to Los Angeles and Southern California and the other leg heading northwest into the Central valley and points north.  When the northern transcontinental rail lines are snowed in this line is also used to access Oregon and Washington.  So, they needed a large switch yard to separate the westbound rail cars into those going SW from those going NW.   Another topographical factor is that to the east it is mostly flat desert where they can run very long trains (100+ cars), but to the southwest and northwest the rail lines have to navigate steep grades between the high desert where Barstow is to the near sea level elevation of Los Angeles and the agricultural Central Valley.  Navigating these grades require much shorter trains as well as extra locomotives on each train to deal with the steep grades – both going up and going down.

With all these trains being reconfigured, locomotives being added or removed, and the wear and tear on the equipment pulling and pushing these trains up steep grades or keeping them in check going down those same steep grades the other way, there was the need for a major maintenance facility.  And so, Barstow developed.

Barstow Train Switching Yard (Image by Jim Thompson, licensed through Pixels.com)
Barstow Rail Yard 9

Route 66 revisited

But trains are not the only story of the area.  It wasn’t long in American History till highways started being built.  In most cases in the wide open spaces west of the Mississippi, inter-city roads followed major rail lines.  As most towns were on these rail lines, the roads tended to be town to town sections that just naturally developed from people following the same path with their wagons and horses over periods of time.  These were mostly just dirt ruts but sometimes a county or state would provide some improvements such as some gravel or pavement, but for the most part these were just rural dirt roads.  Before the 1920’s, these ‘roads’ were generally not numbered and were only known by the town names at either end of a section of dirt road.  With such a naming system, a road would change its name each time it passed through a town.  But, that didn’t really matter as there were no signs or markers showing the name anyway. 

Sometimes a traveler could find a booklet explaining how to get from one place to another.  Many times these booklets were written through hearsay by people who had never been anywhere near the area they were describing.  Getting totally lost was as prevalent for those with these books as for those without them.  Whether you used a booklet or just asked locals for directions, the instructions used landmarks to direct the traveler since there were no signs or road numbers.  You’d find things like “bear left at the fork in the road by a big Oak tree a bit past a dry creek where there is a broken wagon by the side of the road.”  This was quite a bit more challenging to follow than a giant green sign over your lane saying “Las Vegas, I-15 exit left 1 mi.”

But then in the mid 1920’s the US government decided that having a national road system would be good for commerce and tourism as it would allow people to follow marked and numbered roads long distances on paved highways. And so they created the US Highway system.  One of the first routes under this new program was the famous Route 66, also known as the "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road."  It ran from Chicago, through the Midwest farmlands of Illinois, the rolling hills of the Missouri Ozarks, through the mining towns of Kansas, across Oklahoma where the woodlands of the East meet the open plains of the West, through the open ranch lands of Texas, then the colored mesa lands of New Mexico and Arizona, through the Mojave Desert, and finally to the “milk and honey” land of metropolis Los Angeles winding up at the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica.

Photographing RT-66
25 A7R5-#04977

Route-66 played a significant role in the development of the American Southwest and became an iconic route for travelers, connecting many communities and serving as a major transportation corridor for decades.  The “US Highway System” was generally 2 lane roads which went through the center of every town along its route.  These highways were clearly, and frequently, marked with distinctive shield shaped signs containing the road number.  You could get on Route-66 in Chicago and follow the same route number signs all the way to Santa Monica many days later without once having to look for an old Oak tree just past a bit past a dry creek, or finding a left turn at the red barn.  And, as most all of these were paved, you could whoop it up to 35 or 45 miles per hour and not be shaken to death by the ruts and washboard surfaces of dirt roads or choked to death by dirt road dust of passing cars and trucks.

Route-66 was officially decommissioned as a U.S. highway in 1985 due to the development of the Interstate Highway system which are all multi lane limited access (no cross streets) highways.  In the desert SW it was I-40 which replaced US-66, but the Route-66 legacy lives on as a symbol of American road travel in the 1940’s 50’s and 60’s.

Even though US-66 was decommissioned and replaced by Interstate highways, there are still many drivable sections of old US-66 through parts of Arizona and California (among others) which were not buried under the new interstate.  Many of these sections have remnants of abandoned and decaying gas stations, restaurants, motels and even towns.  Some towns like Oatman and Seligman have cashed in on the Route 66 mystique and nostalgia where they have resurrected these old buildings (or built new ones to look like the old ones) to cater to the tourist trade. 

In NW Arizona there are several good size sections of old Route 66 where I-40 didn’t follow the old US-66 right of way.  Here are two of them between the CA border and the Flagstaff.  I’m sure there are many more in other regions.

AZ-10 from Topock (where I-40 crosses the CA/AZ border) to Kingman, AZ.  This 60 mile stretch today takes about 1hr 40min without stops.  It is mostly flat desert till you get near Oatman but then it climbs into the Black Mountains.  Oatman is still an operating town catering to the Route-66 tourists with old buildings still in use including restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels. Oatman was also the reason that US-66 went over the Black Mountains rather around them as I-40 does today.  When the US-66 route was being laid out, Oatman was a prosperous gold mining town.  Through heavy lobbying (and most likely some of that gold finding its way into politicians pockets), an alignment that passed right though Oatman was selected – even though it was anything but practical.  And, if you think about it, had RT-66 followed the path now used by I-40, this entire stretch of old RT-66 would not exist.

Oatman, AZ (taken on a 2013 trip)
Antique Shop, Old Rt-66, Oatman AZ

Oatman, AZ (taken on a 2013 trip)
Harleys and Hotel, Old Rt-66, Oatman AZ

This section of Route-66 includes the Sitgreaves Pass over the Black Mountains.  Although not the highest point on Route-66 - which after 1942 was just west of Flagstaff at 7,335 feet - it was the most challenging to drive.  This is a very winding road including hairpin curves with several long very steep grades of up to 12% between descents into small valleys.  Even though Sitgreaves pass is only 3,100 feet higher than Topock, once you add in all the ups and downs, long steep grades, summer temps over 100 degrees, and the lousy cooling systems in cars of the era it was given great respect by drivers and approached with caution.  In today’s cars though you hardly notice such steep driving conditions – even with the AC on.  We’ll talk more about this a bit later in this article.

AZ-66 from Kingman to Seligman AZ.  This is a 73 mile stretch that today takes about 1hr 15min.  The road passes through many small towns and passes many ruins of abandoned buildings.  One of these places is Hackberry which is an old gas station and café turned tourist attraction and museum.

Promotional signs just before getting to Hackberry
Hackberry Promo

Hackberry, AZ
route 66, Desert Rest stop, Hackberry, AZ

Museum/gift shop in Hackberry
Route 66, Desert Rest stop, Hackberry, AZ

Hackberry, AZ
Route 66, Desert Rest stop, Hackberry, AZ

This section of old US-66 meets up with I-40 at Seligman but you can continue on old US -66 (Now AZ-66) another 15 miles to where it meets up with I-40 again and ends.  Seligman, being right next to I-40, is a flat-out, no holds barred out and out tourist trap.  It is over the top ticky-tacky-cutesy taken to the extreme.  In other words the poster child of a tourist trap perfectly made for the i-Phone selfie crowd.  If you are trying to make time on I-40 and want a taste of Route-66 taken to the extreme, pop off here for 30 minutes and look around.

Elvis and ??? in Seligman (2011 trip)
Complete with chair to sit in for your selfie
08 7d001-#5969

Props in Seligman, AZ (2011 trip)
1950's camping, Seligman, AZ

Possibly and old Indian brand motorcycle?  Seligman, AZ (2011 trip)
Classic motorcycle, Seligman, AZ

No comment.  Seligman, AZ (2011 trip)
Kind of hard to tell the tourists from the mannequins
07 7d001-#5963

But even if you don’t have time to drive one of those long old US-66 sections there are loads of short sections of old Route-66 just off of I-40 with ruins and remnants which have not been commercialized.  Just keep your eyes peeled as you approach interchanges in the middle of the desert which have no apparent reason for being there and have nothing there except perhaps a gas station.  Many times these exits let you access Old Route-66 paralleling the freeway a few hundred yards away.  One example is Ludlow (52 miles east of Barstow on I-40) where there is just an exit with a gas station.  Here is a Route-66 section paralleling I-40 and within a mile east on old 66 is the old abandoned remnants of Ludlow.

Ludlow (from 2011 trip)
Old Cafe
Ludlow Cafe

Abandoned homestead.  Probably for the owner of the café and gas station
Ludlow Ghost House

Abandoned gas station
Ludlow Gas Station

Remembering the 1950’s

As our Motel in Barstow on this trip was on the main railroad line as well as on old RT-66 at the east end of Barstow and we had a few hours of daylight left, I asked the clerk if there were any old sections of the classic road nearby that might feature abandoned relics of the old highway.  He said “I think there’s a section that might have some ruins a few miles East on I-40, just past the Marine base.  Exit at Nebo Rd. and cross under the freeway”.  So off we went in search remembrances of my youth from the mid to late 1950’s.

And, indeed there was a section of old RT-66 at Nebo Rd.  We drove about 20 or 30 miles east on it but really didn’t find any ruins to photograph.  We did find some old slabs of concrete where a gas station might have been and the odd foundation where a house or store might have been, and an old structure that might have been an inspection station, but time and progress hadn’t left much.

In the 1950’s our family lived in Los Angeles and as we were mostly at the lower end of middle class at the time, our vacations were always of the driving/car-camping variety with perhaps a motel along the way.  We would go to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Death Valley, Joshua Tree or any number of other destinations in the Southwest that were no more than a few days drive away.  Every now and again when there was some money we’d venture farther to places like Yellowstone, Glacier, or Crater Lake.  But even though the destinations varied, the trips were all quite similar.

They were always in mid summer and we’d sweat through long hot driving days up the Central Valley in California on US-99 (no AC in those days and barely any radio) or we’d head east on US-66 across the Mojave desert and into Arizona, Nevada, and then up into Utah or head south into the desert areas south of Los Angeles
.  In the beginning, I recall a green Chevy sedan and according to this archive photo, we pulled a little flatbed trailer with a canvas tent nailed to it.  I assume we collapsed the tent for driving and piled the camping gear on top.  I don’t remember much about this car except that was very prone to overheating.

Family Image from unknown location in very early1950’s
V550-1950b-002

But mostly I remember using station wagons.  Mostly Ford’s as I recall.

1954 image at Mount Lassen.
I don’t recall this particular car but I do recognize the roof rack
02 V550-1954-#513

My memories of those trips are spotty as I was mostly under 10) but I do recall many things like mom and pop motels, nineteen (or even seventeen) cent hamburger joints, road side attractions like reptile zoos, and A&W root beer stands where you could get a large frosty glass mug of root beer for a nickel and on special occasions with a scoop of ice cream. 

And there were those famous Burma Shave signs that we all looked forward to stumbling upon as we cruised down a desert highway.  These were little 4 line poems where each line of the poem was on a separate sign with a 5^th sign just saving “Burma Shave”.  Whenever a set of these signs came into view, we’d all sit up and read them aloud as we zoomed by.  They started out as promoting the product.  For example

THE HERO WAS BRAVE
AND STRONG AND WILLIN’
SHE FELT HIS CHIN
THEN WED THE VILLAIN

or

MY JOB IS
KEEPING FACES CLEAN
AND NOBODY KNOWS
DE STUBBLE I’VE SEEN
 

But later they ventured into driving topics such as

DON’T STICK YOUR ELBOW
OUT TOO FAR
OR IT MAY GO HOME
IN ANOTHER CAR

Or

IS HE LONESOME
OR JUST BLIND
THE GUY WHO DRIVES
SO CLOSE BEHIND

I understand that there are still a few places that have these signs (probably not originals) as in the photo below.

Photo by: John Fowler from Placitas, NM, USA (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
26 Burma Shave

Here’s a link that lists 90 of these Burma Shave poems https://thewhynot100.blogspot.com/2015/06/90-brilliant-burma-shave-signs.html

Cars in those days always seemed to have an overheating problem and driving through the Southwest deserts in the summer really stressed those old cooling systems.  After years of experience, much of it pre-dating the arrival of my brother and I, dad was pretty savvy about desert driving.  Of course this didn’t prevent the car from over heating, it is just that he tended to know how to deal with it.

There were two problems you needed to watch out for with hot or mountainous driving.  One was just plain overheating (or boiling over) which could blow a radiator hose or burst a radiator if you let it get too bad.  A second issue was something called “Vapor Lock”.  This is when things got so hot in the engine compartment that the fuel in the fuel line would vaporizes before reaching the carburetor thereby stopping the flow of gas.  If you had water, with you, boiling over could be dealt with in an hour or so, but vapor lock many times required waiting till late at night for the fuel system to start working again as pouring cold water on a hot engine was not a smart thing to do unless you desired buying a new engine.

When driving in the desert, my dad had a couple of burlap water bags that he’d hang on the front bumper where the wind would keep them cool.  When the car overheated we’d use them to refill the radiator.  In order to avoid an explosion of water and steam, we’d usually have to wait awhile by the side of the road for the engine to cool down enough to take the radiator cap off – and with any luck there’d be a shade tree nearby to block the desert sun on those 100+ degree days.  While waiting dad would hunt for a rag to keep from burning his hand when the time came to pop the radiator cap.  What you’d do is wrap the rag around your hand several times then turn the cap ¼ turn (or later lift a lever on top).  This would allow steam to escape in a controlled manner till all the pent up pressure was relieved and you could take the cap all the way off.  If you were silly enough to just unscrew the cap, the pressure would blast the cap skyward on top of a geyser of water and steam and hopefully neither the cap or scalding steam and water would hit you in the process.  But, then you’re entire family could bond while searching several hundred feet in all directions for where that airborne radiator cap had landed.

Knowing about the steep climb up to Sitgreaves Pass, on US-66 between Topock and Kingman, my dad would rent a device to keep the car from boiling over.  This was a metal tank which was a cylinder about 4 feet long and as I recall about 8 or 9 inches in diameter that he’d hang crosswise on the front bumper.  It had a little pump which he’d hook up to the battery and run a wire to a switch mounted on the triangular “vent pane” window that cars had at that time.  When turned on, water was pumped through a couple of sprayers aimed at the front of the radiator.  Cars also had a water temperature gauge on the dashboard and whenever the engine temp would get near the red line he would flip the switch to turn on the pump and spray water on the radiator and the engine temp would come back down.  As we ascended those long grades I remember the “swosh, swosh, swosh” sound of that pump which would pulse like a Rainbird sprinkler as we passed car after car on the side of the road with the hood up and steam coming out of the radiator.  Remember:  “Everybody yearns for the good old days but grandpa”.

Road to Sitgreaves Pass – current
(Photo by Georgia D. Griffiths., Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons)
Sitgreaves Pass (Georgia D. Griffiths., Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons)

Here’s an interesting factoid.  Even in the 1920’s, this pass was known to be a very steep and treacherous drive.  As such a lucrative business for locals became pulling cars over the pass with mule teams so that the car owners didn’t have to risk driving the road.  One factor that played into this was that the Ford Model “T” was a quite popular touring car in the 1920’s and was instrumental in putting everyday people on the road all across the country.   The model “T” was a bare bones vehicle priced such that a burgeoning middle class could afford them.  One of the cost saving design features was a gravity feed fuel system.  The gas tank was mounted a bit higher than the engine under the front seat and gravity would allow the gas to flow down to the engine without the need of a fuel pump.  But, on the 12% grade going up Sitgreaves Pass the engine was higher than the gas tank and you didn’t go.  Many adventurous drivers solved this problem by going up the pass backwards.  Many weren’t that good at driving around hairpin curves backward and backed right off the road.

Sitgreaves Pass,  c. 1920’s to 1940’s
I got from Barbaragregorrich.com blog. She got from interent from an unknown source

Our family drove this road many times in the 1950’s without having to go up the hill backwards

In the 1950’s I remember our summer trips as being almost exclusively on 2 lane roads packed with vacationers and big trucks.  Up a hill, down a hill, round a curve, pass a truck, creep up the next grade behind a sad car laboring to pull a much too heavy trailer as we crept along at 10 mph waiting for an opportunity to pass.  No passing lanes in those days, you just had to wait for a straight-a-way with the dotted line on your side and hope for a gap in oncoming traffic big enough for you to get by the slow poke. 

As my brother and I tried to fall asleep on a bed made of foma rubber in the back of the station wagon (seat belts were still more than a decade away), I remember that with my eyes closed, the sounds of driving were magnified.  The “click-click-click” of the turn signal when passing a slower car, the “click-clack” of the foot operated high beam switch at night and the “thunk” sound as my dad flicked a switch to engage the over drive.  And, almost always the sound of the wind through open windows.

In those days every road went right through the middle of every town, usually on Main or First Street.  Sometimes it would widen out to 4 lanes in the bigger towns but it was still slow going from red light to red light.  I remember hearing my mom and dad mention town names like Baker, Kingman, Winslow, and Needles among others while staring at a paper gas station or AAA map discussing where to turn onto a different highway, or where to gas up or have dinner or find a motel. 

Between the slow slog through towns and getting stuck behind slow moving vehicles between towns, I think I heard my dad say one time that for planning purposes you could figure on averaging 30 or at most 35 mph on such a trip.  Pretty different than these days when you can average closer to 60 mph on such a trip including rest stops.

The road surfaces were usually pretty good but they did not make much of an effort during construction to widen out curves or to level out small ups and downs as they built the roads.  We called these little roller coaster sections “whop-de-doos” and sitting on a mat way back by the tail gate as kids, we got quite a bounce out of them.

Route-66 “whoop-de-doo’s”  just east of Barstow
24 A7R5-#04974

For a while we pulled a small tear-drop trailer where mom and dad slept with my brother and I in a tent or more often just in a sleeping bag in the back of the station wagon or on a tarp or moving mat on the ground – it hardly ever rains in the SW in the summer so just sleeping on the ground was quite viable.  We had a square wire rack on the top of the car which sat on four suction cups with tie down straps hooked to the rain gutters over the car doors.  You can see this in the prior photo of the car in 1954.  We would load up that rack with our suitcases and camping gear.  From time to time something would not be tied down well or a rope would break and something would fly off.  Sometimes we wouldn’t even know till we got to the campground and wondered where some item had gone to.  One time I recall one or two of our suitcases flying off the roof and scattering clothes along the highway in some long forgotten stretch of desert. 

But memories aside, about the only thing we found on this 2023 trip in the section of Old Route-66 just east of Barstow was a set of “Whop-de-doo’s”.  I’m 100% sure that in the 1950’s we drove this section of US-66 on our way to the Grand Canyon as well as other places so it is quite possible that this is the place where I recalled the roller coaster road.

Arizona High Desert

The next day we headed out to Chinle.  Chinle is 522 miles from Barstow and ¾ of the distance is on I-40, and even though the speed limit along I-40 in Arizona is 75 mph it’s still over an 8 hour drive to Chinle (9+ hours if you include the time zone change), 

This drive is pretty flat through the high desert of Arizona.  There are some ridges you have to go over but it is not curvy at all.  My wife finds driving through desert landscapes quite boring, but I find it engaging.  First of all, unlike driving through a forest, you can see for miles and miles to far flung mountain ranges or dried up salt flats where seasonal rains form lakes.  As you go down the highway you can watch the railroad trains go by in each direction and marvel at the plants that have figured out a way to cling to life in these harsh conditions.  If you’re lucky you may witness a bloom of wild flowers along with all sorts of cacti and other drought and heat tolerant species.  Even though you rarely see native wildlife while driving at 80mph in the daytime, you know there is an abundant number of critters staying cool and asleep in their burrows waiting for the cool of the evening. 

I like watching all the varied geology in the hills and ridges.  It seems that each ridge we go over has different rock formations, strata, and different colors than the one before.  Some are green from copper.  Others are more reddish from iron or other colors like blue or violet from other mineral deposits.  Between the ridges the road bridges over hundreds of dry washes that flood during the monsoon season.  Many of these are marked with names like “Trans Ditch”, “Bristol Mountain Wash” (no idea where Bristol Mt. is), “Orange Blossom Wash” (odd as there are no orange trees within 500 miles of here), “Bandit Gulch”, and “Marble Creek.”

Eventually I-40 climbs up out of the desert into higher ground as you approach Williams.  The earth tones of the desert give way to the greens of growing grass and proper trees including oak, and pines.  If you are heading to the Grand Canyon, this is one of the places where you can turn north for the 60 mile drive to the South Rim.  But we continued east on I-40 through Flagstaff which has another turnoff for the Grand Canyon.  Our GPS devices had us go another 12 miles on I-40 to Winona and then turn NE into Navajo reservation land.  However, as the availability of gas on the reservation was unknown, we decided to stay on I-40 a bit longer and turn north in Winslow where we were sure we could tank up before entering the reservation.  This was taking the two legs of a right triangle rather than hypotenuse at the detriment of adding one whole minute to our trip (according to Google Maps). 

So we tanked up in Winslow and headed north for the 2 hour drive up to Chinle.  Most of this drive was through Hopi and Navajo land.  The land itself didn’t look all that different but the living conditions certainly were.  The homesteads looked better than in 2011 but still pretty poor.  Unlike our earlier trips through reservation land it seemed that in this area most little clusters of houses had electricity and most of the housing looked like they were prefab construction from the government.  Just plain and simple houses.  But we passed a fairly modern regional high school, little towns with small strip malls anchored by a good sized super market-hardware store and one or two other shops of one sort or another. 

Navajo housing (Google Street view)
31 Navajo Living 3

The Road surfaces on the non main roads were very much in need of attention.  The ones with AZ state highway numbers were pretty good but the tribal ones were pretty rough with lots of pot holes, wavy asphalt, and many times non existent center or shoulder markings.  Many sections had lumps where they tried to seal cracks with tar making it like driving over endless railroad tacks.

Navajo roads not in great shape
32 Navajo Road 1

Even so, the not so good Hopi/Navajo roads were a far sight better than many of our CA roads – especially in urban and suburban areas.  For example, compared to the pot hole ridden CA-82 (El Camino Real) through the heart of our town makes these Hopi/Navajo roads seem smooth as glass

Chinly

If you do much research about places to visit in the 4 corners area (we were now in NE AZ) you find in addition to the natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion, Monument Valley, and Capital Reef (among others) there are also a large number of archeological Native American sites such as Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Montezuma’s Castle, and our next destination, Canyon de Chelly.

As we had visited all of these places other than Canyon de Chelly in the past we had a decent idea of some things.  For example, once you get near of any of these parks you start seeing signs for them along the Interstate telling you what exit to use, and then once you exit onto the smaller 2 lane roads you see signs telling you which way to go.  So, here we were 50 or 60 miles up a 2 lane road in the middle of nowhere and had still not seen anything resembling a sign.  There was no mention of either Chinle or Canyon de Chelly on I-40 either at Winona or Winslow.  Our GPS had us make a few turns after exiting the freeway and no signs for our destination were there either.  Were we on the right road?  Maybe there were two Chinle’s in different nearby states and we were headed to the wrong one?   It got so concerning that I pulled into a small strip mall to confirm with both GPS devices that we were indeed on the route to Chinle next to Canyon de Chelley as well as the correct Best Western motel – and we were.  So we pressed on, still dismayed at not seeing either of these places mentioned on any of the road signs or billboards for restaurants or motels.

It wasn’t until we were around 5 miles from Chinle that we saw our first sign that Chinle was coming up.  And, the one and only sign mentioning Canyon de Chelly was in the middle of Chinle at the turn for the park entrance.

The one and only sign mentioning the park itself
Google Street View

It is not apparent why the park is so “un-promoted”.  This is a poor area which could certainly use tourist dollars and the park has a lot to offer (see next installment of this blog series).

The town itself is, how to say this, quite un-impressive.  There is one strip mall with a grocery store, a few gas stations, some widely spaced warehouse looking metal buildings with various sorts of industrial enterprises in them, a church or two, and a school.

There are two motels.  One is a large Best Western that has seen better days and the other is the Thunderbird Lodge by the canyon entrance that sounds good when you look at the website but which has pretty universally dismal reviews.  And the food options are even worse.  On the fast food end there is a Texas based fried chicken drive through and a Burger King.  That’s it.  In the sit down category there is a family restaurant at the Best Western, a Denny’s that somehow has achieved a new low point for the chain, a pizza place, and a cafeteria attached to the Thunderbird lodge.   All in all not much for a gateway city by a well known national/tribal park.  We’ll talk more about the food in the next article.  But, for now, after 8+ hours on the road we made it to our motel and checked in.

====================================

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(Images by Dan Hartford.--Info from Wikipedia, ChatGPT, other web sources, pamphlets gathered at various locations along the way guidebooks and commentary by the local guides)

Japan Apr 2023 - #07 Naoshima, Hiroshima, Miyajima

This travel-blog is for a 3 week trip we took to Japan at the beginning of April 2023.  We started out staying in Hachioji (edge of Tokyo) with our son and his family but then spent 10 days on a National Geographic Expeditions tour covering an area on the southern side of Japan to the west of Tokyo more or less between Kyoto and Hiroshima.

Entire Trip map
01 # Map 1 Entire Trip

This installment continues our stay on the Naoshima Art Island, then takes us on the bullet train down to Hiroshima where we visited the A-Bomb peace park and the next day went over to Miyajima Island with its picturesque temple literally in the bay.

Naoshima, Hiroshima and Miyajama route map
03 # Map 12 Naoshima-Hiroshima-Miyajima

Naoshima Art Island

In the last posting in this travel series I provided a bit of the history of the Naoshima Art Island including some information on the Benesse Art Site and the Naoshima Art House Project in the Honmura District. So there is no need to repeat that here.

Naoshima Island Route Map
02 # Map 11 Naoshima Island

Benesse Art Site

The Benesse Art Site is a rather large land area with several museums, a couple of hotels and all sorts of art work scattered around the landscape. 

On one of our days on Naoshima Island we visited the Benesse House Museum (where our “laundry” experience was from the last chapter).  This building houses both a museum and also a rather exclusive hotel.  Tadao Ando (the Architect) designed this building on the concept of “coexistence of nature, art, and architecture”.  Unlike most museums which block light from the outside for various reasons, this one embraces outdoor light as well as the interaction of this natural light along with the landscape visible through the many large glass walls.  Through these windows we can see the tranquil Seto Inland Sea, the blue or grey of the sky, and the green of forested hills which are all used to interplay with the displayed artwork.  Much of the art is “site specific” and uses the surrounding landscape as part of the art.

We started our visit here with yet another traditional Japanese lunch delivered in lacquer boxes.  But lunch aside, this is an ultra modern unfinished concrete building where each section of the building is done in a different geometric concept.  For example there is a circular section about 3 stories tall, all open inside with open light coming in from above. Another area is a large square enclosure, two stories tall with no roof.  And then there are rooms that are more like hallways, and others just big enough to contain a single piece of art.  And in some cases the building itself displays what could be considered as contemporary art.  It is all done in an industrial, unfinished concrete style with minimalist lines and fixtures.

Sometimes the building itself appears as contemporary art
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One interesting art installation called “Three Chattering Men” by Jonathan Borofsky consisted of 3 life size men whose jaws were motorized to move up and down.  This was accompanied with a sound track of multiple people all talking at the same time such that none could actually be understood.  I neglected to get my own photo of this, but here is one from the internet.

Three Chattering Men by Jonathan Borofsky
Three Chattering Men
(Above image from Facebook page “Benesse Art Site Naoshima” posted by “The Art Trotter”)

I found the piece “Yellow and Black Boat” by Jennifer Bartlett quite interesting.  This starts out with a couple of small physical boats on the floor.  Behind these two boats is a painting which seems to be a reflection of the two boats in a mirror except that instead of the background being the museum room it is a beach scene.  But then if you turn around and look out the large glass windows, way down the hill you can see a small cove with a beach and there again are the two boats actually on the beach in the same positions.

Yellow and Black Boats – Jennifer Bartlet
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Another art work is a tall square concrete room open to the sky.  Inside are two large marble pillows for lounging.  Depending on the time of day, and where the sun and shade is, one is warm, and the other is cool.  Once positioned on one of these two pillows, your gaze is limited to just a small square of the sky causing a sense of almost being connected to the sky.

The secret of the sky by Kan Yasuda
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The piece “Counter Circle #18” consisting of plastic toy soldiers lined up in a circular pattern with mirrors on the walls next to the piece on two sides has a room all to itself.

Counter Circle #18 by Tatsuo Mayijima
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After visiting the museum we took a bit of a walk-around outside.  Throughout the grounds of this large parcel of land are various outdoor art pieces from just as many different artists.  In some areas, like near the hotel, the art is placed in a meadow in plain sight.  But in other areas of the property, as you wander around things just appear in the forest or on a beach as the only art piece in sight.  Below are some examples from around the site:

Frog & Cat (Karel Appel, 1990)
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Pumpkin (Yayoi 2022) 2nd version. 1st one was washed out to sea in a storm)
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The 3 squares below oscillate back and forth imperceptibly slowly.  You can’t really see them move but if you come back an hour or two later they are in different orientations.

Three Squares Vertrical Diagonal (George Rickey, 1972-82)
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Mondrian’ Glass Teahouse (Hiroshi Sugimoto, 2022)
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Naoshima Art House Project

The Art House Project is in the Honmura district (town) on the island.  It too was initiated by the Benesse Corporation in collaboration with the same architect, Tadao Ando.  The idea here is to take abandoned traditional homes and buildings, revitalize them and then let artists transform them into unconventional art spaces that blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment. 

Quite a concept that solved a couple of problems.  First it brings in tourists (and their money) and second, it keeps the community from having to deal with dilapidated abandoned houses.  Each artist is given creative freedom to design and construct their unique installations within the existing structures.  So not only do you get to wander around a picturesque little town, you can grab some artistic culture along the way.

Steps leading up to a shrine
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Looking over the wall into the Hachiman Shrine
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The Art House Project blurs the line between art and architecture, as the artists often utilize the existing structures and spaces within the houses to create their installations. The artworks can range from sculptures and installations to light and sound-based artworks, each providing a thought-provoking and engaging experience.

As an example, Kadoya House was the first building in the Art House Project to be completed. The house was constructed roughly 200 years ago, and it was restored to its original appearance with a stucco finish, smoked cedar boards, and traditional roof tiles. The townspeople of Naoshima participated in the creation of the work Sea of Time '98 by Tatsuo Miyajima.  Inside are a couple of rooms with “time” based artwork.  In the photo below, the colored lights are at the bottom of a shallow pool of water and each one is a digital clock. 

Sea of Time '98 by Tatsuo Miyajima
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The art in each of these rescued houses is quite different from the art found in other houses.  One of these was the Dark House.  In this one you move around inside the building in complete darkness making your way by touch only and bumping into walls as well as bumping into other people as you go.  Along the way you find all sorts of different textures and forms, which your brain tries to figure out.  Guess what?  No photos for obvious reasons, such as no light.

We visited several of these houses and wandered around the boat filled harbor and through some very nice little streets before heading back to the hotel.

The Art House Project has played a significant role in transforming Naoshima into an international art destination that attracts visitors from around the world who come to explore the island's unique blend of contemporary art, traditional architecture, and breathtaking landscapes. The project continues to evolve, with new installations and artworks being added periodically to enhance the artistic landscape of Naoshima.

The following day we headed down to the port to catch a ferry back to the mainland where we were provided one last piece of art to send us on our way.

Red Pumpkin (Yayoi Kusama, 2006)
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Hiroshima

We then took a short ferry ride with our bus back over to the main Japanese island of Honshu, where we drove up to Okayama to catch a bullet train to Hiroshima.  You’ll remember we talked about the bullet trains (“Shinkansen”) before, so I won’t repeat that here.

The train station in Hiroshima is attached to two luxury hotels, one of which was our accommodation.  This was good planning as we left the bus in Okayama when we hopped on the bullet train, so having our hotel in the train station was excellent.  Our luggage was coming down from Okayama by truck and as trucks don’t go as fast as bullet trains, it wouldn’t arrive till later in the day. 

So, instead of going to our hotel (Sheraton Grand) we walked on over to the other hotel (Hotel Granvia) for a nice buffet lunch.  This was one of the better lunches on our trip.  In addition to some traditional Japanese dishes they also had a variety of more western dishes and a wide selection of desserts.  There was also a very friendly robot roaming around.  Its face resembled a cat with the body painted to resemble a tuxedo.  This robot wandered around and on a display panel asked (in several languages) for customers to place their trays and dishes on one of the empty shelves which adorned both sides of the machine.  Once the shelves were full the sign told us that the robot was “Going Home” and it made its way back to the kitchen to be relieved of the used trays and dishes.

Busboy (buscat?) robot
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After lunch a bus picked us up and off we went to the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park a short drive away.  This park and its monuments serve as a memorial to the victims of the atomic bomb blast that occurred on August 6, 1945.  The park's main objective is to promote peace and advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons as well as to provide a place for reflection and remembrance of the devastating impact of war.  There are several monuments in the park which either stem from the bombing itself or have been added over the years. 

A-bomb Dome

The A-bomb Dome is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Hiroshima, if not the entire world.  This iconic building is the skeletal remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall built in 1914.  It was one of the few structures left standing near the epicenter of the explosion.  Just for reference, the bomb detonated in midair, 1,970 feet above the ground.  Stealing language from earthquakes, this spot in the air is called the hypocenter.  The spot on the ground directly below the hypocenter is the epicenter.  The midair detonation was designed so that the blast wave would spread out before reaching the ground making the impact zone much larger compared to a bomb that detonated upon impact with the ground. 

This particular building remained mostly standing for several reasons.  First of all it is located 525 feet from the epicenter of the blast which allowed the blast force to dissipate a bit before reaching the building and the angle of the blast from the hypocenter was largely downward rather then sideways, preventing the building from just being swept away sideways.  Then we have the design and construction of the building itself.  As it turns out this was a very well designed building constructed using reinforced concrete and brick rather than the more traditional wood found in Japan at that time.  Another factor was the dome itself which deflected the force of the blast around the building, where a flat sided structure with a flat roof surface, like most of the other buildings in the area, would have had to withstand the full impact of the blast. 

After the bomb blast, the A-Bomb-Dome remained mostly standing as a haunting reminder of the effects of such weapons. For many years, public opinions about the dome remained divided.  Some felt it should be reserved as a memorial to the victims of the bombing, while others thought it should be destroyed as a dangerously dilapidated structure evoking painful memories.  As the city was rebuilt and other bombed buildings vanished, the voices calling for preservation gathered strength.  In 1966, the Hiroshima city council passed a resolution to preserve the A-bomb dome which led to a public fundraising campaign to finance the construction work.  Donations poured in with wishes for peace from around Japan and overseas making the first preservation project possible in 1967.  Several preservation projects have since been carried out to ensure that the dome will always look as it did immediately after the bombing.  It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996. 

As one gazes at the remains of the building different people have different thoughts and emotions.  For some it is remembering the lives lost.  For others it is thoughts of how alliances come and go and how enemies become friends and vice-versa over short periods of time.  And for some it is thoughts about why this building is still here when all those around it were blasted away.  But, I doubt anyone comes away without some emotion.

A-Bomb Dome Building
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But the A-Bomb Building is not the only thing in the Peace Park.  On the other side of the river is the larger portion of the Peace Park.

Children’s Peace Monument

This monument is dedicated to a young girl named Sadako Sasaki.  She was 2 years old in 1945 and was one of many who survived the actual bombing with no apparent injuries.  But she could not survive the long term damage caused by being exposed to the radiation.  Ten years later, after growing to the age of 12 as a healthy young girl, she developed leukemia.  She believed that if she folded 1,000 origami paper cranes, she would be granted a wish for a cure and for world peace.  Even though she and her friends and classmates folded well over 1,000 of these cranes her condition worsened and she died in October of 1955.

Sadako's story was widely reported around the world.  Several books were published (e.g., “Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes” by Eleanor Coerr) and songs were written (e.g., “Sudako and the Paper Cranes, by Tommy Sands).  Being encouraged by the worldwide publicity about their friend, her classmates initiated a fundraising campaign to build a monument in her honor. They wanted to create a symbol of peace and hope to remember Sadako and all the innocent children who lost their lives due to the atomic bombing.  With contributions from across Japan and around the world, the Children's Peace Monument was completed and unveiled in 1958.

Since that time people from all over the world have made and donated paper cranes to the monument with well over 10 million being donated every year.  Most come from Japan, and each year countless school groups visit the monument and bring cranes folded by the class.  The ones donated by visiting school groups are placed in booths set up around one side of the monument for a short time till they run out of room.  Before the Covid-19 pandemic the city had to collect cranes from these booths 12 to 15 times a year to keep them from overflowing.  The city estimates that they typically collect an average of 10 tons of paper cranes each year.  Even though the numbers were cut to over half during COVID, the numbers are starting to come back up again as tourists and school groups return to the monument.   

Many of these cranes are strung together in long chains or put together in collages to make other designs by volunteer groups who make all sorts of artwork which they donate.  The ones not made into art work were incinerated until 2001, but in 2002 the city started storing them in warehouses.  In 2012, the mayor altered his predecessor’s policy and allowed the cranes to be distributed free of charge to individuals and groups hoping to use them. In addition to being displayed at peace events, given out as gifts and thank you tokens, more and more of these paper cranes are being reprocessed into recycled paper to make commercial products such as business cards, origami paper, and postcards.

Children’s Peace Monument
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One of the booths where school groups leave cranes they have made
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Sample artwork made from paper cranes
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Peace Flame and Cenotaph for A-bomb Victims

A short walk from the Children’s Peace Monument is a reflecting pool called the Pond of Peace, which contains the peace flame and the Cenotaph for A-bomb Victims.  Although these are 2 separate monuments, built and installed at different times, they are lined up with each other as well as the A-bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum. 

The Peace Flame at the north end of the pond was first lit in 1964 and has remained continuously lit since that time.  The intention is that it will remain lit until the world is free of nuclear weapons and all nuclear weapons are banned.  I suspect this will be a long time from now, but we can only hope.  The flame itself is on a rectangular concrete platform that resembles the outstretched palms of two hands holding the flame.  When viewed from the north end of the pond these two hands seem to be holding the museum building in the background with the Peace Flame in the middle nestled under the Cenotaph Arch.

Peace flame monument with Cenotaph and Museum behind
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Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims

At the south end of the Pond of Peace is the Cenotaph.  The word “Cenotaph means “a monument to someone buried elsewhere, especially one commemorating people who died in a war.”  Under the arch of the Cenotaph memorial is a granite chest inscribed with “Let all the souls here rest in peace; for we shall not repeat the evil."  The chest contains books listing the names of people who died as a result of the nuclear explosion. As of 2021 there were over 300,000 names listed.  These books are taken out once a year to dry out any moisture and add more names. Due to space limitations some of these books are in storage facilities underneath the granite chest.

If you stand at the south end of the Pond of Peace, by the Cenotaph, you can view the Cenotaph, the Peace Flame and the A-bomb Dome all neatly lined up.  Needless to say this vantage point is quite popular for photography and there is almost always a queue of people waiting to take the exact same shot – including me.

Cenotaph with Peace Flame and A-bomb Dome building behind
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Peace Memorial Museum

The last place in the Peace Park we visited was the peace memorial Museum.  This museum exhibits artifacts, photographs, and personal stories related to the atomic bombing and its aftermath. The museum provides visitors with a somber and educational experience about the events that took place here in 1945.

How long has it been?
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One tours this museum on a fixed route through rooms with various exhibits that walk you through a time line from before the explosion to the aftermath.  Even though the museum exhibit rooms are somewhat dark, very warm, and extremely crowded it was very quiet. 

In one area was a circular platform onto which was projected an aerial view of the city just before the bombing.  Then, using video, it showed what happened as the bomb exploded and the blast wave swept across the cityscape, flattening almost everything in its path. 

Some of the exhibits had wall size photos taken in the city both before and after the bombing along with images and stories of individual people. 

Part of panorama of city after the bomb blast
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The whole experience was quite well done and documented the events as they took place.  However, there was a very strong theme of how terrible war is in general and specifically the use of nuclear weapons, which by their very nature cannot help but affect large masses of civilians for decades into the future, long after the war itself has become ancient history.

Near the end of the route through the museum, one walks down a second floor corridor alongside picture windows that look out over the Cenotaph, the Pond of Peace, the Peace Flame, and the Children’s Memorial all the way to the A-bomb Dome in the background.

View from inside Museum with Cenotaph, Peace Pond, Peace Flame and A-bomb Dome
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One unfortunate aspect of the museum was that the entire exhibit only made one brief mention of the attack on Pearl Harbor or the broader war in general.  Rather, the propaganda message as to why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed with atomic weapons was said to be “so that the United States Government could justify the cost of developing the bomb to the US taxpayers.”  Left out was any mention of the estimated number of deaths and casualties on both sides that would have occurred with a conventional attack on the main islands of Japan using conventional weapons of the time.

Miyajima

The next day, after a lecture about Mt. Fuji being a living goddess and seeing a wonderful National Geographic documentary produced by our host, Karen Kasmauski, we headed off to Miyajima Island.  Miyajima is a 10 minute ferry ride after an hour bus ride from our hotel in Hiroshima. 

Miyajima Island (aka Itsukushima Island) is roughly 11 square miles which is pretty small as islands go, but it packs quite a few interesting places to look at – mostly temples and shrines.  Like many other places in the world Miyajima is considered so sacred that being born or dying on the island is prohibited.  It seems that soon to be mothers must leave the island before their due date and can then only return after giving birth.  And, at the other end of the line, if you are near the end of your life you too must leave the island to die someplace else.  I wonder what happens if you have a fatal accident on the island?  Do they declare you un-dead, ship you to the mainland and then declare you dead?  I didn’t run a test with myself to see how they handled that sort of thing.

As we approached the island on the ferry on a cool, rainy and foggy day, we got a glimpse of one of the most famous features on the island which is the “Floating Tori Gate”.  This tori gate is part of the Itsukushima Shrine and sits out on tidal mud flat in the bay.  So, depending on the tide sometimes you can walk out to it and at other times it is in the bay itself.  As we approached the island it was mid tide so the gate was “floating” in the bay near the shore.  But we’ll talk more about this later.

Floating Tori Gate, Itsukushima Shrine on a foggy/rainy day
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After departing the ferry we were in the city of Hatsukaichi, which except for a few far flung temples and shrines scattered around the island is the only developed area on the island.   The main portion of Hatsukaichi is on the mainland so I suppose the portion on Miyajima is more of an extension of that city.  But nonetheless it was a thriving tourist area with loads of shops, food venders, restaurants and, of course, temples, monuments and shrines. 

Our first stop was in a plaza just outside the ferry terminal where we were informed about the significance of the island (Island of the Gods).  As is the case in many areas, this island is a UNESCO world heritage site and to commemorate its attainment of this designation a monument was placed in the plaza.  This monument has a hole carved through its middle which frames the Famous Floating Tori gate.  Unfortunately, the view through the hole also included a delivery truck that was parked there the whole day.

UNESCO Monument
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(Above image from Google Maps)

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