Patterns

Coyote Buttes- A Whimsical Product Of The Forces Of Nature.

Coyote Buttes, on the Arizona/Utah border, is a landscape that defies description. Freud would have trouble developing a diagnosis for this patient.

One look at it will put a smile on your face along with a frown. It’s situated at The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and is well protected. At North Coyote Buttes, a trip to The Wave is only accessible for 20 daily fortunates who were victorious in the dreaded lottery put on by The Bureau of Land Management.

It’s a riot of abstractness, details, hues, textures, patterns and dizzying sandstone shapes. The Navajo Sandstone calcified dunes evolved into its current look due to erosion from winds and rains.

This is a repost from 2014..

At South Coyote Buttes, the unusual is the usual at this landscape. Grotesque shapes of rock cast by millions of years of weathering have produced a carnival of oddities that Barnum & Bailey would be proud of. I half expected a woman with a beard to come walking around the corner.

It seems as if someone put one of those curvy carnival mirrors out there to give Coyote Buttes it’s distorted look. But it is real. I think.

It’s highly believable that it took millions of years for the gods to create Coyote Buttes.

You just don’t put this together in a week.

Michael Andrew Just

Dawn2Dawn Photography

Mud Is Beautiful

Desert Southwest, Utah, Weather

Recent rains swept water through the many washes in Southern Utah and yielded some interesting abstract patterns in nature.

Death Valley’s Sublime Eureka Dunes

California, Death Valley, Desert Southwest, National Parks

This is probably the eight time I’ve visited Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park and I still get a thrill from the experience. Once again I was buzzed by fighter jets but these jets from nearby China Lake Naval Base. I spent a couple of days here so I’ll have 2 or 3 posts from here. What’s great about sand dunes is that they are always shifting so you may see something you hadn’t seen before including your own shadow!(See Below) Is that my shadow or someone else standing down there?

It was pretty warm out there(80 F) and there was no shade and the heat was bouncing off the sand. Hiking dunes can be an exercise in futility. — It was pretty warm out there(80 F) with no shade and the heat bouncing off the sand. Hiking dunes can be an exercise in futility. I was afraid to make tracks in these amazing sand patterns because they were so pristine. Eureka Dunes is in a remote part of Death Valley and has few visitors.

The road to Eureka Dunes. — The road to Eureka Dunes, wash boarding and teeth rattling included.

Those are the Last Chance Mountains in the background, a somewhat fitting name for Death Valley

Patterns and ripples produced by erosion are the dominant features of Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park, California — Andy Warhol couldn’t design patterns this cool.

DV Jet_7637 — These jets come onto you real fast. You don’t hear them until they pass although another flew about 200 feet right above me. My camera was not close unfortunately. Next time these pilots should call me and let me know they’re coming.

Campground site in a remote area of Death Valley National Park, California — It got down into the mid 30sF during the night as a full moon was rising. I was stalked by a kangaroo rat while sitting around the fire. They are similar to a field mouse but like to run around on their hind legs, hence the name. Next time I’ll get a pic. Then the zipper on my tent broke and I was afraid that rat would join me during the night.

Death Valley’s Eureka Dunes-Part 2

California, Desert Southwest, National Parks

The dunes and the area around it.

The sagebrush and desert landscape at Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park, California

Storm clouds threaten Eureka Valley at sunset at Death Valley National Park, California

Rock formations in the Eureka Valley at Death Valley National Park, California

Death Valley’s Eureka Dunes- Part 1

California, Desert Southwest, National Parks

After I endured the buzz over of that fighter jet, I headed up the sand dunes. Hiking sand dunes with camera gear can be exhausting. The key is to hike on firm sand, not the soft stuff. A cloudy day was producing flat light. With flat light, you don’t get any shadows which is vital to bringing out the ripples in the sand. However, there was a dark soot or dirt embedded in the sand that provided some good contrast that made these images pop!

The sun struggles to appear through the clouds at Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park, California

Shifting patterns and lines of sand at the Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park, California — There are actually people at the top which gives you a sense of scale. I was about a 1/3 of the way up

The Wave Part 4- The Light Was Just Right

Arizona, Desert Southwest, Utah

As I trekked out to The Wave last Monday, my plan was to end up at the main attraction late in the day when the light was just right and there were no others there. I had the place to myself! The other 19 permit holders were long gone. No one to get in the way or for me to get in someone else’s shot. The Wave is a small area. The light however was pretty flat. A cloud cover draped Coyote Buttes. Looking up at the sky to the west I noticed there might be an opening for some light to get through but I’d have to be patient. I also didn’t want to be out there too late and hike the 2 1/2 miles in sand and slickrock in darkness. So I ate a granola bar and waited for about 45 minutes until I notice a glimmer coming down from the heavens. Some light did appear through the clouds and that’s all I needed.