A nice thunderstorm rolled through Zion Country the other day before sunset, setting up some nice light.
Tag: Sagebrush
Springtime at Zion Country-Southern Utah
Recent rainstorms have produced dramatic skies and flowering Prickly Pear Cactus here in Southern Utah. Next post will showcase images from the surreal Wahweap Hoodoos.
Flora at Zion NP
Spring has sprung in Zion as it was 78F today. The cactus here usually flower starting in May. Here’s some images of other vegetation prominent in the park. Look for future posts detailing the many species of flora here in the park. There are more than 900 varieties of plants here mainly due to its vast elevation changes.
Death Valley’s Remote Eureka Dunes
After my visit to Racetrack Playa, I motored over more rough roads for 45 miles to Eureka Dunes. It’s in a remote part of Death Valley National Park so not many people go there. The dunes are 700 feet tall, amongst the tallest in North America. Low hanging clouds, a few sprinkles and a beautiful rainbow made for good photos.
Death Valley’s Racetrack Playa
I made a trip this past week to the remote Racetrack Playa at Death Valley National Park in California. The road out there is a teeth-rattling 27 miles of washboarded surface. There were only a few other vehicles out there, this is not a trip for the meek. I was just happy that my Ford Ranger managed to stay in one piece, but barely.
Racetrack Playa is famous for its moving or sailing rocks. These rocks move without human interference on this extremely flat dry lake bed and leave a trail behind. Scientists believe the movement is produced by high winds when the surface either becomes wet or possibly frozen from a cold night.
You want to talk about flat! The Racetrack is 2.8 miles long but the north end is only 1 1/2 inches higher than the south end.
On this day, the winds were extremely strong with gusts up to 50 mph. It knocked over my camera and tripod at one point but I was there to catch.
Look for a future post where I actually capture the rocks MOVING in a time lapse video! Never been done before. Posts of Eureka Dunes, the Owens Valley and The Sierra Nevada’s will follow later this week.
