Southwest – Page 4

Backyard Lightning Strike !!

Desert Southwest, Out In The Field, Zion

Tonight’s thunder and lightning storm hit close to home.

Zion National Park’s Observation Point Trail

Desert Southwest, Out In The Field, Zion

While Angel’s Landing and The Narrows’ hikes get all the pub and hype, the Observation Point Trail at Zion is a classic. You not only will receive a great workout, you’ll also capture some dramatic photos. It’s 4 miles up and of course 4 miles down. An elevation gain of over 2,100 feet will get your heart racing on the way up and put agonizing stress on your quads on the way down. At Observation Point, your are literally and figuratively looking down on those who climbed Angel’s Landing. There are a few places where you encounter huge exposure but there is plenty of room to negotiate the terrain safely. No safety chains on this trail! Autumn is the best time of year to conquer Observation Point as the 100 degree temps have left the area and the fall colors dominate the landscape at Zion. Below are images along the trail. You can purchase prints of these images at http://dawn2dawnphotography.com/ Click on the horizontal photos for a larger view.

Zion's Observation Pt Trail_8576 — The view looking back at the beginning of the trail.

Echo Canyon_8585 — Entering Echo Canyon with its 1,500 foot high sandstone walls.

Echo Canyon Falls_2248 — Seasonal waterfalls flow out of Echo Canyon

Echo Canyon_4833 — Fall colors have arrived at Echo Canyon

Echo Canyon_7569 — Hikers enjoying the scene.

ZION BIGHORN SHEEP — You may encounter Desert Bighorn Sheep along the trail such as these young ewes.

Lone Ponderosa — A Ponderosa Pine seemingly grows from the sandstone walls

Cable Mountain appears at the three mile mark.

Observation Point_7548 — At Observation Point, you look down on Angel’s Landing on the right and Zion Canyon to the south.

Echo Canyon_4842 — And back down through Echo Canyon where by this time, your knees and ankles are stiff and sore.

YNP COYOTE CROSSING ROAD — And one more view of Zion Canyon

Pics from my recent trip to Mars

Desert Southwest, Out In The Field

Just got back from a trip to Mars. Yes, the planet Mars. I wasn’t expecting much life there, the food was terrible and the landscape was most unusual. Glad I brought my camera and my astronauts suit because it was very cold . The trip there usually takes 6-9 months but I found a wormhole and was able to make the round trip in about a week. Below is a pic of my craft that I used to get there. It’s like a Porsche with rockets. Reminds me me of a joke- Why does NASA believe there might be life on Mars? The CD player was stolen from their Mars rover.

The more I wandered, the more I was in awe. The martian environment is really cool. The following is a bunch of images I captured during the week. Hope you enjoy.