There was a brief sleet storm just after I went to bed the second night of our stay near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was going to be a very cold night, so I wondered how the sleet and cold would impact our morning photography.
We arose before daybreak to get into the dunes before sunrise. It was 17 degF, the coldest morning we had experienced during this trip.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
The dunes were dusted by the overnight sleet. This added interest to the landscape, but the sleet and cold temperatures preserved footprints from the previous day.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
At least the footprints were somewhat muted, but there seemed no way to avoid getting footprints into photographs. I might have removed these in Lightroom, but I’m sure the results would not have been satisfactory.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
In a valley between dunes, I found interesting patterns, where there either were no footprints or I could easily exclude those from my photos.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
The sleet dusted, frosty sand dunes with snow covered mountains and clouds over them were good for making black and white images.
Snow and Sleet on the Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
This wraps up the highlights of my March 2021 photography in the Great Sand Dunes.
We returned to the dunes in the early evening for sunset photography and I struggled to find satisfying compositions. Maybe we were not in the optimal location for this shoot. There were low clouds on the western horizon, which also blocked the sunset light.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
As we were giving up and beginning to hike back towards the parking lot, there was a sudden and brief break through of light. My son, being much younger and more fit than I, ran to the west to catch the fleeting light, while I walked as fast as I could, hoping to get to a good vantage point before the light was gone.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
I think the image above is the best one the I got during this outing. I was still far from the best vantage point for the best light, but I knew the light was fading fast and I had to stop and shoot now. I got low to catch the dim light in this grassy patch of sand with the fading light on the dune in the background and the interesting clouds over the dune.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
After the light faded from that dune and illuminated the mountainside to the east, I pointed my camera in that direction to get this final shot.
I continued to wander around in the Great Sand Dunes early the first morning of our March 2021 visit, looking for good compositions.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
The icy rim along the ridge in this dune caught my eye. I like the way that icy ridge leads the eye from the left corner of the frame to the long ridge, which in turn leads the eye into the upper part of the image.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
I’m always looking for objects with distinct shadows and these chunks of frozen sand, that lie along the edge of a dune, add interest to this image. The edge of the dune acts as a leading line from the lower right towards the upper left. This line is more brightly lighted than other portions of the image and acts as a diagonal dividing line in the image. Notice how the sand details, visible texture and light change as the eye crosses this diagonal. The darkness in the clouds and the shadowy, distant mountains create a strong contrast with the sunlit sand.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
A series of circular features breaking the ripple patterns in the sand made me stop to take this photo. I’ve converted the original color image to monochrome, since I think this image with these features is more dramatic in black and white.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
This small piece of “driftwood” breaks up and modifies the wind created ripples in a dune. I put quotes on “driftwood”, since I’m not sure that this is the proper term for how this chunk of a tree got here. Maybe it blew in via wind or maybe it was washed here by water?
I’ll have more to say about making this image in a subsequent post.
We were in the sand dunes before sunrise of the first morning of our March 2021 visit. Hiking in sand requires some effort, but at least during the winter, some of the sand is frozen on the surface, making it a little easier to walk on.
Photographing the dunes in the early morning has the advantage of overnight winds wiping away or muting the footprints of the previous days’ visitors. Still one might have to hunt for places to avoid remaining footprints. Caution is also required in approaching an area to photograph, so one’s own footprints are not ruining the scene.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
Those lumpy looking features in the left center of the image above are frozen parts of the sand dunes and make good foreground objects in the vastness of the dunes.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
These dunes cover a vast area and we are barely in the edge of the dunes and well below the highest peak.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
It was good to have early morning clouds over the mountains to the east of the dunes.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
I varied my compositions by moving around slightly or carefully approaching foreground objects, so as not to trample the natural patterns in the sand as the sunrise light progressed over the dunes.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
The photo above is nearly the same composition as the first image of this post, but the light has changed with the rising sun and the shadows are longer and more pronounced.
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, March 2021
Moving just a few feet can make a dramatic difference in an image in the dunes, as does the changing light conditions.
There is a remote playa in Death Valley National Park nicknamed “The Racetrack“. On this broad, flat, mud playa rocks move and leave trails in the mud. I visited The Racetrack with two of my sons in March, 2013. At that time no one knew how the rocks moved and no one had ever seen them move. I often wondered why someone had not put up video cameras to monitor the playa and observe the movement. I suppose the remoteness of the area, the lack of continuous power for a camera system and park regulations had prevented this. But, eventually, researchers did just that and finally discovered the secret of how the rocks moved in December, 2013, two years after the study began.
The most prevailing theory of how the rocks moved, prior to that research, was that strong winds moved these heavy rocks across the playa, when it was wet, since the mud is very slippery after a rain. This seemed like a stretch, but winds can be very strong in the wide open valley where the playa is located.
The details of the experiment that revealed the secret of the rocks’ movement can be found on the NPS website.
The experiment also revealed why there are track with no rocks at their ends. Previously, everyone thought that rocks had been removed by visitors from such tracks. Be sure to visit the NPS website via the link above to read about this experiment and the discovery of the real way the rocks move. This might serve to illustrate that scientific theories are not always correct and have to be verified by actual experimentation and observation. So whenever you hear those famous words “scientific consensus is that…”, please bear in mind that until there is actual proof, a theory or consensus of thought is just speculation.
One of the rocks and its trail left in the playa at Death Valley’s Racetrack.A large rock and its trail on the playa at Death Valley’s Racetrack.Another view of rocks and their trails in the playa at Death Valley’s Racetrack.A long exposure night image of intersecting trails of moving rocks on the playa at Death Valley’s Racetrack.
If you visit this area, please heed the warning on the NPS website, regarding the long drive to get here, safety precautions and do not venture onto the playa when it is muddy. We saw evidence of people disregarding these warnings and prohibitions. There were footprints and tire trails, obviously made when it was muddy, in the playa. These defacing scars will last for a very long time in the desert, ruining the natural appeal of this area.
Yellowstone National Park is a truly amazing and one of a kind natural wonder. I’ve only passed through it briefly on a couple of occasions, when the primary objective was Glacier National Park in Montana. Yellowstone and Grand Teton were in the road travel path, so passing through those, it made perfect sense to utilize a stop over at one or both of those parks on the way to Glacier and back.
Spending only a day or two in this very large park in no way allows one to see all that it has to offer; but it is possible to see most of the commonly visited sites. In addition to the really big features and geysers, there are small features that are interesting and hardly ever mentioned and I expect not observed closely by most visitors.
This post is about one of those minor features, which can be observed from the safety of board walks. There are areas where the hot water and steam escaping from underground creates mud puddles that are dynamically pulsing, but in a much smaller way than the eruptions of the major geysers.
It is fun to watch these tiny eruptions of mud spewing just a few inches into the air. The expelled mud takes on random, fleeting, geometric shapes. These shapes can be captured in photographs, if one has patience to spend a few minutes observing and learning how to time shots. I think the best approach is to watch and anticipate the eruptions and shoot in burst (continuous) mode with a fast shutter speed, capturing a quick series of images during the eruption. Thumbing through the images one may find really interesting and intriguing shapes.
Here are a couple of the best ones I managed to capture in the few minutes I had to observe and shoot.
Mud Geyser. This eruption produced a linear series of geometric shapes.Mud Alien. This small mud eruption took on this whimsical shape that appears to have an alien looking face.
These small features are so fleeting that one usually does not have time to mentally process the shapes as they appear and evolve so quickly, but photographs freeze the shapes, allowing for a greater appreciation of natures temporary artwork.
So, if you get a chance to visit Yellowstone, enjoy the big geysers and colorful pools, but don’t forget to observe the smaller events.
After scouting about a mile along the Tejas trail earlier in the day, I went out again late in the day, planning to be near the far end of my scouting hike to get a shot of the most prominent feature on the mountainside east of the trail. After arriving at that point on the trail, I very soon realized that the sunlight was not going to illuminate that feature as I had hoped. Only a small portion of the intended subject would be highlighted with most of it being in shadow. So I began hastily backtracking down the trail to check out other possibilities. The next pre-scouted site that I attempted did not work out either, so I continued back along the trail.
I arrived at another pre-scouted site that looked more promising and proceeded to make a number of shots, none of which were greatly impressive. However, I managed to get one that I could edit and make look presentable.
A late afternoon scene along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom, DXO Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.
There was good light on the mountainside, but the shadows were quickly encroaching upon the scene. If not for motion in the vegetation, I could have tried creating an HDR image or stacked a number of images. In this image I applied color, contrast, brightness and structure adjustments in DXO Nik software via numerous control points. Then more adjustments in DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I added a vignette frame around the edges to eliminate an obvious vignette in one corner of the original image that was caused by my filter holder.
Moving a bit more back down the trail, I stopped to shoot in another location, before the light disappeared completely. Again I had to make a number of exposures, trying to balance the shadows and highlight, but none came out really well and HDR was, again, not an option.
Late day sunlight along a mountain top in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom, DXO Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.
One can see how far the shadows have moved up the mountainside in just a short time interval. This image is edited in a very similar fashion to the previous one. I could have brought out more detail in the shadows, but chose not to do so in this case.
I tried a few more shots as I moved back down the trail, but none worked out very well. The evening was pleasant and there was a full or near full moon that evening, so the walk back to the RV parking lot was quite pleasant and well lit by moonlight, so I did not have to get out my headlamp.
This photo shoot did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but at least I got a couple of reasonable images and had a pleasant moonlight hike back along the trail.
I had picked out a few possible places for sunrise shots the following and last morning of my visit, but none of those were really appealing, so I decided to forego getting up early for a morning shoot and get an earlier start on the road to the next destination.
This park has much more to see than I had time to get to. In particular, McKittrick Canyon is reportedly very nice in the fall, so maybe I can make another visit one fall. I would also like to get into the gypsum dunes in the Salt Basin. So I really need to find time to plan another visit.
After a strenuous previous day and getting to bed late with no firm plans for where to go for early morning photos, I decided to sleep in a bit and scout the area again during the morning and afternoon for possible locations for sunset photos.
After breakfast, I walked the trail to the visitor center looking around for possible photo locations along the way. Since I had hiked a substantial portion of the Guadalupe Peak Trail the previous day, I figured that I had earned the right to purchase and display a pin from the park in my collection, so I picked up the pin and inquired about the road into the Salt Basin, hoping to get time to visit the gypsum sand dunes in the western portion of the park. No one there had any update on the condition of the long clay road into that portion of the park. After thinking about this, I decided against attempting to get into the Salt Basin on this trip. I only had that afternoon and the next morning to spend in the park and the Salt Basin area is a day use area only, meaning no overnight camping or parking there. For sunrise photos, I would have to get up early the next morning and drive quite a way to get to the access road and then there was no way to know if I would be able to drive the last portion of the road and I would have no idea of where to go, anyway. For sunset photos, I ran the risk of losing my already paid for second night in the RV site, where the slots are on a first come basis; but there seemed to be no way to show that a site was already taken, if no vehicle was parked there. This eliminated the gypsum dunes for sunset photos.
Upon returning to my vehicle, I decided to check out the Tejas Trail from which I thought I might be able to get late day shots with golden hour light as I had observed it the previous evening on the mountainside to the east of the trail.
The lower portion of the Tejas Trail is much easier than the Guadalupe Peak Trail. Again I hiked with only my Camelbak with water, snacks, GPS (for safety and for recording waypoints at possible photo sites) and iPhone. I looked for possible photo sites along the trail, making a number of iPhone scouting shots. These shots were all taken around mid-day to early afternoon, so the light was harsh with the sun almost directly overhead, so there were not even any shadows to give the photos depth.
I am presenting a few of those scouting photos in this post with comments regarding the ideas for later DSLR images and some notes on editing photos.
Someone from McAllen, TX left this mark on a tree along the Tejas Trail in Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
This first image is an example of what is seen much too often and illustrates what one should not do in our national parks. Someone just could not resist defacing one of the trees along the trail.
An old tree trunk with highlights along the Tejas Trail in Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
Even with mid-day light, it is sometimes possible to get interesting images. The one above is a portion of a gnarly, weathered, fallen tree, mostly in the shade of another tree with sunlight dappling across it. This is a jpeg image, so the editing is limited; but I’ve tweaked it a bit in Adobe Lightroom, then applied additional editing in DXO Nik software. I typically like to add several filters in Color Efex Pro 4, depending upon the photo, with a slight touch of brilliance, detail extraction, sometimes a graduated neutral density and a slight skylight filter. One has to be careful not to over do it with these filters. Sometimes, I will note that a favorite filter is just too much and I either have to tone it down or eliminate it.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
I hoped to get sunset light on the features in the mountain side, but I also needed something in the foreground and/or framing objects. So I experimented with these concepts as I walked along the trail. I applied a little lens fall off vignetting in the above image to tone down some of the unattractive foreground and to reduce the plain sky.
A scouting photo along Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
Another foreground/framing possibility is illustrated here. Again, I used a little lens fall off vignetting to reduce the foreground clutter and to add a focusing effect into the image.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo.
The image above has a vignetting filter, that I do not often use, applied in Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I thought it worth experimenting with in these flat, bland photos. I think this one serves quite well in this case. It tones down the foreground clutter, reduces the plain sky and focuses on the main subject.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
I kept hiking along the trail, trying to get closer to this particular feature on the mountainside, hoping to find a good vantage point to photograph it later in the day. Here, again, I’ve added vignetting to reduce the foreground clutter and focus the eye on the main subject.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
The boulder in the lower right anchors the foreground in this image and I think with it located diagonally from the peak in the upper left, helps to give this image some depth and visual tension. Vignetting is used again to reduce the unattractive clutter around the edges and guides the eye into the image. The vignette center can be moved and in this case, it has been moved slightly to the left.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo.
This is just an experiment with a monochrome version of the previous image. Sometimes harsh light images can be more appealing images in monochrome. In this case, the lack of shadows results in too flat an image to be interesting.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
Just another experimental foreground for the prominent feature in the mountainside. The Cholla is weathered and not very attractive; but there is at least a hint of clouds developing in the sky.
A scouting photo along the Tejas Trail, Guadalupe NP. iPhone Photo
Ah, if I could find this at sunset, I think I would get a good image!
The second destination in my Spring 2019 road trip was Guadalupe Mountains National Park (GUMO). According to my map, the travel time to GUMO from the Sandhills via the shortest route should be about 2.5 hours. However, a backup due to road construction on US 285, just past a signal light at my turn off from US 285, resulted in an hour delay. The longer routes would probably have been faster, but I did not double check the traffic before I set out. My bad!
Guadalupe Mountains rising from the plains of West Texas. This is an iPhone photo taken from miles away from the mountains.
In the above photo the sharp drop off on the left end of the mountain range is a feature referred to as El Capitan.
After getting to GUMO, setting up in the RV parking lot and having a brief lunch, it was around 3PM. Since I had never visited here, I did not have any idea about where to go for sunset photos. After reviewing the trails and information on those trails, I decided to take the Guadalupe Peak Trail, but not to take my camera gear. It was overcast, so the prospects for good sunset light was slim and I knew the heavy camera gear would really slow my pace on the trail.
An image from the park websiteTrail information from alltrails.com
This trail is around 8-9 miles round trip, rated strenuous and the literature said to allow 6 to 8 hours for the round trip. By the time I made my preparations for the hike, it was well after 3PM. So even if I could make the round trip in only 6 hours (doubtful), it would be after 9PM and dark before I made it back. I took my headlamp and an extra flashlight and extra batteries, just in case, but I knew it was not a good idea to be on this trail in the dark.
Shortly after getting underway on the trail, I realized that not bringing the camera gear was a good decision. There are very strenuous portions of this trail, it is mostly steep with considerable rocky portions requiring care in hiking. As I met hikers coming down and heard their comments, I really began to realize that I would probably not make it to the top, if I expected to get back down before dark.
This image illustrates why this trail is rated as “strenuous”. (iPhone Photo)
The weather was good for this hike, since it was cool and overcast. Even so, I quickly worked up a sweat, hiking with only a shirt and t-shirt on my upper body. I had put a fleece, gloves and windbreaker in my backpack, since I knew it would be cold somewhere along the trail. Indeed, in some windy portions it got quite cool with even a light snow off and on; but the effort going up the trail kept me warm.
If only I had a mount from which to dismount. iPhone Photo
As I progressed and became hungry, I realized that I had forgotten to put my trail bar snacks into my day pack. Fortunately, I had a full reservoir of water in my Camelbak. Otherwise, I would have had to turn around. Wanting to go as far as possible, I pushed on and I was able to ignore the hunger and my decreasing energy level.
A portion of the cliffs past which equestrians were to lead their horses. iPhone Photo
The haze in the distance of the photo above is actually a light snow.
As I neared the upper portion of the trail, I even began to think that I might actually make it to the top. However, as it passed 6PM, even though thinking I only had about 30 minutes more to hike to the top, I decided it was best to turn back or I would surely be hiking down in the dark.
Elevation profile for Guadalupe Peak Trail
I went some distance past the campground, so maybe I was only a few hundred feet below the peak, when I decided to turn around. It was disappointing to be so close and have to stop before reaching the peak. I just needed to have started about an hour earlier in the day.
I think this is where I decided to head back down the trail. iPhone photoThis is at or near the point on this trail, where I decided to turn back to avoid being on this rugged trail in the dark. The trail goes from the lower right corner down around the scrubby vegetation. iPhone PhotoThis is a view from just below my turn around point on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone PhotoA cloudy, cool day for a hike on Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
The feature on the mountain side at the upper right-center of the above photo is El Capitan.
Since the trip back was mostly steeply downhill, I was able to make much better time than I had expected. I was almost sure that I would have to stop and put on the fleece at some point, but I never wanted to stop long enough to do that. Even had I put the fleece on, I would have had to stop and take it off as I got back to lower elevation.
A view on the way back down Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
There is at least one trail visible along the mountain side in this photo. I think the one in the center is the Tejas Trail.
On the way down, I had to frequently remind myself to slow down on the more treacherous portions of the trail. There were plenty of places with tripping or sliding hazards. I was making such good time on the way down that I passed a few people that I had met on the way up as they were coming down.
Sunset glow on a peak across the wash from Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
The golden hour light in the above photo is what I looked forward to finding the following day.
Golden Hour Glow in Guadalupe Mountains. iPhone Photo
A zoomed in, noisy iPhone photo of the late day light on a peak opposite my route on Guadalupe Peak Trail is above.
A Scene from a lower portion of Guadalupe Peak Trail. iPhone Photo
I was greeted by a nice sunset scene over the plains from the lower portion of the Guadalupe Peak Trail.
I made it back to the RV lot just after dark, with sore, sensitive, achy feet, a strong appetite and no plan for where to go the following morning. I had been on the trail for about 5 hours, so I think I would have made it to the peak and back before dark, if I had started up the trail just an hour earlier.
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is not really about hiking so much as just exploring an area along Geology Road with illustrations via iPhone photos.
One can drive much of Geology Road in an ordinary passenger vehicle; but there are portions where a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle is recommended.
We drove much of the easier part of the road, including some of the rougher portions, stopping to explore around one boulder area.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There were some clouds to add interest to the photos and I am again contrasting color processing and monochrome processing.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My son standing on one of the rocks in the above photo gives one a sense of scale here.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One can always find interesting features within the boulder fields. In the preceding photos, note the window near the center of the photos.
The rock at the center of this image looks like a modern sculpture in the shape of a bear. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Climbing around on the boulders, my son spotted what he referred to as a “bear” rock, nestled down within an opening between other large boulders. It looks like a modern art sculpture of a bear cub to me; but maybe others see something else.
The rock nestled within these big boulders looks like a bear sculpture. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Color Efex Pro 4.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Flowering bush amid the boulders, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Plants seemingly find a place to grow in the most unlikely places.
A panorama within a boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This panoramic image give one a sense of the openness of the area, even though there are large boulder piles and mountain peaks apparent in this vast desert area.
Boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Boulder Field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Fittingly, there are a few Joshua Trees scattered around within the boulder field.
A scene along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Other desert type scrubby vegetation also populates the area.
A view from within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A gnarly tree trunk within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
A remnant of an old tree found within the boulder field.
A gnarly tree trunk within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Even a few California Barrel Cacti are present. A couple can be seen in the background of the gnarly tree trunk.
A colorful California Barrel Cactus within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A colorful California Barrel Cactus within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My son had found an outcrop of quartz in the desert opposite this boulder field on an earlier visit and he recalled how to hike to it again on this visit to the park. It is quite an impressive amount of quartz.
A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
This post is short on words and maybe a bit long in photos; but at least that makes for a fast scan of the blog.
