My son and I scouted an area in the southern portion of Bisti that he had previously visited and nicknamed “Scalloped Rocks”. This area has a rich variety of oddly shaped rocks and small hoodoos.
“Scalloped Rocks” area in South Bisti. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I just happened to be in a good location to snap a photo of my son framed by these rock forms, while we hiked around this area looking for potential photographic compositions.
“Scalloped Rocks” area in South Bisti. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Small eroded hills with rocks balanced on their peaks near the “Scalloped Rocks” area in south Bisti are in the photo above.
“Scalloped Rocks” area in South Bisti. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The slender hoodoo and attractive rock formation is typical of this area. (Or is that an alien being next to its space ship? Perhaps, as one reader has suggested, the isolation in this wilderness may be warping my mind and leading to wild imaginings).
“Scalloped Rocks” area in South Bisti. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are many rock forms similar to those shown in this post and many other interestingly shaped rocks in this area. I liked the potential of this area, so we will plan to visit here again either at sunrise or sunset on one or two of our days here.
[None of the photos in this post are on my Flickr page].
While in Farmington, I took advantage of the city amenities to do laundry, have a simple restaurant meal and acquire a few more provisions, including food, water and filling my spare fuel containers, before heading to Bisti.
Upon arriving at the parking area for the southern access into Bisti/De Na Zin, I noted only a few visitors were there; but with the eminent weekend, I expected more soon and, indeed, more began to arrive as I set up.
I parked in a north-south direction near the back end of the parking lot and began installation of my solar panels on the roof rack, being sure to secure them well, since it was quite windy. Normally, I would move the solar panels during the day to get the most power possible from them, but with them on the roof and the required tying down, it would not be convenient to move them, so I just left them facing south at about 45 degrees to the roof rack. It turns out that this arrangement was sufficient to keep the house batteries charged, as I did not have to resort to running the engine at anytime.
The Sportsmobile with solar panels on the roof rack and the Penthouse raised. iPhone photo.
The photo above was actually taken near the end of our stay in Bisti.
I met and chatted with a few of the visitors Friday afternoon before heading into the wilderness area. It was a windy, cloudy day with a considerable wind chill, even though the air temperature was not so cold. I knew the possibilities for late day light were slim, but I went out late in the day, just in case. I wanted to explore new areas, anyway. If nothing else, I would be able to scout possible places to return to in more favorable photographic conditions.
An interesting feature in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I spotted the small hoodoos/toadstools in the above photo high up on a hill top. There was no direct way to get to these. So I hiked around this area for awhile, eventually finding a not prohibitively steep slope to climb up a hillside from which I hoped to be able to work my way to these features.
Interesting features in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The view to the east in the above photo is at the top of the hill that I climbed. I continued walking along the hill top to the west, looking for access to the interesting features that I had spotted from the valley below.
Scouting Photo, Bisti. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
On the northern side of the hilltop, I spotted this small wash with emerging hoodoos.
Working the area scouting photo in Bisti. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The view to the south of the hill, overlooking the area through which I hiked, to get here was quite good.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
After a short hike along the ridge, I came upon the features for which I was looking. I wanted to be on the far side of these at sunset. Carefully walking around so as not to damage anything or leave footprints, which I did not want in a photo, I looked for a safe way to the other side. The drop off on the right side, I deemed too steep for a safe descent; but I could walk along on the left edge of the ridge past the hoodoos and the slope below was not excessively steep.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
It is always a good idea to look at a photographic subject from various view points to find the best possible vantage point, so I took a number of iPhone photos as I worked around this area. One might note that these natural features can look much different from different view points.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A view from just below the feature from the west side.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Another possible composition from the west side.
Working the scene scouting photo, Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
And a wider view from the west side.
One of my concerns at this location was where my shadow would appear as the sun went low into the sky. So I thought I probably would need to go a bit more down the slope below this feature.
A view from just below this feature in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The view above is a bit deceptive. This photo is not taken from as far away a view point as it appears. From this point of view, I can see several different places along the slope from which to shoot and possibly eliminate my shadow from the composition.
Since I still had plenty of time prior to sunset, I continued to explore the area.
A view from a hillside in Bisti Wilderness. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Another possible feature to shoot from the top of the ridge is shown in the above photo.
I continued back down into the valley below, since it appeared that the increasing cloud cover was not promising for late day photos. I eventually set up to shoot one of the large colorful bluffs and waited for the sunlight to peek out from underneath the clouds.
I was rewarded with really good light for a brief moment, only to see that my shadow was a prominent feature in my composition. There had been no shadow due to cloud cover, when I set up my shot. I worked quickly to modify my composition, but the sunlight vanished more quickly.
Soon I gave up hope for more light and headed back towards the parking area hoping to avoid hiking too long in the dark.
About half way back to the parking area, the sun made a brief appearance. I turned around to see the desert lit up by great light and I hastily set up to attempt a shot.
Late day sunlight briefly illuminates the Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 18mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
With such an interesting sky, I put the horizon roughly in the middle, which is generally not a good idea. I considered cropping this image, looking at various scenarios, but in the end I liked the original composition better than the crop possibilities. I think the little drainage wash coming in from the bottom right leads the eye into this image, then the diagonal lines formed by the vegetation and their shadows adds to this effect.
After this shot, I quickly tried another composition with one of the red hills in it, but the light faded quickly.
Late day sunlight briefly illuminates Bisti wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Note that in this image I included much more of the sky and less of the desert foreground, since the light was much more dramatic on the clouds in the sky.
Maybe had I gone back up the hillside to the little hoodoo/toadstool area, I might have gotten a good shot, if I had been prepared and waited patiently for the light. Then I would certainly be hiking out in the dark, but that is not a big deal here.
Even though this afternoon’s photographic excursion was disappointing, my expectations had not been high and I had found places to revisit again at another time. Such is the life of a landscape photographer.
My original trip plan had me traveling from Bandelier National Monument to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, then on to my son’s house in the Denver area, where we would make a final decision, based upon weather patterns, for a final destination.
This spring the snow fall in the Rockies has been very heavy with a number of avalanches. With the avalanche danger being high, we did not want to take our normal route across the Rockies into any of our favorite spring trip areas of Utah, New Mexico or Arizona. With another storm coming, we decided that the Bisti Wilderness and possibly Angel Peak in northwestern New Mexico, with a mostly benign weather forecast was the best target for the balance of this trip. So instead of driving to cold Colorado (night temperatures in the 20s), I would drive directly to New Mexico and my son would meet me there, saving me much extra driving.
I briefly looked at a map and chose the shortest route from my location in Bandelier to Farmington, New Mexico. It was a simple route and looked so straight forward, that I did not bother with using a navigation system.
Setting out about mid morning, I began driving along scenic NM Route 4 through mountainous, national forest areas. Shortly after getting underway, it began to snow lightly, then more heavily in the higher elevations, where snow began to accumulate on the roadway and vehicle as the temperature dropped below freezing, requiring me to drive more slowly.
A snowy scene in Bandelier National Forest, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I passed a number of scenic, photogenic areas in the higher elevations, but there were no safe places to pull over. Even though the traffic was very light, I did encounter other vehicles, so I did not take any chances stopping on the roadway. As I got into the lower elevations, where the snow was not accumulating on the roadway, I noted high piles of accumulated snow, indicating how heavy the snowfall has been this year. I pulled out at one view area and took a couple of shots with my iPhone.
A snowy day along NM4 in Bandelier National Forest. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro 4. The numerous dark spots in this photo are caused by snow melt water drops on the iPhone lens.
The snow limited visibility, so one could see little from the view points.
A snow scene along NM4 in Bandelier National Forest. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I did not bother trying to remove the numerous spots caused by snow melt water drops on the iPhone lens from these photos.
I continued along, enjoying the scenic drive. I turned onto route 126 from route 4 at some little mountain community.
I turned onto route 126 from route 4 here.
Route 126 was a curvy, scenic paved roadway, but somewhere along the way, I saw a sign that indicated there was an unimproved, mountain roadway ahead. I had not noted that on my map, but I continued ahead, thinking I had nothing better to do than to check out this area. There were a number of national forest camping areas along both route 4 and route 126, which I made a mental note of for future possibilities.
A short cut that wasn’t. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Just after passing a state fish hatchery, I encountered a “Pavement Ends” sign and a barrier across the roadway. Even had this road been open, I would probably have turned back, since I had no idea of the condition of the unimproved portion of this road.
Route 126 was closed just past the fish hatchery, where the pavement ended.
I turned back here, going back to Route 4 and continued on to US 550 at San Ysidro.
Where I expected to intersect US 550 from NM 126.I planned to get to US 550 at Cuba. Instead, I ended up at San Ysidro.
Had I looked at my map a bit closer, I would have noted the non-paved portion of Route 126 or had I used a navigation system, I would have avoided this unnecessary detour, but I would have missed a scenic drive. So in the end, it was not a big deal. I later encountered someone that had driven the unimproved portion of Route 126 and they said it was a good road and I would have had no problem driving it, had it been open.
I continued onto Farmington via US 550, making a reservation in route for a room in a local motel, so that I could get a proper shower and one night in a big bed, before heading to Bisti, where there were no facilities and I would be staying for a number of days.
A view of the snow clouds over the mountains that I drove through. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Driving along US 550, I got good views of the snow clouds over the mountains that I had driven through. I then saw another storm front coming at me from the north. It is so wide open in this area, that one can see storm fronts from miles away. I drove through windy conditions, then pouring rain, then icy, slushy rain along this route. At some point, there was even enough slushy ice on my vehicle that I got a warning that my blind spot monitor was incapacitated. Other than that, the only other problem was that my anticipated night of rest in a soft bed did not occur. For some reason, I slept very poorly, even though the bed was soft and the crisp, clean sheets felt so good. Maybe I was too used to a more simple sleeping arrangement!
The third stop in my 2019 Spring road trip was Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico. This was mainly a convenient place to overnight on this trip, but I was, also, curious about this area. The camping area here is really nice with good restroom facilities, but no showers. The camp sites tend to be rather close to each other, but during my visit the area was almost empty with only a few scattered campers. This being my first visit, I stopped to chat with the camp site host, whom I spotted as I drove on an exploratory trip around one of the loops, all of which were open, even though the official website said some might not be open during the off season. The camp host suggested that I drive around, pick out several sites that I liked, then go to the self check in kiosk on the roadway just prior to the first loop. I did so, picking out a site with no one near it, but near a restroom. Most of the parking sites seemed to be at least slightly sloped, but not so much that it was uncomfortable, so I did not feel the need to try leveling my vehicle.
After setting up and having a late lunch, I headed out to the visitor center, which I arrived at just after the 5PM closing time, so I did not get inside there. There are a number of trails near the visitor center, so I picked up a trail guide outside the visitor entrance and decided to take a quick hike along the main trail.
Prior to this visit, there had been much snow in the area and the website said some trails were snowy and icy, so I brought along ice crampons for my hiking footwear. However, the snow and ice were all gone while I was there, so I still have new, unused crampons. I had received a weather notification of another spring storm heading this way with heavy snowfall expected over some areas.
Recent flooding had closed some areas and trails, all of which sounded more interesting than those that were open.
For landscape photography, I did not find this area of great interest, at least not on this visit. This is a beautiful forested (mostly evergreens) area, but a bit enclosed and confining for my inclinations. On my short hurried hike, I did not bother taking my DSLR and other gear, since I had no idea about what to expect.
Native American Ruins along the Main Trail in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are interesting Native American ruins here, so there is much of historical and archeological interest.
Kiva remains, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A Kiva and entrance, Bandelier NM. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Ladder access into a Native American Cave Shelter in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One is allowed to enter into any of the ancient dwelling with the ladders provided. The ladders are not ancient, of course.
An interior view of a Native American cave shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The ceilings of the cave dwellings are blackened by fires used by the ancient dwellers. There were remnants of log elements protruding from the ceiling in some of the caves with a few charred by fire. These do not appear to have been necessary for roofs, so I’m guessing they were used for other purposes, maybe for hanging pots for cooking or storage. There is probably more information about these dwellings on the park website.
Native American Cave Shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There were quite a few caves carved into the volcanic rock of the cliffside along the main trail.
Ruins as seen from the main trail along the cliff face, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are interesting rock shapes along the cliff side trail and good views of the ruins on the valley floor.
Native American ruins along a cliff face in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are holes in the cliff face, where roof supports were originally installed. Some of the shallow alcoves along the cliff face contain paintings or petroglyphs.
After leaving the visitor center area, I went back past the camping area to a parking area at the Frey trail head and walked along the trail for awhile. The portion of the trail I walked along, just prior to sunset, was mostly through a thinly forested area. At a high point along this trail, there were good view of snow covered mountain peaks and I paused for awhile to see what the sunset would be like.
Sunset Clouds in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.A dramatic sunset sky in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.
On this brief exploratory hike, I only had my iPhone camera with me, so the quality of the sunset photos are limited, but at least give one a sense of the possibilities here.
None of the photos in this post are published on my Flickr page, since I do not consider them of sufficient quality for sharing there (not to say that I have not ever published some poor quality photos on Flickr).
I will be away for a few days, so the next post may be delayed.
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.
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 about the Lost Horse Mine Trail with illustrations via iPhone photos.
A view of a portion of Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
In the early history of this area there were numerous mining operations, which have since been abandoned. Remnants of equipment and/or facilities remain at some of the mine sites. Hiking trails to the abandoned mines often follow the original roads made to access the mines.
Some of the equipment remaining at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Lost Horse Mine Trail is an easy trail about a 4 mile round trip and only 480 feet elevation gain from the parking lot to the mine site. One can do a longer version, resulting in about a 6 mile hike, climbing a steeper, narrower loop from the mine back to the parking area. A long interval of the trail is visible in the photo above.
A view of a portion of Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The trail is through a desert area with wide views of the local area with typical desert vegetation.
A blooming Yucca along Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A blooming Yucca along Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Bees were swarming around the Yucca blooms. Looking closely (maybe zoom in on the above photo) and at least one bee is visible on the left hand side of the bloom about half way down the photo. Another photo had more obvious bees in it, but I did not like that photo.
The remains of a winch at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
As in the first part about hiking in Joshua Tree NP, I’m including a couple of duplicate photos, except for the processing (color and monochrome). I like the monochrome treatment best here; but I would like to hear reader preferences.
The remains of a winch at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The old mill is largely intact, but it is fenced off, so one cannot get close enough to get detailed photos of the milling machinery.
Remains of a mill at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A view from Lost Horse Mine Trail near the mine area. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
If one looks very closely, a hiker is visible on the trail in the above photo. The hiker is on the right at the jog in the trail, where it appears to go from the wider close up to the narrow looking distant part.
As a reminder, all the photos in this post are via an iPhone. We elected not to carry our heavy DSLR gear along, since the lighting was not optimal at the time of day that we hiked this trail.
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 about the Contact Mine Trail with illustrations via iPhone photos.
The Contact Mine Trail is an easy one, with a gentle slope, gaining only 700 feet in just under two miles. As we hiked along the trail we began to notice a barrel type cactus with red spines.
A colorful California Barrel Cactus along the Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Later research revealed that this cactus is referred to by its obvious common name “California Barrel Cactus”. As we hiked along, it became obvious that this area had many of these attractive red cactus, some with yellow blooms. My iPhone shots of blooms near the bottom of one such cactus did not turn out well, so none are posted here. I have seen other images with blooms on the top, but I do not recall seeing any with blooms on the top and most did not have blooms.
A close up of the spines on a California Barrel Cactus along the Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
In the early history of this area there were numerous mining operations, which have since been abandoned. Remnants of equipment and or housing remain at some of the mine sites.
The Contact Mine Site has remains of old mining equipment, other rusty evidence of human activity and mine shafts that have been covered with steel cages to prevent people from entering.
The remains of an engine at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Neither of us carried our heavy camera gear on this hike and I shot a number of iPhone photos just to record the scenes and the experience. I’ve edited the iPhone (jpg) images with some minor adjustments in Adobe LR, followed by edits in Nik software.
Rusty engine at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I’m including duplicates of some images to show the variations between color edits and monochrome edits.
Remains of machinery at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty old mining equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Edits can bring out texture, contrasts and colors. I tend to like the monochrome versions better than the color versions. The monochrome versions depend mostly upon the composition, texture, contrast and shadows. While it is possible to manipulate the monochrome images in many ways to achieve artistic effects, these type edits just seem more appropriate to me, than the color software edits.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty engine components at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Color editing software can allow one to emulate the effects of the “Golden Light Hours” in photos taken outside these magical times of the day; but the emulation is never quite the same as the real light effects, getting into the more artistic edits of the images, about which there can be much philosophical discussion.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty mine equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I’m not getting into the debate over photo editing, since that is a subjective matter. I used to be of the opinion that one could only get good images during the Golden Light Hours of sunrise or sunset and, while I prefer to photograph during those magic light hours, sometimes it is not possible to do so. Rather than pass up photographic opportunities in places, where I know I will never be during the golden light hours, I’ve reconciled to working with whatever light I have at the time, then editing to get an image that I find pleasing from an artistic point of view.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty gear at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I do still feel that the color editing is more unreal than the monochrome edits; but maybe that is just because monochrome images have been in existence in photography for many more years and we study the works of the early pioneers in photography, whose work was entirely in monochrome.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty mine equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Anyway, the early photographers manipulated the monochrome images in the dark room, just as modern digital photographers manipulate the images via computer software.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty gear box at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I would like to hear readers’ opinions on this matter as well as critiques of any of my images (composition and/or edits).
Beaver Tail Prickly Pear in bloom, Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Remains of a winch at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Remains of a winch at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Equipment remains at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Contact Mine winch remains, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Old mine cart rails at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A final note: I reverted to an older version of the WordPress editor for this post, since I could find no way to insert links into photos with the “improved” editor. Verifying that the links were correct, even with the classic editor, proved more awkward than previously. Please let me know if links do not work or are not correct.
