March 30, 2008
Returned from successful and most enjoyable Spring Break trip through the Mojave Desert to the Colorado Plateau region around Page. I left home in Irvine as an Alaskan storm swept down, so I decided to dally in the low desert for a couple of days to let it pass before heading on to Utah. Amboy crater provided some nice flower displays of sand verbena and desert gold, and later that day after climbing in 50 mph winds to the top of the Kelso dunes I was rewarded by a dramatic sunset as the sun emerged on the horizon below storm clouds.
My next intended destination was the remote Toroweap section of the Grand Canyon. The storm was still in full spate when I arrived at the beginning of the 60 mile dirt road leading from Pipe Springs to Toroweap, and the drive was a fun 4WD slither through the mud. Stars were showing clear when I poked my head out of an ice-encrusted sleeping bag next morning, but a stubborn bank of clouds remained in the East, so the sunrise was less than I had hoped for. Nevertheless, the clouds added interest to the sky, and nicely mirrored the line of the Colorado to the West.
This was all a prelude to my main objective for the trip; to visit the White Pocket - a remote region within the Vermillion Cliffs Natl. Monument that has only recently been 'discovered' by photographers. Unlike the neighboring Coyote Buttes there is (as yet) no permit system restricting acccess to the White Pocket, but visitation is nevertheless severely limited by difficulty of access. The area is about 36 miles from the nearast paved roads, across deep sandy trails that are notorious for bogging down even well-equipped 4WD vehicles. In that regard, the timing of the strom was fortuitous, with snow melt nicely dampening and firming up the sand, so that I experienced no difficulties when driving in via Corral Valley and Poverty Flat. (Acess description HERE). Moreover, the storm left behind crystal-clear blue skies, and filled myriad rainwater pools in the sandstone. Most of the two days I spent at White pocket were spent scouting out alignments of light and colorful sandstone swirls that would provide optimal reflections in the pools.
The next night was close to full moon, so I detoured to Alstrom Point for shots of moonrise reflections in Lake Powell - though this is becoming increasingly difficult with the continuing dramatic fall in water level (e.g. compare photos of emergent island and Gunsight Butte reflection below taken in 2006 and 2008).
Emergent islands; 2008 |
Emergent island; 2006
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Last, a visit to Antelope Canyon; somewhere I had been avoiding for years on the basis that it is overrun with tourists, and already the subject of thousands of cliched photographs. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. On a cold, slightyl overcast March morning there were only a hanful of cars in the parking lot for Lower Antelope. And, it was great fun squinting through the viewfinder at odd angles with a severely cricked neck trying to frame abstract rock swirls indirectly illuminated by the reflected glow of sunlight on the opposite walls of the canyon.
Pleas visit Mojave Desert, Grand Canyon, White Pocket, Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon galleries to view more images from this trip, and to download full-resolution original files.
March 13, 2008
Finished uploading files from mid-February trip to Yosemite to catch the Yosemite 'firefall'. Leaving Saturday for a trip to Utah/Arizona. Hope to visit the White Pocket if the sandy road in is passable in 4WD. Forecast is for some rain early in the week, so may go look for desert wildflowers on the way. Selection of Yosemite photos below. And see Photo of the Month for an account of stalking the 'firefall'.
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