Exploring the Desert Southwest in Winter
The desert Southwest is home to many incredible sights, some well known and others off the beaten path. I took an all-too-short week-long road trip to visit, hike, and photograph some of these spots. Here are some highlights to help inspire your own adventures.
Arches National Park: Sunrise at the North Window
Far from a unique composition, but still a beautiful one, there is a small ledge with enough room for one tripod on the far side of the North Window. With a wide angle lens you can perfectly frame Turret Arch on the other side through the North Window, and at sunrise, the sandstone glows a brilliant orange-red. It was a little crowded on Christmas morning, but everyone was friendly and we took turns on the ledge so everyone was happy.
Abstract Landscapes Near Moab: Potash Ponds
For something a little more unique, I drove over to the potash evaporation ponds and waited until the lighting was right to fly over and capture some more abstract images. I really like the bold, well-defined lines and shapes. They make for some unique images.
Canyonlands National Park: Green River Overlook at Sunrise
There's a ledge in Canyonlands that juts out over an enormous cliff with a sheer drop off of several thousand feet. I had seen a selfies taken there, so naturally I wanted in. After scouting out the spot the day before, I went over before sunrise. It was totally overcast with strong winds and blowing snow, so I was pessimistic about getting anything, but went anyway. I sat in the car for a while feeling the wind rocking it slightly, thinking that I should have just stayed in bed and caught up on sleep. Eventually I got out, anxiously anchored my camera and tripod on the side of a cliff with the biggest rock I could find, and went out to the ledge, just as the sunrise started to break through. The lighting was great, but the wind was relentless!
False Kiva at Sunset
A mostly unmarked but clearly well-traveled path in Canyonlands leads you to False Kiva, a remarkable kiva (ancient ceremonial place) inside a naturally occurring shallow cave in a cliff. Though there are cairns, I wouldn't recommend attempting the hike without a GPS map. And the scramble at the end is not too long or technical, but does require hands and feet at times. I passed a few people on the way in, but was alone in the cave for sunset - a magical time as I contemplated life there centuries ago.
Moonrise Over the Organ
Had a late night trying to shoot the moonrise over the Organ in Arches. There is an area of slickrock with many very small, very shallow pools that make for excellent reflections after recent rain/snow. Was originally going to go to Mesa Arch the following morning for sunrise, but as that spot is always, 100% of the time crowded, I opted to come back to the same area and try to shoot sunrise here. Unfortunately the sun never broke through. Mesa Arch is cool, iconic, and a beautiful composition, but it is so overdone and unoriginal.
Raplee Anticline Near Mexican Hat
Right near Mexican Hat is a very unique geologic formation known as the Raplee Anticline. Did you ever make sand art in a bottle when you were a kid? It kind of looks like that, only at a massive scale. Really unique zig-zags and exposed sedimentary layers. It was still very overcast so the lighting was completely flat for sunset. While it wasn't as brilliantly colored as I had hoped for, it was instead richly saturated with even toned light.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
I had originally planned to camp at Goosenecks State Park, but the overcast weather was an incoming winter weather system that made it very cold and windy, and brought with it heavy clouds and poor lighting. Could have been dramatic conditions, but the lighting looked to be way too dull. So instead I headed over to Great Sand Dunes National Park, where strong winds were forecasted.
Winter Storm Over the Mountain Pass
Unfortunately I didn't check my route ahead of time and ended up going the worst possible way over a mountain pass in white out blizzard conditions. Not fun. Actually pretty dangerous with big rigs going full speed ahead too. Finally made it to the Dunes, with the wind howling. I was excited to maybe catch some dramatic wind-swept sand dunes for sunrise. Naturally, of course, the wind died down just in time for sunrise.
New Mexico’s Alien Landscapes: Valley of Dreams
Shiprock After Snow
I awoke to a fresh layer of light snow and went straight to Shiprock. I wasn't sure what conditions to expect there. The snow system was directly over part of the Shiprock land area, but was moving quickly. It was windy, so I had to wait for it to clear a bit before sending up the drone. I really liked the contrast of the white snow against the deep burned orange sandstone.
The Bisti Badlands at Sunset + Sunrise
Talk about an area where the compositions are limited only by your imagination. This place is wild, and huge! I hiked around nearly 15-20 miles with sunset and sunrise and only explored a tiny fraction of what there is to see. Many, many formations, some not easy to find and none of them marked. There's really no defined trail other than the washes, so GPS navigation is essential here.
Central Utah’s Otherworldly Terrain: The Spire
Took me a little while to find this spot, which looks like it’s straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s even a second spire nearby too, for those who are interested. Probably makes for some great climbing.
Factory Butte in a Winter Storm
Camped by Factory Butte for a night as another winter storm system came through. Was too windy to even pitch a tent for most of the night, so had to hunker down in the car. The wind did eventually die down and though there was no real sunrise to speak of in the morning, the clouds were dramatic and allowed for some moody drone images of Factory Butte and the surrounding badlands.
Fishlake National Forest and Pando
With the winter storm that had just passed through, I figured I'd head over to the other side of Capitol Reef NP, to Fishlake NF, home to the world's largest living organism: Pando, the aspen grove. I had never been before, and discovered that the road there is at higher elevation and was buried under several feet of new snow. I drove slowly around the nearby highway for an hour or two, seeing what was around there. By the time I was heading back, they had already plowed part of the road, so I went up to take a look. Did my best to stay far out of the way of the plow drivers but at least one of them didn't like that I was there at all. Sorry? Anyway, too much snow to explore by foot without snowshoes, but still some beautiful scenes from the road.
Mars Desert Research Station Near Hanksville, Utah
Stopped by "Mars" for a sunset hike and drone flight. Some incredibly weird and unique psychedelic patterns in the rocks all around here. What kind of geologic processes gave rise to this!?
Moonscape Overlook at Sunrise
Quick sunrise visit to the Moonscape Overlook near Factory Butte. Several different compositions and angles. There's one that has a natural ledge/pedestal wide enough (barely) for one person, with steep drop offs on all sides. Makes for a dramatic portrait/selfie!
