Can You Feel the Heat?

To me, this photo says "hot"! Maybe because I was there... I took the photo, and it was 103 degrees.  A little too warm to be wandering around the desert taking photos. I set my camera on a rock on the ground for this shot. Those are the Sheep Hole Mountains in the background. I like the sun flare and the blue sky. Linking to Skywatch Friday. Click on the link to check out great skies from around the world!!

A few more pics I want to share from out desert trip two weekends ago...

Self portrait... shadow on Highway 62, iPhone photo.

Balancing rock in b&w

Great rock formations in this area. I added a texture to give it some additional grit.

Other-worldly rock formations

Heading home (west) through Wonder Valley, couldn't resist a quick shot of a desert homestead. Have a wonderful weekend, and take lots of photos!

No Country for Old Men

Movie description:  Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter notices abandoned vehicles in a remote desert location and stumbles upon dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash...


We're thirty-five miles east of 29 Palms... going north parallel to the Sheep Hole Mountains... another 30 minutes on a Jeep trail... 103 degrees. We find a trail and wonder where it leads, so we follow it. At the end of the trail is a rusted-out, shot-up 2WD sedan that should have never been driven out here in the first place!

I'm busy taking pictures of this old heap from various angles. It's been used and abused extensively for target practice, with some large caliber holes in the body along with shotgun spray.

The term "shot to hell" comes to mind...

I hear my wife calling me, a slight urgency in her voice. She points out a late-model SUV down in the adjacent wash that I hadn't noticed. That's strange...

My first thought... perhaps a family out exploring or rock hunting? I call out loudly "Is anyone there"? No answer. My wife says "this is creepy" and "I think we should go". As we look more closely, I see no sign of tire tracks leading to the vehicle. It's been parked there for weeks, maybe even months. But it's much too nice of a car to be abandoned. I tell my wife I want to go take a look. She says "What movie does this remind you of" and I think instantly of No Country for Old Men, which we had watched recently. My wife complains that I make her watch too many scary movies that take place in remote desert locations!

I approach cautiously... thankfully no dead body or stash of heroin. No violence or mayhem ensue. Clear signs of vandalism, but a nice vehicle none-the-less, with leather seats, sun roof, all the bells and whistles. I find a Palm Springs golf resort brochure, golf tees and spare change in the center console. Package of cigarettes and chewing gum in the door. License plates are gone. Very strange that this expensive car was not winched out by the authorities or an insurance company as it's worth a lot of money if just for it's parts. And like the rusted-out, shot-up old car above the wash, this new addition to desert decay had absolutely no business being driven to this location. Perhaps is was stolen? Some kid taking the family car out for a joy ride? If so, they sure managed to end up in an incredibly remote location!


Back home, my wife calls the local police to report what we have found. Because of the remote location, they refer us to the Highway Patrol. The lady on the other end of the phone seems only slightly interested in gathering the information and abruptly asks "Are you saying it's not on a paved road? Our vehicles can't get to remote off-road locations!". Really? Well, OK. Not sure what happens when crimes are committed in unpaved areas (which is the vast majority of the desert!). Anyway, we've done all we can do to report it. They mystery of the abandoned late-model SUV continues!!

Linking to Sliders Sunday and 

Hope your weekend was a great one!

Shaded Hills

I've always liked landscape photos that show hills or mountain ranges with varying shades as they fade off in the distance. I have a taste of that in my header photo, and some of the photos I took last weekend in the desert show this same effect. I used a telephoto lens to accentuate the effect. The further away the hills are, the lighter and softer they get.

All the same photo, just edited to create different shades.

Linking to Skywatch Friday and  

Enjoy the upcoming weekend!

Across the Street from Mr. Wiesner's Store

As if Mr. Wiesner's abandoned store way out in the middle of the desert wasn't strange enough, here's what you see looking directly across Highway 62 on the other side of the street.

Quite a view, eh? A larger-than-life rendition of the flag-planting on Iwo Jima. A pretty good likeness, too. Here's the US Postage stamp, 1945 issue, for comparison purposes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwo_Jima

There's also a large military vehicle and trailer right next to the flag-planters. All combined, it creates a powerful image!

Another view of the military truck in b&w with the lonely desert hills in the background. Maybe this little outpost makes more sense when you realize the location... about 35 miles from the 29 Palms Marine Base. Even so, it seems very surreal to see this scene, so far out in the desert, virtually in the middle of nowhere, as you're driving along on Highway 62! Oh, and it might have brought a few extra customers into Mr. Wiesner's store.