The real Zabriskie Point, a pet peeve

It's a pet peeve of ours that we often see photos of the Zabriskie Badlands and Manly Beacon labeled as Zabriskie Point, which is the viewpoint that the photographer is standing on, not what the viewer is seeing in the photo.  In a way, we can understand why it happens.  You look out across the maze of ridges and gullies of these badlands with no apparent named peak and it can be hard to name what you're seeing.  Also, the general store in Furnace Creek sells souvenirs with images of Manly Beacon on them and they're labeled "Zabriskie Point," so, again, it's understandable.

But consider this.  As a photographer, would you go to Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, take a photo of Half Dome and label that photo "Glacier Point."  You would likely name it Half Dome after the distinctive feature in the picture.  The Zabriskie Badlands have a distinctive feature, though admittedly not as distinctive as Half Dome, and it's Manly Beacon.  But if your photo from Zabriskie Point doesn't include Manly Beacon, then it's probably of Gower Gulch and the Zabriskie Badlands and should say so.

The above two photos show the actual Zabriskie Point.  Zabriskie Point is in the upper left atop a steeply sloped hill.  And then Gower Gulch and part of the Zabriskie Badlands make up the rest of the photos.

The panorama below is of the Zabriskie Badlands taken from Zabriskie Point.

 The final photo is a 30 second nighttime exposure showing Manly Beacon, the only widely-known named feature in the Zabriskie Badlands.  Many photos labeled Zabriskie Point feature Manly Beacon, named after William Manly, an early Death Valley guide.  This feature is the high point just left of center.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Red-eared slider, turtle basking on a log in the American River

 

In the Sacramento area, we love visiting the American River that flows right through the city and joins the Sacramento River just north of the historic Old Sacramento. It's amazing how much wildlife we see inside the city limits. Here we saw turtles that are not native to California, the red-eared slider. A group of the turtles were basking on a log as we were canoeing nearby. The turtles noticed us and were acting a little more alert as we got the cameras out.

Canon PowerShot 530HS, ISO 400, 215mm focal length, 1/250 sec, f8

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

El Capitan just after sunset, Yosemite National Park, California

El Capitan reflected in the Merced River in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park. This picture was taken just after sunset with calm winds. We spent the afternoon cross-country skiing out of Badger Pass and went through part of the valley on our way out of the park. Right now, everyone has to leave the park by 5PM.

Settings were f1.7, 1/33 sec, ISO 244, 4.74mm, in a Motorola z4 smartphone.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

 

Desert Bighorn Sheep on the "throne" at Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

 

During our December 2020 visit to Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, we got nice long looks at desert bighorn sheep. This ram was resting on this red sandstone slope by itself. The other three rams were resting below the slope on the ground. The ram sometimes chewed a little bit and seemed content with his position. After we were there for over 10 minutes, the other rams and the main one got together and ambled off to the west in the direction of the local herd of females.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California

This is Mobius Arch from the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California.  Bob took this photo after sunset and Lone Pine Peak is the highest peak visible through the opening of the arch.  Bob hiked along the Arch Loop Trail to visit the arch, but didn't get to finish the loop since the sun was setting.  This was during a trip during the week of Thanksgiving 2020.  He'll just have to go back.

We've known about and seen photos of this arch for a long time, but for Bob to see it in the lithos, so to speak, was quite stunning.  We haven't found any specific details about its dimensions, but a couple of web sites indicated that the opening is about 6 and a half feet tall and spans 7 feet.  We'll have to double check that next time we're there.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Desert bighorn ram at Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

 During our recent visit to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, we saw a small group of desert bighorn rams hanging out in the Beehives Area of the park.  This ram was lounging on top of one of the rock formations chewing his cud.  This photo caught him in mid-chew.  Three other rams were lying low near the base of this rock formation.  Eventually after their cud had been sufficiently masticated, they got up and headed out into the brush to graze on what grasses they could find.

After this ram went back out to graze, Bob examined this formation for arches and found a very unusual sliver of an arch, which you can see in the second photo.  The opening is barely a few inches high.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Is this arch a "Thing?"

 

On our last day of visiting Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, we hiked the Natural Arch Trail looking for a fallen arch and for an arch that a map that we bought in the park's visitor center called Thing Arch.  The park staff told us that they only name two of the park's arches, Arch Rock in the campground area and Natural Arch, which gave this trail its name, but which collapsed in 2010.  In any case, the map that we referred to showed a Thing Arch across the wash from where the collapsed arch was and we looked for it during our hike.  We think this is the Thing.  It's a fragile looking rock span in Aztec Sandstone.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Hinkey Summit Arch, Nevada, looking down through the arch

 

This is a natural arch in Nevada that you're looking down through to the road below. This is Hinkey Summit. We were able to follow a short side road off of the main dirt road in order to get above the opening. Rick drove from the main road up the side road while Bob hiked up to the arch from the main road and met Rick after scrambling through the opening.

Here's Bob standing at the base of the arch looking up through it. Later on, he scrambled up through the opening and met Rick on the upper side.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

A female Great tailed Grackle at Boulder Beach Campground, Lake Mead National Recreation Area

 

Bob was on a trip through the southwestern desert when he stayed at the Boulder Beach Campground of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.  Every morning and evening the great tailed grackles would fly through the campground foraging or looking for a place to roost or whatever.  They are very noisy, boisterous birds with a variety of calls.  He eventually managed to photograph this female as it perched on a creosote bush branch.

This was shot with a 400mm zoom lens and then heavily cropped to bring out the details of this bird.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

A small waterfall and natural bridge in the Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park, California

 This is the Tuolumne River near the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and is along the John Muir Trail.  This feature is called the Green Pool.  The river flows over this small waterfall and into a pool that is some 8 to 10 feet deep at its deepest.  The granite arm along the right edge of the photo actually forms a natural bridge.  Notice the rocky streambed and the opening in this granite arm in the lower left of center in the second photo.  This is the third natural rock span that we know of in Yosemite National Park.  We've posted photos of those other rock spans earlier in our photo gallery.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Aspen trees changing to their Fall wardrobe in Hope Valley, California

 

A bit of fall color in Hope Valley, California.  These are the changing leaves of aspen trees near the junction of Highways 88 and 89 south of Lake Tahoe.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, chunks of calcium carbonate sticking out

 Mammoth Hot Springs is sometimes called a mountain turning itself inside out. Hot water deep underground dissolves calcium where it combines with carbon dioxide to make calcium carbonate. Once that solution comes to the surface, the water evaporates and the remaining water cools, resulting in the mineral being deposited into flowing shapes. Calcium carbonate is also the mineral that cave features like stalagmites and stalactites are made of and the white powdery substance you can see in your kitchen sink.

In this photo, you can see some of the flowing shapes have broken off and are lying across the terraces at odd angles. One of the chunks at the upper left appears to be almost completely upside down, with "fingers" of calcium carbonate sticking up. The colors in the white calcium carbonate come from bacteria and algae growing in the warm water. A reddish tinge can also be a sign that iron is mixed in. We were on a boardwalk that leads down from the top of a hill to get in position for this shot. f/8, 1/800 sec, 55 mm, Canon Powershot SX530 HS.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Illilouette Fall as seen from Sierra Point in Yosemite National Park

 

This is a view of Illilouette Fall from the Sierra Point viewpoint in Yosemite National Park.  See our YouTube video about Sierra Point and how to get there.  You can also get a similar view of this waterfall from the Mist Trail hiking from the Happy Isles Nature Center to Vernal Falls.

The canyon that this waterfall falls into runs roughly south to north and is a relatively short boulder-strewn gorge before Illilouette Creek flows into the Merced River after that river flows over Nevada and Vernal Falls.  This photo was taken in June 2016 when snowmelt had swollen the creek's flow.

Remember, it's a story, not just a picture.