Tag Archives: plants

Dry Mud Formations, Death Valley Dunes, Mount Tucki

Dry Mud Formations, Death Valley Dunes, Mount Tucki

Dry Mud Formations, Death Valley Dunes, Mount Tucki. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dry mud formations at Death Valley Dunes near Stovepipe Wells, with Mount Tucki in the distance.

I came across this scene after I had pretty much finished my morning shoot of the dunes and was starting to head back to my car. These formations are found in the lower areas around the dunes – suggesting to me that they may underly a good portion of the dune area. Mount Tucki, in the distance, it a high point that dominates the landscape behind Stovepipe Wells.

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Dawn, Near Death Valley Dunes

Dawn, Near Death Valley Dunes

Dawn, Near Death Valley Dunes. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on dried and cracked desert surface near Death Valley Dunes, with the Funeral Mountains in the distance. This photograph was made more or less from behind the dunes, as approached from the Stovepipe Wells direction.

Yet another “dawn behind the dunes” photograph from my April 2008 visit to the Valley. These old cracked mud formations are found in the low areas around the dunes and provide an interesting contrast to the rippled formations of the sand, especially when low angle light brings out the textures.

keywords: death valley, national park, dunes, dry, cracked, earth, mud, sand, dawn, sunrise, morning, plants, desert, sky, clouds, mountains, funeral, amargosa, california, usa, stovepipe wells, scenic, landscape, travel, stock

Oak, Sky, and Sun

Oak, Sky, and Sun
Oak, Sky, and Sun. Calero Hills, California. April 13, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun rises above an oak tree on a grassy ridge in central California.

This is from one of the local oak/grassland areas that I visit regularly – hardly a week goes by when I don’t head over there and hike past this very spot in all seasons and all conditions. On this early spring morning the sun was just above the hillside to my east and the solitary oak was casting a long shadow across the slope of this grassy hill. (There is also a black and white version of this photograph that I like quite a bit.)

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Death Valley Dunes, Sunrise

Death Valley Dunes, Sunrise

Death Valley Dunes, Sunrise. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunrise at the Death Valley Dunes with the Funeral Mountains in the distance.

This was shot at about the same time as the photograph I posted yesterday, also right an sunrise and in a location “behind” the dunes from the perspective of the nearby highway.

keywords: sunrise, dawn, death valley, national park, dunes, sand, plants, flowers, wildflowers, funeral, mountains, amargosa, california, usa, scenic, travel, landscape, stock, usa, stovepipe, wells