White Pocket in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument was easily the coolest, most fascinating location that I visited on my trip. I was blown away by the unique geology of this place. Everywhere I looked I found interesting photo compositions. Watching the sunset here and seeing the light change over the landscape was an unforgettable experience.
I've been seeing a lot of Ruffed Grouse lately but most of them scurry into the woods so quickly I haven't been able to get any decent photos. Yesterday I came across one that stuck around in the road for a while and didn't seem to mind his picture being taken. There must have been another one nearby but this is the only one I ever saw.
The sky in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument blew me away. The stars were SO big and SO bright that night, it was hard to comprehend. It got me thinking about a podcast I had listened to where the interviewee was the famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (if you've never listened to his StarTalk podcast, give it a try... I love it). Neil is not only incredibly intelligent, but he's also funny and he's not afraid to listen to other points of view and to admit that there is a LOT that he DOESN'T know.
In this interview, Neil was talking about how scientists who study space often get the question "What was around before the Big Bang?" and how his answer to that is ".... I dunno." And then they will invariably say "Well there had to be something!" To which Neil replies "I dunno. Maybe there was something, but we don't know. We're working on it."
This discussion led to the following statement from Neil, which I think is interesting to ponder:
"As the area of our knowledge grows, so too does the perimeter of our ignorance. Here's a prevailing problem in society: Knowing enough to think you're right, but not knowing enough to know that you're wrong."
I think about that often when I'm sitting outside at night gazing up at the sky. The night sky to me is a thing of infinite wonder and curiosity. And I hope I never get to that point where I think I know everything about something. Because if I do, that would likely mean that the sense of wonder and curiosity about that something is gone. And I don't ever want to lose that.
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge... what a magical place at night. Special during the day as well, but even more so at night. It was so quiet I could easily hear the kangaroo mice scurrying around the desert floor as I made these photos. When I'm in the desert I have a hard time deciding on locations to shoot at night. Mostly because there are so many possibilities. Probably my favorite location in Kofa were the Cholla fields. I have never seen so many Cholla as I did in Kofa. And I love how they're lurking there in the shadows underneath the stars, framed by mountains in the distance.
I've really come to like Ocotillo as well. It's one of my favorite desert plants. Every time I see them I smile. Maybe it's because they're a little bigger than most of the desert plant life, always reaching high for the sky as if they too want to touch the stars. I think I could easily spend a lifetime exploring the desert and never get bored...
Route 66 in Arizona between Seligman and Peach Springs. It sure was a beautiful day for a drive along this iconic stretch of road back in early March! Traffic was so light I was able to easily stop in the road, get out and take a few photos. I could see several miles in each direction and there wasn't a single other vehicle in sight.
92 minute exposure of the night sky over Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. My happy places... my Jeep, the desert and the night sky.
The more time that I spend in the desert, the more I love it. Don't get me wrong, I love the north woods and I always will. The deep woods of northern Minnesota will always be my one true center. The desert is a very close second though. There is a peacefulness that I feel out in the huge, wide-open spaces of the desert that I don't feel anywhere else. It's not any "better" or stronger" than the peacefulness that I feel here at home, it's just... different. I don't even know that I can fully explain it.
I know the desert isn't for everyone. It wasn't for me at first either. It's taken several trips over the last 15 years for me to start fully appreciating it. But now it's a part of me. It is the one place where I can most easily be in the moment and not let anything else creep into my thoughts, distract me or bother me. Of course, the fact that I'm on vacation when I'm in the desert might have something to do with that too. But, when I'm out there... I know I'm right where I need to be and nothing else matters in that moment.
"Nothing every really 'happens', we're just here in the center of it all." -Jack Kornfield
The sunsets and sunrises were pretty magnificent when I was in Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona back at the beginning of March. I was about 50 miles or more from the nearest paved road when I made these photos. Dispersed camping is allowed just about anywhere in Kofa as long as you're camping in an area that has already been disturbed. I chose a nice spot not far off the dirt road that had a nice mountain view to the West and a fairly flat view to the East. Cholla cactus were abundant on both sides of the road. I was hoping for a nice sunset and sunrise but had no idea just how much the sky would light up when those times arrived!
