This morning I took my missus up on an offer for some time out by myself, and took off at 5:30 on the quad bike into the desert north of the house. The destination was the top of a mesa I have never yet been on, so finding my way up was easy till it was time to turn out the familiar wash and up to the left on unfamiliar trails and sand embankments that lead up a couple of hundred feet onto the mesa top.
Once up there I enjoyed the rising sun and took photos till it was daylight! It was quiet and peaceful, and definitely a moment to enjoy to the fullest! After the sun came up, and I was satisfied that I had all of the photos I wanted of Moapa Valley, I explored the rest of the top of the mesa all the way to its north end.
After the mesa, I took off up one of the washes, and really went out into the wilds. This photo is from the top of the Mormon Mesa, overlooking one of the washes I explored.
After the explore on the wash, I shot back across to the little mesa further north of the first one I had gone on. The little mesa is so small and has so much sand blown over it that it looks from the bottom like it is just a big sand dune, but once on top it is easy to see that it truly is a mesa with a flat stone top! I would very much like to go camping up there!
I pretended that I was Ansel Adams, though I don’t think it quite worked out. Still, it was fun, and I got some photos that I am pretty happy with, even though it would have been easy to look around and NOT find my muse. I am actually really fortunate in that way as I can photograph really just about anything and be happy.
AS you can see, it clouded over pretty good, so the light ended up being a lot less dramatic, but the photos are low contrast, and that suites me just fine! I rounded out the day after the small mesa by having a bit of fun on the sand, and all the way home. But I cannot photograph myself playing on the quad bike, so there are no pictures of that!
Wishing you well!
Kelsey J Bacon
Logandale, NV