Fire Cave and Fire Wave, Seven Sisters, Beehives, White Domes, Rainbow Visa, Mouse's Tank . . . This place is the most unusual place I have photographed. Multi-colored sandstone, rock formations that appear more like extruded rock mixtures that then hardened, caves, balanced rocks that intimidate as you walk below them, and then more and more! Move over White Sands, this girl has a new favorite!!
Another interpretation of Windstone Arch.
Another cave/arch opportunity close to Windstone Arch.
In order for this to work for me I ended up cropping much more than I would have liked. I moved to avoid the overhang that Rick shows in the upper left. There is not much room to move your camera around. This cave was not big enough to crawl into so we were challenged to shoot from a slit in the end.
Another interpretation.
Greg in a tight space!!
Peek a boo!! Rick trying to concentrate while hounded by the paparazzi!!
This is Three Fins, another formation located in the area of Windstone Arch.
Located along White Domes Trail.
Not all arches are in caves. This is Arch Rock. Our reference said that the best way to photograph this arch was to stand in the middle of the road. Yikes. At least traffic volume is very small along the road and we watched out for each other. Reason? You can see a darker rock behind the arch in the upper right. To get a clean open shot through the arch you have to . . . well stand in the middle of the road!
Rick's interpretation.
This is the backside of Arch Rock.
This is the back side of Arch Rock taken by Rick walking much further back and climbing up on a mound of rock.
What follows are a group of photos that give you an idea of what it might be like to just walk around in this magical place. I will post more specific areas, such as Fire Wave in the next post.
This image was first posted in the Challenge section. Ann explains this is what happens to your feet when your climb on too many rocks in one day!!
In full Golden Hour bloom!!
I was surprised that there were so few birds in the area. There are so many great nesting condominiums. I suspect it is because the surrounding desert is very harsh with little to support many birds.
That is Tom in the background.
This is Tom's.
Barbara can get 'different' shot!
Sunsets were 'mild' by Phoenix standards but gave an even more surreal look to a place that was already unreal enough.
More to come in tomorrow's post. We all hope you have enjoyed the images.