Random Desert Post

To be strange in the desert comes naturally I think. At moments it can seem that no path exists and the options while trekking across the eroded sandstone or slogging through the gravel washes become diluted by the never reaching horizons.

Any involvement of free will, should it exist, would have us asking ourselves why here, out among these forgotten vistas should we dive headfirst into the uselessness of “why”. Landscapes in the breezy desert call us to forgive for a moment the “how” of the situation. It is obvious “how” to get from creosote to yucca or ridge to wash. So obvious in fact, that in retrospect, most of my plunders of space involve a hurried measure. As if at the end of my push into the desert there awaits a triumphant fate.

Tragedy or triumph, life sits as quietly here as the passing of the shadows of clouds. This only serves to build paranoia in ones self as they wander, listening intently should something finally break. Further, it becomes insistent upon itself, gradually attending to the ringing of ears and exaggerating the slightest of movements. The conscious thought of it brings only more deafening mania.

Abnormal states of mind are also brought about with distance. Formal introductions seem strangely appropriate should one come upon a particularly colorful rock or curious desert creature. In these introductions I can’t help but feel embarrassed for the awkwardness of my approach. The loafing of my feet, as if this should matter, plays ritual among the white burrobush and pincushion cactus.  And within this useless canter, avoidance is paramount in fighting off the demons who claim I am damned to say it matters.

So with great rear facing absurdity I stumble off the edges of civilized constraints out into the desert, seeking out more than the conclusion of trivial matters such as “how”. Towering overhead with its perfection of process. Eating away at the spiritual manner in which our brain functions. So that with time should I come to realize it does not matter “why”, I can perhaps gracefully lose interest in these pursuits. But until then, it has and should seem to always be the unanswerable and useless “why” that brings me to reach out for distant locales.

In this blog, I intend to strive for the improvement of a question. To adorn the “why” and to exaggerate the pursuit through the use of photographic and textual daydreaming. Since, as is always the case, it is the journey not the destination that defines us.

As I am new to blogging I do have quite a bit of back story. Below is a display of some of my better photos prior to the beginning of this blog…

La Madre Range Rainbow

Sevier River, UT.

Bowl of Fire. Lake Mead Recreation Area.

Kaiser Hot Springs, AZ.

North Peak. Lake Mead Recreation Area.

North Peak. Lake Mead Recreation Area, NV.

Raven. Petrified Forest National Park, AZ.

Death Valley Bloom of 2010

Death Valley Bloom 2010.

Lower Lost Creek Falls. Red Rock Canyon NCA.

My son Ash and I on our way to an early morning hike in Red Rock.

Fresh Snow Melt in Zion National Park.

Fresh Snowfall Along the Highway in Zion National Park, UT.

Fresh Snow Melt in Zion National Park, UT.

Sunrise on the Santa Rosa Plateau in Southern California.

Red Rock Canyon NCA.

On the 13 Mile Loop in Red Rock Canyon NCA.

Fall on the South Loop in Spring Mountains, NV.

Fall in the Spring Mountains, NV.

Finger Canyons. Zion National Park, UT.

Kolob Terrace. Zion National Park, UT.

Aaron and Ash in Pine Creek, UT.

Tushar Mountains, UT.

Mammoth Creek, UT.

Thanks a bunch for reading my blog! In my next post I intended to address the idea of building a connector trail from the Spring Mountains to Red Rock Canyon NCA.

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