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Saturday, April 7, 2018

A few of my favorite things about camping in the desert

One of the things that I love most about the Utah desert is the breathtaking rock formations. The Runner and I often joke that if our hometowns had featured just one rock like the thousands that we see in Utah, a state park would have been declared to protect the rock.

The hardest part of conveying the beauty of these rocks is figuring out how to simplify the photo so that it doesn't look like one huge jumble of rocks. I tried hard to do this during our trip, and I'll show you examples over the coming days. This is the first example. This rock is bigger than an SUV, and you can see pillars of rock in the background. The pillars and this rock perched on a smaller one are both gorgeous.
The beauty of the Utah desert never ceases to amaze me.

I think that Shyla is surprised by the odd shapes of rocks that I find for her to clamber on.

The hard part for her is the boots that are indispensable for protecting her paws. The boots throw her off so much that she isn't as sure-footed as usual, and she forgets many of the things that I've trained her to do. "Take a bow" is an example. It took me about 10 minutes to get her into this position. Usually, she loves taking a bow and offers it without me asking.

Another of my favorite things about desert camping is how in touch I am with the moon phase and the stars. Until this trip, I didn't know that there's a long period in the winter when the Milky Way isn't visible in the Northern Hemisphere. It was just making its annual return to view during our trip. I took this photo just before sunrise, which is the only time when you can see it at this time of year.
Those are a few of my favorite parts of camping in the Utah desert. I can't wait to go back again!

14 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    gobsmackingly gorgeous! I love your project of photographing rocks... looking forward to the results. YAM xx

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  2. Awwwww, the desert. My favorite has always been the red, red rocks, and the blue, blue sky. And I have so many fun memories camping in that area with my boys when they were younger.

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  3. The rock formations are so cool but I'd love to see that many stars just once!

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  4. thanks for my viewing of the milkway, i have never seen it before. the rocks are so beautiful, boulder might be a better word than rock.

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    1. You are so right. Most of the "rocks" are bigger than vehicles so I will use "boulder" from now on!

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  5. The rocks in the desert are just amazing and so is the milky way! I have never had 4 boots on my feet at once, Shyla - only 1 so I can only imagine how odd it feels.

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  6. I love that you've trained her to bow on command. I need to try something like that with my guys. Beautiful image (and the rock ain't half bad either) 😊

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  7. We were in Moab, UT last June. I will never ever forget the beauty we saw...but never ever did we see such a night sky. Hugs madi and mom

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  8. Away from all man made lighting, those night sky photos are amazing. Little shoes, Shyla does well to keep them on, I guess she might try to take them off sometimes.

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  9. I think you illustrated quite well why you love it so much! I imagine dogs trying to do things with boots on is similar to we humans trying to do anything with gloves on. It's hard when you can't feel what you're trying to touch. Shyla did great!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  10. Incredible that you can see so many stars!!!
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  11. The stars are really beautiful. I'd forgotten that about the milky way. But your love of the Utah dessert makes me want to see it sometime myself, but ONLY if you'd be there to be my guide - With Shyla too of course! :-)

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