2011 Trip across the US
2012 Trip across the US
2014 Trip across the US
2015 Trip to Alaska
2015-16 Southwest Trip
2016 New England Trip
I got an early start & hit the dump station at 7:55, and out of the park by 8:00. I decided to stop at the Lost Dutchman State Park rather than going all the way to Picacho Peak State Park because if conditions were good, photographing the moon over the Superstition Mountains might be interesting. I'd rather have a new moon so I could do some star photos, but since the full moon was at 7:45AM, it isn't going to happen. I did take a couple of moon rise photos last night at the La Paz County Park. I had to edit out some power lines; as usual, power lines & poles ALWAYS manage to work their way into the best views.
By the way, the 7:45 AM is still Mountain Standard Time. Arizona does not do Daylight Savings Time, with the exception of the Navajo Reservation where they do. That makes for interesting scheduling around Page, AZ where the Navajos not only use Mountain Standard Time, but what is also called "Indian Time" which generally means "around then".
In any case, I pulled into the Lost Dutchman State Park around 12:00 Sunday, expecting to have lots of sites available. Nope - it is wildflower season, and the entire park was booked, with only 3 open sites in the overflow area. I'm in site 127, which is a beautifully located dry site for $20.00. A long walk to the nearest bathroom, but the view out the back window in a clear shot at the Superstition Mountains.
I walked around a couple of trails behind my site & took a few wildflower photos. There is a Cactus Wren nest just behind my trailer, and it looks like they are feeding young (or one is feeding the other sitting on eggs) but you can't see into the nest - it is well buried in a Cholla Cactus & I'm not going to pry into it (not that I would - I don't disturb wildlife if at all possible).
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| Moon Rise Over La Paz County Park | Site 127 | Superstition Mountains | |
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| Wildflowers | |||
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| Wildflowers | |||
While I gained more than 1000', it is still very warm; 92°F at 4:30. I hope is cools off tonight. Dinner will be a salad.
After dinner we had a bit of excitement. Not sure who they were rescuing, but air rescue made a bunch of trips to the base of the mountains. Some neat flying by the pilot with the skids barely on the ground to drop off what looked like an EMT. Too far away for good photos, but I did get a couple of photos.
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| Air Rescue | ||
While that was going on I shot a bunch of sunset images. There were only a few minutes apart - it is amazing how fast the color changes.
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| Watching the Sun Set on the Superstition Mountains | |||
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| It's Over! | Moon Rise | ||
If there are any night time images worth posting, I'll add them later...
Until Tomorrow -
This page is maintained by: vermilye@oswego.edu
Last Update:
March 13, 2017