Mono Lake Tufa

Update

It's been almost 3 months since I came back to Crimea and a few things are becoming clear. The love affair between the folks here and the Russian government is ... let's be blunt ... on the rocks. Prices have gone through the roof so bad that people from Moscow and St. Petersburg are complaining about how much it costs to vacation here. Food prices are obscene and the government keeps raising the costs of utilities and other fees to the point where it's not even funny. People can't afford these prices and so many of our friends are struggling right now. It is now obvious that the crooks are in control of the economy and much of the life here. We have an election coming up in September but no one expects anything to change as the ruling party ... Russian Unity ... will not allow anyone else to gain power. I'm not sure where this goes but it has to improve or some serious conflicts are almost a given.

Adding to this irritation is the ever worsening asthma. Despite using a very strong steroid inhaler I'm still chronically short of breath. This leads to fatigue and a lack of desire to really do anything. Anyone who has asthma knows what I mean. I'm sleeping 10 hours a night and exhausted by early afternoon after only a few hours of exertion. Not sure what I can do ... can't afford the obscene prices the vulture drug companies are charging for some of their more exotic inhalers ... even here in Russia where the government controls prices to some extent. I'm really concerned about what happens once the summer is over and the fall allergens start popping up. Last year my problems started in the fall and got progressively worse into the winter but this year I'm already beyond where I was last year. Contemplating an early exit from Crimea (maybe as early as October) and not returning until late in the spring next year (if ever but that's another story for another time).

Mono Lake Tufa

Mono Lake is such an interesting place. I've written about it before so I won't rehash all that. This year it was very stormy around the Sierra Nevada Mountains so I got a very different look. I once again visited the south tufa field and spent a whole day wandering around the various structures looking for some new and interesting compositions. Much of the day was clear but in the afternoon storm clouds came rolling over the mountains to the west and it really looked like we might get some serious rain or even snow. I'd hoped to do some astro photography that night using the tufa as my foreground element but it soon became clear that wasn't in the cards. Hard to see the Milky Way when the sky is full of clouds. But I didn't want to go empty-handed. So I set up the camera and took some interesting pictures of the tufa and the storm clouds. Didn't have any big expectations for the shoot but I've come to understand that sometimes the camera sees things that your eyes don't. This is one of those cases. The colors and shading in the clouds are a perfect complement to the green waters of the lake and the snow covered mountains in the background. And if you look very carefully you'll see the sunset far in the distance ... a subtle hint of red on the clouds. That was the extent of the sunset but still, isn't the sky amazing? Taken with the Sanyang 14mm f/2.8 lens I bought this year. Takes very reasonable picture on the whole, don't you think?

Mono Lake Tufa - 14mm,f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Upheaval Crater

Olympics...

When I was a young lad I really loved the Olympics. Would sit by the TV for hours, watching the most obtuse and weird sports and really, really enjoying it. Even went to the winter Olympics in Lake Placid. It was such a rush. Fast forward to the present and what a difference. I just can't gin up any enthusiasm for the games. Not interested at all, even in the sports I might have some connection with. Why? I think it has to do with all the controversy around the whole process, from the greed and corruption of the various committees to the professionalism of so many of the sports. Do I really want to watch basketball superstars who make millions go through the motions of playing the game? I enjoyed it when they required amateurs to play. Same goes for tennis and a whole host of other groups. Take track and field where there are very rich superstars ... most of them so doped up on performance drugs it's hard to see the human anymore. And who can overlook the politics these days ... the Russian doping situation for example. Why, I wonder, did the Olympic committee see fit to not punish the Russian athletes who are most likely guilty but throw the book at the para-Olympic team? Think maybe money had something to do with it? Just maybe? So I'm avoiding any Olympic coverage. Why would I be interested in Michael Phelps and his 21st gold medal? Been there, done that a long time ago. It just gets so uninteresting after a while. Quite frankly, it's much more interesting to watch the Russian Tank Olympics. Don't know what that is? Think big tanks and teams from various countries and obstacle courses and shooting at targets and ... you get the idea. It's really interesting to watch a huge tank going 60 mph while literally jumping into a huge tank filled with water. Some make it ... others don't. Now that's cool!

Upheaval Crater

Canyonlands National Park is one of those obscure parks that gets far too little attention. It's quite large and has some major attractions but I doubt most people have even heard of it. But I would guess you've probably seen pictures from there. Anyone who has Windows on their computer and uses the included landscape images as their screen's wall paper has probably seen the picture looking through an arch at the distant scenery. That's Mesa Arch in Canyonlands. I've been there and have some amazing pictures I'll show you later. It's definitely worth visiting if you're in the area. Just 'across the street' from Arches NP so do stop by.

One of the more interesting features there is called 'Upheaval Crater'. As one would expect, it's a big hole in the ground but that's where the similarity to any other similar feature stops. It's such an unusual shape and has such a strange composition that even the best geologists can't get a handle on how it formed. There are several craters, one inside another. The outer crater looks sort of like an impact hole but the edges are highly polished and smooth ... like one would expect to see in a water erosion canyon. That doesn't fit with an impact crater. Then there's the inner crater which appears to be blasted out of very hard bedrock. But there's very little blast debris to be found. It's not a volcano. It's really strange and mysterious. But, it's amazingly beautiful. I was lucky to get there on a day when the sky was unsettled and bad weather was threatened. I like those times. I get the most interesting images. The wind was blowing so hard I couldn't stand on the edge. Had to sit low with the tripod spread out so the camera wouldn't blow over. And the colors are really striking ... we're at the top of the grand cascade in Utah so we have lots of pink and red sandstone to work with. It's really an interesting place. I'd recommend it to anyone. Definitely add it to your bucket list!

Upheaval Crater - 24mm,f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0