2016 Death Valley Wildflower Super Bloom

An artist palette of wildflowers carpets the desert 

Who would ever imagine the splendor of wildflowers filling the landscape in one of the hottest and driest places on Earth?  During February of 2016 Death Valley National Park has been accented with an abundance of desert flowers, also coined as a Super Bloom.

Death Valley is a national park in the U. S. and located in the states of California and Nevada. Covering an area of 5,219 mi², Death Valley is east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and in the Mojave Desert. 

An El Niño weather pattern over the winter brought storms and rain to the area.  The rainfall soaked the dry desert which allowed for the numerous flower seeds that have been lying dormant to germinate. 

 It is a rare occurrence when so many desert flowers bloom around the same time.  

The wildflowers first begin to bloom in the lower elevations where the temperatures are warmer, filling the rugged desert ground with golden blooms.  

Desert Gold Sunflowers and Golden Evening Primrose (Camissonia brevipes) blanket the slopes with the picturesque Black Mountains in the background.  The colorful rocks are the result of oxidation with different metals, (red, pink and yellow from iron salts; green is decomposing tuff-derived mica, and manganese produces the purple). 

  

Purple Notchleaf Phacelia (Phacelia crenulata) accent the harsh landscape around the salt flats of Badwater Basin. 

 Badwater Basin lies 279 feet (85 m) below sea level and usually only receives an average of 2 inches of rain a year.  

 

The abundance of wildflowers in 2016 Super Bloom includes at least 20 different species and their sweet fragrance is almost overwhelming and like being in a formal garden. 

Traveling up to the higher elevations where the temperatures are cooler, different species of flowers were found to be in bloom.

 Along the Beatty Cut-Off Road accents of yellow and purple thrive in the rocky terrain.

  Brilliant Yellow Cups seem to glow in the morning sun. 

 One of my favorite wildflowers due to its blue-lavender color is the Blue Phacelia or Wild Heliotrope. 

This profusion of desert wildflowers will only last while the temperatures are mild and I was very fortunate to time my visit before the ones at the lower elevations began to fade.  At this time in mid-February many of the Primrose had already started to bolt.  

Follow my Photo-adventures Blog and check back for my next post where I will give more information, plus macro shots of the different species that I found. 

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Eastern Sierras in an El Niño Winter

Glacier carved lake, Volcano Domes and Snow covered landscapes

With an El Niño winter bearing down on the Pacific Northwest, the days to go out photo-exploring are determined most often by road conditions.  It is much wiser to wait out the storm in the comfort of one's home than to become stranded like the Donner Party.

Gauging the weather after a moderate snow storm in early February, I decided to venture toward the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains before warmer temperatures melted most of the snow.  Even in the higher elevations, it does not take much sunlight to raise the ground temperature and within a few hours the snow vanishes.

As I pass by an out-cropping of solidified lave flows, the remaining snow accents the graphic details in the rocks, creating pleasing artistic effects.

Mono Lake is calm on this winter day. Paoha Island, formed by an uplift of lake sediments with volcanic core, reflects to the east in the deep blue water.  A number of smaller Tufa Towers line the western shore.

Driving south after Lee Vinning and Mono Lake, the Mono Craters stand out in the eastern horizon.  The volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows stretches 25 miles from the northwest shore of Mono Lake to the south of Mammoth Mountain.  The Explosive eruptions began over 50,000 years ago, with the most recent just 600 years old.

Continuing on and nestled against the steep eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada's is the subalpine valley of June Lake.  At an elevation of 7654 feet. (2333 m), and formed by glacier action, June Lake has been dubbed the Swiss Alps of the Sierras.

By mid-day the shadows grow long and it is time to turn back.  There are so many more natural wonders to explore and I can hardly wait for my return trip.  When the dirt roads dry and there is not as much danger of getting stuck in the deep snow, I hope to continue this photo-adventure to Mono's Panum Crater and hike the trail to the summit.  Follow my blog and check back often to see where my next photo-adventure will take me.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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El Nino Winter at the Sierra Nevadas

Frozen Lakes, Snow-flocked Pines and Tufa Towers

With the first storms of 2016 El Nino winter, I was interested to see how much snowpack there was on the Eastern Sierra Nevadas since January of 2014.  I tried to schedule my photo-adventure between storms since my travels took me over the Anchorite Pass and an elevation of 8379 feet.  Leaving early on a sunny but cold Friday, I was relieved that the road from Hawthorne, Nevada to Lee Vinning, California was dry with only a few icy spots. 

Towering above the town of Lee Vinning, the snow covered High Sierras stand out against the deep blue western sky with clouds forming from the warming sun. 

Standing tall on the horizon, Eagle Peak is the highest point on the Buckeye Ridge with an elevation of 11845 feet (3610 m), located just southwest of Bridgeport, California.  

To the south and just before the quaint town of Lee Vinning, winter accents the shores of Mono Lake.  The dark area on the background to the right is Paoha Island, a volcanic island formed by lakebed sediments deposited above volcanic domes. 

Mono Lake's Tufa Towers, unusual limestone formations that result from a chemical reaction when calcium in underwater springs mixes with carbonates in the lake water.  Some of the Tufa Towers may grow to a height of 30 feet (9.144m).  

 Aspens still showing leaves with fall colors line the beginning of Tioga Pass.  This scenic drive through the eastern entry point of Yosemite Park is closed during the snow season due to the high elevation, "S" curves and sheer drop-offs.   

Just ahead, Mt. Gibbs and the parent peak, Mt. Dana dominate the afternoon sky with a majestic preview of the eastern part of Yosemite.  Mt. Dana's active glacier, the Dana Glacier that flows near the mountain's top at 13,053 feet (3978.55 m) is hardly visible with the snow cover and afternoon shade.

Rugged terrain and steep chutes make for some of the wildest ski descents in the Sierra.  

As the afternoon approaches, I make a last detour over to Lundy Lake.  At 7858 feet (2395 m) elevation, Lundy Lake is the gateway to the Hoover Wilderness Area in the High Sierras.  

Today the popular fishing lake with 2.4 miles of shoreline and 100 surface acres lies covered with snow. The rainbow, brown, and brook trout will be there for another trip  

Driving back along the Lundy Lake road the snow flocked pines create a picturesque view.  What a memorable ending to a day of winter photo-exploring.  Follow my blog and check back often to see where my next adventure begins.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Environmental Photographs Highlight 2015

 Themes and Issues during my photo-explorations

At the year’s end, I usually write about the highlights of my travels or adventures.  However for the finality of 2015 and following the Paris Climate Summit, I have been compelled to feature a photo for each month that has an environmental theme. These photos are from scenes that I have come across during my photo-explorations of the past year, from water issues to weather extremes and compromised ecosystems. The following photographs were taken within a 100 mile radius around Walker Lake, Nevada and in the Great Basin Desert.

Clouds form over Mono Lake, California, moving eastward from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The receding shore line and lack of snow on the mountains for the month of January are indicators of the drought that continues to plague the western U.S.

Late January and early February, a large number of waterfowl were infected with Avian cholera at Walker Lake, Nevada. 

The bodies of American Coots lay tangled in tumble weeds that were blown to the water’s edge by the wind.

A dust storm churned up by the strong winds of March on east side of Walker Lake, Nevada. 

A desolate location for Lee Hot Springs with a capped off well and volcanic rocks, however the mountains in the background show lack of snowpack after a dry winter on an early spring day in April. 

 On a hillside in the Gabbs Valley Range, in May, the top of a purple bottle stands out.  A closer look reveals a piñon pine root that has been growing through the bottle’s neck for no telling how many years.

A hot June morning and cumulonimbus clouds build over the Garfield Flats Range.  I barely made it out of the wash before the clouds produced a F1 Category Tornado that touched down in Hawthorne, Nevada. 

With the heat index reaching over the century mark in July at Walker Lake, ecosystems grow out of balance at the water’s edge as numerous damselfly larvae are caught in the huge orb-weaver spider webs that cover most of the shore.

The receding shore at Soda Lake in August, tufa mounds grow along the edge of the water.  Soda Lake was formed inside the collapsed cone of a basaltic maar volcano by irrigation for agriculture which increased the groundwater.

A tunnel by the highway to Yerington, Nevada in September.  Rainfall from fast moving summer monsoons produced flash floods that cut deep washes through the dry desert.  

An October photo-trip to the Wild Burro Range at Marietta, Nevada.  The frame of a windsock stands as a reminder of the harsh winds and extreme weather in the Great Basin Desert. 

Strong winds in November blow the thin snow pack across the peaks at Mount Grant, Nevada.  

A winter storm in December brings in much needed moisture; however it will take so much more to offset the receding north shore at Walker Lake, Nevada.  

The year of 2015 has seen interesting weather patterns with a warmer winter and rising heat index for the summer.  When El Niño comes for the winter, I will be ready with my Nikon to record any interesting trends, so follow my blog and check back often for the new posts.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Soda Lake's Tufa Mounds

Nature's Artistry in a lake within a volcanic cone 

What are the chances of finding a lake within a collapsed volcano cone out in the dry, hot desert of Nevada?  Just northwest of Fallon, Nevada, off a dirt road to the north is a 1.2 mile long body of water, named Soda Lake.

The basin that holds Soda Lake's water is a collapsed volcanic cone.  Over the short geological span of 1500 years, magma rose toward the surface which boiled the groundwater, causing a violent explosive eruption.  However, it has only been recently that the water for Soda Lake filled the collapsed cone when irrigation from farming caused the ground water to rise.

The eastern rim of Soda Lake provides the most noticeable clue of the volcanic cone and rises 80 feet above the water.  Dark rocks of various sizes, "basaltic bombs" can still be found mixed in the sand of the crater.

However, one of the most intriguing features at Soda Lake is not exactly due to its volcanic evolution.  Looking across the lake to the northwest, a number of white pillars stand out on the water's edge. 

At first glance, I was reminded of the Biblical "Pillars of Salt" and curiosity drew me to venture for a closer look.

The white pillars in various shapes and sizes growing out of the water appeared to me as abstract art works in plaster of paris. I was soon to learn that these creative works of nature's artistry were in fact Tufa Mounds.

Tufa is a type of limestone and tufa mounds are created when underwater springs rich in calcium mix with carbonates (soda). A chemical reaction forms that produces calcium carbonate--limestone.  The calcium carbonate precipitates or settles out of solution as a solid around the spring. Over the course of time, which usually takes hundreds of years, tufa mounds begin to grow. However these at Soda Lake are estimated by the USGS to be less than a century old.

Some of the larger tufa mounds reach about 9 feet tall (3m) with a 16 foot (5m) base.  Since the tufa mounds grow or form underwater, they may extend down 13 feet (4m) deep.

The shallow shore makes a sudden drop off  visible in the darker shades of green, the lake has a calculated depth of 147 feet (44.80m).

Soda Lake's high alkali content does not support fish, but brine shrimp do thrive in the water. The brine shrimp draw a large variety of waterfowl, including grebes, gulls, terns, coots and ducks.  Additionally people come to swim and soak in the lake for recreation and the health benefits of the carbonates.

Nature's diversity never fails to amaze me as I have discovered in this thriving habitat that exists within a collapsed volcanic cone in an alkaline lake.  Continue to follow my blog and check back often to see what adventures my next photo-explorations will discover.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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