Secrets of the Mojave

Over the past few weekends I’ve made a number of trips to various parts of the Mojave Desert, mostly to see the flowers, but of course I encountered various other interesting scenes along the way. The Mojave presents a unique combination of ancient desert and volcanic history, and in the right places with the right rain, the flowers can be astonishingly abundant. That is, until the ever-hungry sphinx moth caterpillars get to them!

Click any image for a larger pop-up view.

Petrified Ghosts, Black and White, Red Rock Canyon

Petrified Ghosts : Prints Available

Ghosts, trapped in sand. Red Rock Canyon State Park, CA.

Light Beams, Lava Tube, Mojave

Light in the Tunnel : Prints Available

Sunlight beams through a caved in roof of a lava tube in the Mojave Desert National Preserve, CA.

Camp Mojave.

Flowers, Death Valley National Park, Spring

Sandy Spring : Prints Available

The pink flowers and rich scent of sand verbena transform the desert landscape of Death Valley National Park in spring time.

Caterpillar, Flowers, Death Valley National Park

Spring Salad : Prints Available

A hungry white-lined sphinx moth caterpillar chows down on some fresh sand verbena flowers in Death Valley National Park.

Goldfields, Spring, Joshua Trees

Flowers for Joshua : Prints Available

Goldfields cover the floor of the high desert in spring, surrounding these Joshua Trees near Lancaster, CA.

Owls Clover, Poppies, Lancaster

Mojave Bouquet : Prints Available

Owls Clover adds a welcome splash of purple to the gold and orange fields of poppies and goldfields, near Lancaster, CA.

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by Floris van Breugel California Subscribe to RSS feed

3 Comments to “Secrets of the Mojave”

  1. DA Edwards says:
    April 6, 2017 at 1:17 am

    Cheers Floris! We just got back Saturday from a 3+ week trip to the same places (plus the Carrizo) including the same lava tube albeit without my tripod 🙁 Those caterpillars are out of control! Did you notice piles of dead ones at the base of vertical cliffs where their imperative was overcome by gravity?

    That’s one of the better Red Rock Cyn shots I’ve ever seen… love it in monochrome. Is that from the campground area of the park or someplace more remote?

  2. Floris van Breugel says:
    April 6, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    Thanks Dave! I’ve got some Carrizo images coming soon 🙂

    Glad you like the Red Rock Canyon image. I had never spent much time there (but driven by more times than I can count). I found these neat shapes a little farther from the beaten track.

  3. Mags says:
    April 8, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Stunning photographs. Love the artistry!