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02/16/2010 07:56:46 AM · #1 |
The Alvord Desert
I finally started a long overdo project to photograph the Owyhee region. It is one of the largest subbasins of the Columbia river yet is little known outside the sparsely populated area where it is located along the border areas of extreme SE Oregon, SW Idaho and northern Nevada. I've already identified dozens of superb photo opportunities there and I'm sure there are hundreds more to be found.
It is a place of wild canyons, recent volcanism and the struggle by humans to eek out a living in a harsh, unforgiving land.
This first gallery only scratches the surface at just one place from a disappointing 1st photo safari that was truncated by SUV trouble at my very 1st stop. :(
This will be a long term project to capture fine art images in one of the few largely unexplored territories yet remaining for landscape photographers that is left in the USA.
Long term I hope to publish articles and perhaps the first ever coffee table book photographically documenting the entire region.
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02/16/2010 08:08:57 AM · #2 |
| Those look amazing, are the hot springs holes all in one area? is that calcium deposits that make the hole white? is it copper for the green? |
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02/16/2010 08:21:58 AM · #3 |
| Very cool!! Some amazing imagery! |
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02/16/2010 08:23:28 AM · #4 |
Looking good, Steve! What SUV is giving you the trouble?
R.
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02/16/2010 08:27:40 AM · #5 |
| Great stuff. I'd actually heard of the Owyhee because I've been down Hell's Canyon of the Snake River. |
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02/17/2010 05:31:25 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by JulietNN:
Those look amazing, are the hot springs holes all in one area? is that calcium deposits that make the hole white? is it copper for the green? |
There are hot springs at various locations spread throughout the Alvord Desert. In that regard it is a bit like Yellowstone. In fact, the hot spot that generated the Yellowstone super volcano was once centered under nearby northern Nevada.
The white material around the edges of the hot springs is sodium borate. Sodium borate is everywhere in the area and was once commercially processed.
The greens and reds in some springs are algae that grows in the mineral rich waters much like you see growing in Yellowstone's geyser basins. Borax Lake gets up to 105 Fahrenheit yet still supports a rare fish called the Borax Lake Chub.
There is a lot of volcanism in this area. Oregon's youngest lava flows, including one only about 100 years old, is found in the region.
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02/17/2010 05:59:05 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Looking good, Steve! What SUV is giving you the trouble? |
I have a Honda CRV. It is a great vehicle well equipped for rough roads. It has got me in and out of many remote places I otherwise could never have gotten into.
I'd bottomed it out on a rutted, muddy detour around a flooded road at Borax Lake.
At first I thought I'd screwed up the brakes, the transmission or the clutch and was in serious trouble. Then I finally decided it was the CV axle going out. That I could drive as long as it didn't break completely and the boots still looked good. I wasn't leaking anything and actually looked like nothing was wrong underneath.
But I was 130 miles from the nearest repair shop last Saturday morning with no mechanics available there until Monday. :(
To make a long story short I limped it about 270 miles to find a mechanic. Turns out it wasn't a serious problem after all. I just bent a small piece of metal that rattled against the drive shaft when I accelerated. Sounded like the engine was gonna fall off, though.
Bottom line, no problem at all. The CRV is in tip top shape and running like a charm.
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02/17/2010 06:45:51 AM · #8 |
Wow, some stunning shots. Looks like an interesting place to shoot.
I really like the one looking east across the desert showing the tracks & that huge lovely sky |
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