Mojave Musings
Elephant Rock 911S-0726400-4052740, 15’x8’), Valley of Fire State Park, NV
The iconic Elephant Rock Arch is easily accessible in the southeast corner of the park off of Valley of Fire Highway as you enter the park. However, another iconic location from my many trips to the area is no more. In 2021, Sugar’s Home Plate restaurant, which had operated in nearby Overton for more than 30 years, closed. The down-home dinner plates were so filled with food that we’d often share one, trying to leave room for a large piece of the homemade chocolate cake that circled in view throughout our meal in one of those ancient Lazy Susan floor-to-ceiling desert displays. I had that cake on my birthday more than once. The place was decorated with sports memorabilia, not the fancy stuff, but more like felt pennants from the 1960s and cheaply framed posters. Learning of its closure was like losing a best friend.
Mojave Musings
The Mojave Desert extends from the Base of the Sierra Nevada Range in the west to the Colorado Plateau in the east and covers all of the southern tip of Nevada. Aside from the nearly three million people who populate the Las Vegas metropolitan area, the next largest incorporated Nevada town within the Mojave, with a population of a little more than 20,000 people, is Mesquite.
Within Whitney Pocket, Little Finland, Buffington Pockets, Bowl of Fire, Valley of Fire, Hidden Valley, Pinto Valley and Color Rock Quarry is a land of treasure and awe. Most are within either the Lake Mead National Recreation Area or Gold Butte National Monument and only Valley of Fire State Park is accessible via good paved roads.
Of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, Great Basin and Mojave Deserts, that together form the North American Desert, the Mojave is the smallest and driest. The colorful and fragile formations, numerous natural arches and wildflower and cactus blooms belie the common perceptions of such a place. Although I first visited the area decades ago, I only began to explore it within the past few years after moving to the adjacent Sonoran Desert.
I enjoy it as a photographer because it is an endless puzzle. There is beauty everywhere you look, but seeing and photographing are different things entirely. The harsh desert light, the complexity of land forms and the endless contrails that crisscross the sky are all obstacles that frustrate even those who have learned to see the beauty in these harsh environs. The moon may be a harsh mistress, but it is the sun and sky that you must master.
These images are just a beginning. I’ll hopefully improve upon them each time I return.
