The Shapes of the Landscape

The beginning of the year, I went on a ride down in Death Valley with my brother Mike. It was supposed to be a warm respite from the the winter up in Utah, but we ended up with freezing cold temperatures in the morning and burning hot temperatures in the afternoon, which is exactly what we should have expected had we spent any time at all looking on the Internet.

Despite being underprepared, desert environments are some of my favorite. The smell of sage, open valleys, cool evenings. I’ve spent so much of my life laying out under the stars, that I’m surprised it caught me off guard. Seeing the shapes of the landscape in the moonlight while cruising along a perfectly paved road was definitely a highlight for the new year.

The Surrounding Mountains

A couple weeks ago, I went for a bike ride down in Death Valley National Park. My brother and I drove down with hopes of riding a couple hundred miles, but after riding the first day, and overestimating our fitness, we didn’t push the other to go on a big ride the following day. Instead, we did some casual riding while I shot some photos. We couldn't have asked for better weather. The clouds were really moody, and every so often the sun would blast through, illuminating the surrounding mountains. If you’ve never been riding down in Death Valley, I would strongly encourage it.