One day, I hope to visit all of the US national parks. Today, I explored my 42nd, the Great Basin NP in Nevada. The park’s iconic feature is 13,063 ft. tall Wheeler Peak, which can be approached by a scenic road designed for those absent a fear of heights. I dared to make only one stop for the photo below. What is not apparent from this perspective is that inches beyond the flowering bushes is a steep drop-off of several hundred feet.

As I drove towards St. George, UT, where I spent the night, I paused to photograph this cloud seemingly poised to rain on my parade. Such was not the case, and I completed my journey with only one near incident. A large pickup truck almost merged into me while I was driving at 80 mph (that is the speed limit here) on the highway. The other driver clearly did not see me and I jumped on the horn which averted an accident. When the truck eventually overtook me, it was hard to miss the huge letters on the side which read SHERIFF and the police officer inside. That was the extent of our encounter as he knew that the near collision had been his fault. Still, it took several minutes before my heart stopped racing.

Although the focus of my photography on this trip has been landscapes and rock formations there is much beauty in the fauna as well.