A Wild Beauty

clouds
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This photo does not do the scene justice.

Plunge Pool

plungepool
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is the entrance to Plunge Pool. You weave through this high-ceilinged narrow passage for a few yards, then it opens up into a cavern that can comfortably hold several people.

Hills

hills
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Morning in the desert. This is the road that ran through our campsite.

Clouds

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This was in the morning, when clouds were drifting across the sky. It was actually brighter than this, but my camera didn't quite capture it.

Shadow

shadow
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Ashley's shadow. I just had to catch this moment.

Entranceglow

entranceglow
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

All this is just dried mud and morning sunlight! Incredible!

light

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

More incredible light.

Ashleylight

ashleylight
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Ashley, walking through one of the canyons. The warm-colored walls would catch and reflect the light, creating this golden atmosphere.

ashleyopening
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Ashley, standing in the entrance/exit to Plunge Pool, which is a smallish cavern that is pitch black at night. By day, if you stand in there for a few minutes, your eyes adjust, and you can see a little bit of light that comes from a skylight 30 feet up.

Good morning!

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Ashley, eating a banana and looking cute. Behind her, you can see the hills that surrounded our campsite.

Cave Entrance

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Here's Father David and Brian heading into another cavern. It's hard to believe that caves this size are just made from mud!

Cave

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Sorry for the blurriness here. I was perched on a rockslide near the roof of the cave, looking down at Fr. David and Ashley.

Ashley and the plant

ashleyplant
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Here's Ashley with a scrubby plant, just after coming up out of a cave.

the view

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is the view that greeted us after scrabbling up through one of the caves (Footprint Canyon, I think)

You can see why it's called the Borrego Badlands.

keyhole

keyhole
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This odd cave opening was in a mud wall above and behind our campsite. There was no way to get up there, so we don't know how big that cave might be.

up from the depths

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Fr. David, climbing up out of Casey's Big Cavern (I think).

cirith ungol

cirithungol
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Seriously, don't these look like the steps of Cirith Ungol?

That's Fr. DAvid and Brian up top there. None of us girls wanted to rick our necks climbing up there.

in the depths

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is us going back down into Casey's Big Cavern.

Moon light

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Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This was a moonrise, viewed from a small vale in the hills above the mud caves. The pink streak is the trail of a jet going by.

This is depressing. I went to the bookstore the other day, scoping out the current state of Young Adult novels.

 

It's disgusting. The vast majority of it (with the important exception of sci-fi/fantasy) is over-sexualized, immature, selfish, and preachy. Blech. No wonder young people don't want to read, if this crap is all they have to choose from.