Little Finland yields to persistence and perseverance...

I was too stubborn to let Little Finland keep me out, so I kept at it until I found an easy entrance on the North end of the mesa.  The road to the left here leads up to where all the formations are found. They are cut and shaped in that darker sandstone visible on top of the lighter-colored mesa.

 

 

I'm standing on the cliff edge next to some of the 'creatures' here. My car is out there at the bottom of the road up here:

 

 

For a look at the animals, I flew the Phantom drone up from the desert floor. Some of the creatures are right on the crest of the cliff:

 

 

Here is a still image of a group of these sculptures taken from the drone:

 

 

Here are just a few of the many formations atop the mesa.  First, a 'monster' looks down on the scene:

 

 

Next, a parade of--well, whatever...

 

 

And I think of this one as 'What's chasing that dog?'

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are more of these creatures and drone videos of their home on my web site www.divexprt.com 

For the moment, click on Most Recent. Later we'll have the complete galleries in the national park section of the site.

 

Little Finland is large, most of a mile long. A good part of it is covered with the darker sandstone which has been sculpted by the wind and weather.

 

You can also hike in from the South end. The path leads up from this corral to the mesa off to the left:

 

:

 

Look forward to exploring for more sculptures on future visits!

 

 

 

Eventually, the numbers catch up to you...

I went out to price some tires last week. Figured I'd put them on in February before my warm-weather trips.

 

Unfortunately, a rock at Whitney Pockets yesterday changed the whole story.

 

 

 

 

Yep, the right front tirewent to glory outside the entrance. A kind gentleman hopped out of his truck and went to work. Wouldn't take a penny after saving me an awful afternoon. But I did go right into Mesquite and get those new tires!

 

It was fortunate for me that I didn't have that flat twenty miles sooner, in the incredibly remote Little Finland, or it might have been a very long afternoon.

 

I am determined to get to the top of the buttes where the fantastic stone statuary is, but this is the area. Some local hikers operate around here, so I know there is a climbing access. Stay tuned.:

 

 

And these are some of the formations from a closer viewpoint:

 

 

One small formation looks like a lion and two others like gargoyles. From the top you could get much better angles:

 

 

 

 

 

For the piece de resistance, I went by the Devil's Throat. My neighbor Bill noticed that I hadn't on my first trip actually flown the drone right over the hole, keeping it safely over my position on solid ground. Telling him I forgot to bring  a very long rope didn't work.Since such caution reflected on my manhood, I said to heck with it and put the Phantom up for the 'Road Runner View.'

 

 

Wheeeeeeeee!

 

 

I'll have more adventures out here! There are all kinds of other sites nearby...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gunlock Reservoir in Utah

Gunlock is located northwest of St. George, Utah, a couple of hours from home. When I drove up there, the road took me past another lake I hadn't realized was there. Since it was on the border of the Paiute Indian reservation, I thought of it as 'Paiute Lake.' Further research has shown it to be Lower Sand Cove Reservoir.

 

 In that lovely light, I launched the Phantom to get the view from above:

 

 

There was an older gentleman walking his dog while I was setting up the drone. He stood at the top of the boat ramp and threw some food on the ground. All of the ducks scrambled up the ramp for a feeding, but I was too far away to take a picture of the action before he had left.

 

 

From the small reservoir, I moved on to the larger Gunlock Reservoir up the road:

 

 

Once again, I readied the drone for the higher view. At this time of the morning the wind is often down, lessening the risk of a flyaway, that bane of drone pilots.

 

 

Hitting the video button, I luxuriated in the vicarious experience of soaring up there at bird level!

 

 

I shot another sequence to show the dam upon which I was standing, nicely placed with the Sun behind me for maximal color.

 

 

 

I went to a couple of other targets, but the wind had come up and the magical calm hours after dawn had ended. No problem, there are many more drone adventures ahead!

 

Another brilliant day for droning, East of Lake Mead, Nevada

Taking advantage of this glorious calm weather while the rest of the country is freezing, I took off. Driving North to Mesquite, I branched off onto New Gold Butte Road, which runs 45 miles South--getting more rough every mile you drive.

But the sights and colors and structures are sublime. This is soft morning light on a formation known as White Pocket:

 

Later this afternoon, I returned and filmed White Pocket from the West, in afternoon light. the group of parked cars belong to a group of ATV drivers who passed me along the road.

 

 

 

Another site gave me a neat opportunity to cast the drone's shadow on a dramatic sandstone formation a few miles from White Pocket.

 

 

 

Then I drove another twenty miles South, where a dramatic, recently-formed sinkhole is known as the Devil's Throat. Here, I'm steering the drone high above it. The Toyota and I give you the scale of the hole.

 

 

Finally, several miles across really rough, stony roads brought me to a gorgeous location known as Little Finland, or Devil's Fire. On top of these cliffs are dramatic, if small, gargoyle-like stone formations similar to those I've seen in Utah's Fantasy Canyon and Goblin Valley . I need to find the route up the cliff so I can photograph the 'faces.'  It higher and steeper than it appears from the drone. Believe me, I looked carefully for a route up.

 

Which means I have to make another trip there! Woo-woo!

 

 

The drone is a magnificent new tool for photography, which I am finally competent enough to purely enjoy!

 

 

 

 

A beautiful day for drones in St. George, Utah!

After some cold weather here, and while the rest of the country is freezing, we have sunshine and 60s here. Woo-woo!

So--I drove up to St. George and visited Sand Hollow State Park, a favorite boating and ATV-driving destination close to the small town of Hurricane. The entrance to Zion National Park is in Hurricane. Sand Hollow is just South of town.

By pure good luck almost nobody was there, but as I drove around, there were deep ATV tracks carving the sand dunes everywhere! I drove out onto the deserted beach to launch the Phantom , and nearly got bogged down in the loose sand. Fortunately for me, the trusty Highlander pulled itself out. Whew!

During the Summer, hundreds of high-schoolers do jumps off the high cliffs into the water--a good subject for which to return!

Then I went to the nearby Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, only a mile or so from Quail Creek. The Conservation Area is quite large, but this one beautiful though small section has been neatly developed with roofed picnic areas. A gorgeous spot to stop for some snacks.

 

To finish the day, I visited Quail Creek State Park, a second small artificial lake in St. George which I visited last September. When you are surrounded by desert and mountains, you build your own lakes. How traditional American!I love those enterprising people in Utah! Very ingenious, and of course the two lakes are very popular in the Summer!

 

 

 

The entire state of Utah is like an enormous park, only small sections of which have been formally designated as National and State parks.  I love to wander around and find smaller parks and other beautiful places which have not yet formally been recognized.

 

Tomorrow I'll watch the wind at dawn. If it is down, there are a couple of other places in eastern Nevada I'd like to drone. god willin' and the creek don't rise...