Death Valley is a place of extremes. The roads are a great example of this - super long straightaways that eventually turn into sharp, steep twists and turns, followed by more long straightaways. Although, I must admit, it was quite fun to drive - and equally fun to photograph. 

​"The road may be beautiful or ugly; it may be easy or hard, smooth or rough, it doesn't matter; what matters most is where the road will take you!"
-Mehmet Murat ildan

For whatever reason, I'm not able to sleep-in very late. It can be annoying at times, but one benefit is that on trips, I often wake before other people. This gives me the opportunity to enjoy the peace and tranquility of a place like Yosemite, before the crowds begin to clog up the roads and drown out the silence. This photo was taken on a cool, crisp morning, as the sun was peeking over the mountains to warm the face of El Cap, with no one else around but my dog, Rosie. And I wouldn't have changed a thing.

​"Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space."
-Ansel Adams

While camping in Death Valley, I was relaxing in the shade and hiding from the scorching desert sun when some movement caught my eye. I glanced up to see this beautiful coyote casually making its way across the hot sand. Fortunately my camera wasn't far away, and I was able to capture this photo before it skillfully disappeared into the brush. Not much longer after it appeared, it was gone.

​"Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond, loping in and out of cover on the plains and highlands. And at night, when the whole world belongs to them, they parley at the river with the dogs, their higher, sharper voices full of authority and rebuke. They are an old council of clowns, and they are listened to."
-N. Scott Momaday