Death Valley Shadows

It is hard to explain the feeling I had here as my shadow stretched out 100 feet tall over Mosquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park. This was in March ...
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It is hard to explain the feeling I had here as my shadow stretched out 100 feet tall over Mosquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park. This was in March earlier this year and it was just over 100 degrees at sunset. So cool that there was huge sections with no foot prints. Just the wind blown ripples in the sand.

Many first time visitors to Death Valley are surprised it is not covered with a sea of sand. Less than one percent of the desert is covered with dunes, yet the shadowed ripples and stark, graceful curves define "desert" in our imaginations.

For dunes to exist there must be a source of sand, prevailing winds to move the sand, and a place for the sand to collect. The eroded canyons and washes provide plenty of sand, the wind seems to always blow (especially in the springtime), but there are only a few areas in the park where the sand is "trapped" by geographic features such as mountains.

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Thanks and Mahalo..
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