Utah Flash Flood Chase

Here is a new (to me anyway) type of natural phenomenon chasing and it looks interesting and fun!

How Do I Know?

Until this morning I had never heard of new trance vocalist Jano (pronounced Yano) from Melbourne, Oz, or Moldovan trance prodigy Andrew Rayel, However, while listening to Armin Van Buuren's "A State of Trance 577"a short while ago I heard the track below and was blown away. Then I looked up the individual video for this track and was fairly well impressed by the tilt-shift videography it contains ( the first part is filmed in SLC) and more elements of the song than appear in the Van Buuren remix. Please enjoy!

A Utah Trip In Nine Frames

The following images I captured over the course of my trip to Utah the past six days which saw me helping my friend Dave in his Rocks & Relics booth at Gem Faire in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. This just past day started in the middle of last night when we hit the road after a short night's rest in Lehi, UT. Following a 14-hour drive home I attended a two-hour math class tonight at Cuesta College. As one might imagine I am a bit out of sorts but incredibly grateful to be home and that all went well for me throughout both on the road and on the home front. Actually, I feel rather euphoric tonight I am so happy to be home after a rather grueling work trip. The images below were taken over the course of the entire trip and are shown in the order in which they were taken.

This legendary tourist trap in Baker, CA, is more Hellenistic Mexican than genuine Greek.

Kim of Utah - I experienced a Kim Konvergence once again at this show.

Smokey sunset as seen from the valet parking area of the downtown Salt Lake City Hilton Hotel at which we lodged.

The source of all this smoke were all the forest fires in neighboring Idaho. This smoke has plagued the region for many days recently.

As we dined on the streetside at Cucina Toscana one evening an SUV pulled up adjacent to the restaurant having just caught fire within the engine compartment. Restaurant patrons and staff quickly stabilized the matter including your's truly. Shortly thereafter, SLC Engine #2 arrived having been called by the hysterical driver of the auto. Damage was minor but the vehicle had to be towed.

Pocket-sized chihuahua functioning as a "babe-magnet" for this happily married UVU science professor.

Sunrise this morning as seen from along side Interstate-15 approaching Cedar City, UT.

The latest view of one of the heliostat receiving towers being built in Primm Valley.  For more info on this check HERE.

Dust storm kicking up in the dry lake bed below Calico Ghost Town outside Barstow, CA.

Picture of the Day - Squire Meyer

One of Dave's customers today in the Rocks & Relics booth at Gem Faire in Sandy, UT, was a gentleman named Squire Meyer who is as colorful a character as his wardrobe. FYI: his shirt features Sugar Daddy candy wrappers on a lavender background to match his hair and classic sneakers. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Play Me, I'm Your's

Only in downtown Salt Lake City, UT, could one see this in any of American's major cities: when thriving arts community combines with Mormon community values culture. This was taken on the street out in front of Squatters. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Flight of Squatters

My flight of beers tonight at Squatters in downtown Salt Lake City, UT. And yes, that is a mini-surf board serving platters the small cups are resting upon. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Rock Photography Set VIII

This past weekend I helped by friend Dave Richter in his Rocks & Relics booth at the Salt Lake City, UT, area Gem Faire. This gave me the opportunity to fool around with my non-professional camera and try to push the boundaries of what my little machine is capable of doing and in the meantime try to get better at taking photos of minerals and fossils. Below is what resulted from that experiment.

Polished Brazilian quartz crystal point.

Druzy quartz-coated botryoidal chalcedony stalactites in Tampa Bay fossilized coral.

Large quartz crystal point from Mt. Ida, Arkansas.

Botryoidal chalcedony stalactites on Tampa Bay fossilized coral.

Acheulian tools from interior Morocco.

Fossil fish from the Green River Formation with polished ammonite half pairs from Madagascar.

Smokey Ametrine from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Beryl that is lime green is still technically aquamarine and not emerald. This material is from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Quartz pseudomorph of calcite dogtooth crystals with druzy quartz atop that from Maharashtra, India.

More polished quartz crystal points from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Moroccan ammonites.

Cut and polished rock crystal quartz from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Polished agate from Madagascar.

Iridescent ammonite from Madagascar (NOT ammolite).

Pink tourmaline (rubellilte) from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Scipio Post Office

Not your everyday post office: Scipio, UT.  Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Polygamy Porter T-Shirt

I picked this t-shirt up in the gift shop at the Sheraton in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, last week while I was there doing a Gem Faire event a week ago. Polygamy Porter is not a joke but an actual porter produced by Wasatch Brewery. Non-Mormons in Utah (especially secular and pagan types) like to harass Mormons at any and every opportunity and this is no exception. By the way, Polygamy Porter is actually pretty good. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Utah Thundersnow Storm

Earlier today I awoke at 3:37 AM and began my day with a wee hours of the morning run southwest on Interstate-15 to get south of an oncoming storm. However, this was to no avail as we got caught by it between Sandy, Utah, and Cedar City, Utah. Prior to dawn we hit the worst of the snow this day which distracted me from even thinking to take photos given the urgency of the situation. At one point the sky exploded in an orangish-pinkish flash of "thundersnow". Later, as the sun dawned on a snowy landscape I captured these images. The red rock images at the end of this sequence of photographs were taken just north of St. George, Utah, just outside of town essentially.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Irony In Mormony

I saw this sign on a street downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, this evening on the way to dinner at Squatters Brewery.

Irony in Mormon Country

Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

Of Idahoovians & Kims

Today I had the honor of hanging out with a couple of characters at the March 2012 Salt Lake City Gem Faire held in Sandy, Utah.

My Idahoovian brother Shawn "Shawnholio" Lowry.

One of our SLC Family named Kim just like me and just as much a character as I am as well.

Both photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Utah Land Creep

Apartment building, hillside, retainer wall and parking lot being rifted by a landslide in St. George, UT.

Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

An Interesting & Scenic Journey in Photographs

This past Monday I journeyed from Sandy, UT, where I participated in a Gem Faire event, back home to the Central Coast of California. Along the way I captured this series of images minus the ones I took in the Virgin River Gorge which shall be posted here next.

Pine Valley Mountains

Pine Valley Mountains

Pine Valley Mountains

Red rocks north of St. George, Utah.

Pine Valley Mountains

Pine Valley Mountains

Pine Valley Mountains

Interstate-15

Pine Valley Mountains

Interstate-15

Interstate-15 through St. George, UT.

Interstate-15 through St. George, UT.

Interstate-15 in Central St. George, UT.

St. George, UT.

Mojave Desert; Northwest Arizona

Mojave Desert; Northwest Arizona

Interstate-15

Las Vegas, NV, in the distance as viewed from Interstate-15.

Interstate-15 descending into Las Vegas Valley.

Where kitsch is king.

Sand piled by wind upon various hillsides.

Interstate-15 in California's Mojave Desert

Pastel-colored bluffs on the southeast flank of the Calico Mountains.

Famous rockhounding locale Mule Canyon in Calico Mountains.

Calico Mountains; San Bernardino County, CA.

Calico Ghost Town, San Bernardino County, CA

Antelope Fire base camp at the park in Lost Hills, Kern County, CA.

Antelope Fire base camp at the park in Lost Hills, Kern County, CA.

Antelope Fire burn area in the Temblor Range, Kern County, CA.

The fire burned 5,196 acres.

Cholame Valley, San Luis Obispo County, CA

Middle Mountain in middle of photo is underlain by San Andreas Fault Zone.

Cholame Valley is a rift valley of the San Andreas Fault Zone.

Actor James Dean died here September 30, 1955.

CalFire S-2 tanker launching from Paso Robles Air Attack Base.

Photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)