I shot this near the Wind Caves in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Although it's well past the "official" end of Milky Way season, I was still able to nicely capture the Milky Way at the Wind Caves. This shot was tricky to do as, for the most part, what's left of the core of the galaxy was facing the wrong direction in the sky. It would have been much easier to get a good shot if the core were moved at the opposite horizon. This is a single exposure. I briefly illuminated the sandstone with an LED headlamp. The Wind Caves are accessible from the northern end of Split Mountain. The trailhead is marked on Google maps. A high-clearance vehicle is a must as the road inside Split Mountain is littered with medium and large rocks. You should be OK with 2WD as long as you don't stray from the established path. My Titan has 4WD, but I didn't need to use it. Once you get to the trailhead - which is marked with a sign reading "Wind Caves", it's a moderate one mile hike up and over a hill to the caves. "On the eastern edge of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park lies Split Mountain, the Carrizo Badlands, and a feature known as the Wind Caves. Here, the exposed sandstone of the marine beds from the five-million-year-old Imperial Formation have been slowly eroded by wind into fantastic shapes that evoke whimsical images of boats with portholes, spaceships, and even the fictional town of Bedrock, hometown of the prehistoric Flintstone family."[1] 1. San Diego Reader / The Canyoneers. Canyoneers are San Diego Natural History Museum volunteers trained to lead interpretive nature walks that teach appreciation for the great outdoors.
Alien Landscape. The Milky Way at the Anza-Borrego Desert Wind Caves. Although it's well past the "official" end of Milky Way season, I was still able to nicely capture the Milky Way at the Wind Caves. The Wind Caves are accessible from the northern end of Split Mountain. The trailhead is marked on Google maps. A high-clearance vehicle is a must as the road inside Split Mountain is littered with medium and large rocks. You should be OK with 2WD as long as you don't stray from the established path. My Titan has 4WD, but I didn't need to use it. Once you get to the trailhead - which is marked with a sign reading "Wind Caves", it's a moderate one mile hike up and over a hill to the caves. "On the eastern edge of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park lies Split Mountain, the Carrizo Badlands, and a feature known as the Wind Caves. Here, the exposed sandstone of the marine beds from the five-million-year-old Imperial Formation have been slowly eroded by wind into fantastic shapes that evoke whimsical images of boats with portholes, spaceships, and even the fictional town of Bedrock, hometown of the prehistoric Flintstone family."[1] 1. San Diego Reader / The Canyoneers. Canyoneers are San Diego Natural History Museum volunteers trained to lead interpretive nature walks that teach appreciation for the great outdoors.
