March’s Photo of the Month comes from Lost Dutchman State Park near Phoenix, Arizona. I visited the park in January while my wife was helping her sister plan for the upcoming arrival of our niece. In addition to the proximity to the greater Phoenix area and huge selection of hiking trails, the main draw of Lost Dutchman has got to be the rugged and beautiful Superstition Mountains rising out of the desert floor abruptly and confidently.
This month’s photograph shows the western flank of the Superstitions bathed in warm late afternoon light. I chose to use this cholla skeleton as a FG element because it seemed to be pointing me to a fantastic composition!
Western Flank of the Superstitions, January 2010
If you clicked on the link to Lost Dutchman State Park above, you couldn’t miss the red box informing us that the park will be closing indefinitely on June 3, 2010. Apparently, that part of Arizona’s budget has lost a significant amount of money during restructuring, causing the closure. I think the restriction of access to any open space is a great loss to us as a community. It prevents us from enjoying our parks, but more importantly it robs us of a chance to connect with the land, and wild places. I hope the Arizona government finds a way to keep their state parks open, or at the very least, to reopen them as soon as possible.
You can see all of my photos from the Superstition Mountains here.
Hey Greg,
I found out about this yesterday. My brother-in-law and I are trying to get there in the next two weeks. Crazy. All but 4 parks in the state will be closed due to budget cuts. Thanks for the images.
Jay
Thanks, Jay! Yeah, its a real bummer they’re closing so many parks. California faced it as a potential reality for a while as well. Hope you can make it down there–its an awesome place, and is really starting to green up as well.
Cheers,
Greg
I don’t see how they can “close” a park that supposedly belongs to all of us, or in this case, the people of Arizona. A strange phenomenon, among many, and insidious. I would imagine in years past, perhaps even just 30 years ago, they would have closed the park facilities and left the land open to people who want to enjoy it. I know, I know, supposedly people can’t take care of the place on their own. So now we have to put up with government telling us what is and is not open, when we are the ones supposedly running the government, NOT.
Hi Greg,
The cholla skeleton on the first ground anime the picture. The light is perfect for me. A great shot, and a very interesting blog too !
Jean-Michel