Death Valley – Fighters and Flowers

An awesome surprise in the desert

When my friend invited me to come photograph Death Valley during the super bloom, I had no idea that I would see something that would get my adrenaline pumping like this.  I’ve never been really excited about deserts, but I live in Idaho and was extremely tired of being cold after winter this year. At least I can get in some warmer weather for a week, I thought.  Also, since the super bloom only happens every several years, it was worth seeing.  So what got me all excited? On the way into Death Valley from the west side, my cousin and I stopped at a scenic overlook to take some tourist pictures.

We were there about 20 minutes and had taken our pictures, so we were ready to move on.  As I was putting my camera in the pickup to leave………a fighter jet flew through the canyon below! I couldn’t believe my bad luck. Something as cool as a jet flying through right below the lookout and not only did I not get pictures but I was out in the parking lot away from the viewpoint.  I had heard that they practice low flying around Death Valley so we decided to wait a bit in hopes that they would fly by again.  I set my camera up for a fast shutter speed and got ready just in case. After another 20-30 minutes our patience was rewarded as another jet screamed through the canyon sideways below us.

I was even more excited when they flew back over us and went right through again. This time I pushed the record button and recorded this clip.

I’m a real power junkie and that was awesome to watch.

Eventually I got into Death valley and it was pretty cool to see flowers in the desert and on a cactus. Although it was in the full sun of day, I couldn’t resist the vibrant colors and the contrast between pretty delicate flowers, dry desert and prickly cacti.

I also got a nice closeup of one of the flowers.

Check out the pollen in there.  I’m glad that I didn’t seem to be allergic to it.

See my other images Here.

Would you have waited for them to fly back by?  Comment below and share this story if you like it. Thanks for reading! See my other blog posts about this trip and more Here.