About 75 degrees in the desert outside of Las Vegas... so off me and a friend went...a five mile round trip hike. Saw several jackrabbits & always on the lookout for rattlers. We brought 22lr semi-autos. Doesn't get much better than that.
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Beautiful shot.

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Oh well, what the hell.

That sounded like great fun, Backlighting, nice use of a day!

It was great fun...and exhausting, the hike back...it's rolling terrain. My arthritic joints paid a price, lol...but worth it.

A day to be treasured.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

You won't have to worry about Rattlers yet even with today's 74 deg. day. They are denned up until the the surface temp of the surface of the desert soil and rocks reaches the snakes 'triggering' sensor level that 'tells' them it is time to exit and go hunting for food and love. Unless of course something like construction has physically expelled them from their den.

After looking at your picture I started messing around in Photoshop and stitched a couple of my photos together. I love the desert and can't wait to get away from the East Coast and back to the Southwest!

Arches National Park panorama

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No good deed goes unpunished.

[QUOTE=DR505;138947389]After looking at your picture I started messing around in Photoshop and stitched a couple of my photos together. I love the desert and can't wait to get away from the East Coast and back to the Southwest! Quote}

Utah is not called "Color Country" for nothing! Anyone that appreciate what nature, geology and climate can do for making beautiful landscapes must visit Southern and Eastern Utah at sometime in their life. My wife and I rode our Harley Road Glide up Utah Highway No. 12 one fine summer day and stopped at every pull-out to take pictures. That day we talked with tourists from Switzerland, France, England and Japan. All were 'blown away' by the beauty of the area. A great vacation for me is to ride my motorcycle in Utah's Color Country.

BTW, here is my quick list of sights not to be missed;

The Unita Mountain Range
Moab
Arches Nat. Park
Canyon Lands
Bryce Canyon
Zion Nat. Park
Cedar Breaks Nat. Mon.
Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell
Coral Pink Sands St. Pk.
Bridal Veil Falls
Monument Valley
The view of the Wasatch Mountains from Heber City at sunset and sunrise. They are the 'Alp' of the USA.

IMHO, if you are a motorcyclist, you have to ride Utah St. No. 12. It puts the "Tail of the Dragon" and the "Blue Ridge Highway" in the also ran categories.

Any idea what the air temp would have to be for the ground to reach the triggering?

Nicely done photo.
I left the East Coast a long time ago...and never looked back.
Desert living suits me just fine.

Yep--thank God for the Great American Desert. Being raised on the northern prairies, I get downright claustrophobic if I can't see at least 40 miles.
Once in a while I have to go to Denver; I flee that place like the hounds of hell were after me.

So you guys out west think you have it made. Well, let me tell you something! Today, February 13, 2016 it is 11 degrees. With the wind chill it is 3 below zero. We can walk outside and not fear stepping on a stupid rattlesnakes. So, take your southern Utah and your mountains and you know what you can do with them. One more thing, can you send a little warm air here.

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Don Mundell

It is NOT the air temp, but rather the ground temp. And, I don't remember if the Zoologists told me that temp was the high, the average or the continual temp for 24 hours. I also don't remember specific temps except for the Desert Tortoise, which is 65 deg. I do remember that the temps vary from specie to specie. I 'think' I remember that the Desert Sidewinder is the first specie to exit their den situation. Rattle Snakes in the desert environment are of very little danger to anyone paying attention to where they step or place a hand. I never worried about them unless I was hunting Quail or Chuckar when my attention was otherwise occupied. I did frequently hunt Quail in No. Arizona that was so 'snakey' with Arizona Diamondbacks that I wore Fiberglas leggings. No other place did I bother.

Here is a shot of the American Hotel, circa 1870 or so, at Cerro Gordo. From here you can see the highest and lowest spots in CONUS, Mt. Whitney and Death valley. Love the Old West.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Sounds like a great time. I am way jealous of those that have place to shoot out in open country instead of crowded clubs and public ranges. I used to have access to a couple of country spots but both of them have grown up now to the point where there are just too many houses and people. Sigh....

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Real men love cats!

Interesting & quite correct...watch where you place your feet & hands.In the 15 yrs I've been here, hiking in the desert frequently, I have seen just one sidewinder...it crossed the rode while in the drive around Red Rock Canyon.

Oh, I'm looking for the desert tortoise. Anyone seen one of those?

I've seen two desert tortoise; one was in Joshua Tree National Park in 1992, the other was down in the either the Anza-Borrego or Yuha desert, near Ocotillo. That was back about 1989.

I took a three months vacation and checked out about every ghost town I could find in California, Arizona, and Nevada that I could get to in that time frame.

I also got plenty of time in the desert on assignment...counter-narcotics work from the California/Mexico border (from about Boulevard to Yuma), on up into Riverside and 29 Palms area. LOTS of wide open space.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

I lived in Ridgecrest CA for eight months working a Temp job , should have stayed out there and bought a 4x4 and camper trailer.

I leave most of the "Bell worms" alone unless they are in a bad mood................

but I do love to spray ammo at a dodging jack rabbit going through the desert greenery.

22's are accurate but I give them a chance and try my luck with the 9mm and .357 magnum over the last ten years, in Nevada and Utah.

After a freeze, I will try for cotton tail or Pigmy rabbits for the pot, when the ring worms die off, if present.

Great picture of down south............
way to go.

The desert tortoise:

From yesterday's hike: