North Algodones Sand Dunes: Dreaming of African Sahara

Algodones Sand Dunes resemble the Sahara

On my 1st and only trip to the North Algodones Sand Dunes located in the Imperial Valley of California, I was hoping to experience some untouched sand dunes.  The Algodones Dunes are segregated into the North and the South.  The North is designated wilderness and off-road vehicles are forbidden.  The South is a designated site for off-road vehicle fun.  When I drove into Glamis that was quite clear that the South receives a lot more attention than the North.

I slept in my car beside the North dunes and got up well before sunrise so that I could hike out onto the dunes and be there when the sun came up.  I was surprised at how much walking I had to do simply to reach the dunes.  It was very flat but seems to take about twice as long as I expected.  The dunes began fairly abruptly on the edge of some brush and trees.  Yet a few questions and even a tree or 2 are located in the midst of the dunes as far as I can see.  There was never a location where the dunes were completely 100% sand without vegetation.

I certainly enjoyed taking pictures at sunrise.  After about an hour it started to get quite hot and I started making my way back towards the edge of the dunes.  It was at this time that I discovered this lonely tree which actually has a nest.  I was careful to make a wide circle around this tree because I did not want my footprints in the picture.  This shot was taken with an 85 millimeters lens which I thought was a good choice to include the tree and the surrounding areas but also to give a perspective of the distant dunes seem to go on forever.

In postprocessing I must admit there were a few small rocks and pebbles in the sand that I removed using Photoshop so that I could have a very clean sand dune appearance.

A few hours on the dunes I felt like I was in Africa.  Sand dunes are quite spectacular in person and in photography.