Daily Nature Fix: The Golden Dunes of Mesquite Flat. (Original Photos)

     Hello fellow nature enthusiast.  Today's daily nature fix is about some classic-looking sand dunes found in Death Valley National Park.  They are the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes:

      Due to them being so classic-looking (and their ease of access from the road), the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes have been the filming location of many films including Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.  The scene where R2D2 and C3PO were wandering lost through the druid dunes was filmed here.  Pretty cool huh??

  ^^^ I took this photo on my hike up to the ridge.

   Much of the fine sands that make up these dunes are quartz and likely come from the Cottonwood Mountains to the north of this location, and began as much larger rocks long ago.  Erosion and wind patterns wear the rock down and converge at several locations within the park, depositing and shaping these dunes.

     Seeing these dunes was kind of surprising and a learning experience for me.  These were the first real sand dunes I ever saw (not many in Pennsylvania!), and I always pictured places that have them to just be rolling sand in every direction for as far as the eye can see; like you'd see on TV or movies.  That's not the case, it turns out.  As you can see in the background of the photo above, almost all of Death Valley is a rocky, rubble-filled wasteland.  Not sandy.... just rock, mountains, boulders, canyons, etc.   The several locations of sand dunes in the park look pretty out of place, to be honest.  It really looks like someone took a few thousand truck loads of play sand and dumped them in various spots.  Jagged rock here, jagged rock there, then a little spot with smooth, wavy piles of sand.   Here's another example where you can see what I'm describing a bit better; these are different dunes called "Panamint Dunes"

^^^Panamint Dunes from about 2 miles away.  See what I mean? Out of place looking...

    I guess the horizon-to-horizon type of sandy desert dunes are found in places like Nambia and other parts of the Sahara. 

    Aaaaaaanyway, I notice I used the word "little" when talking about the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in the previous paragraph.  I should clarify... these dunes are no joke.  The largest of it's dunes is called "Star Dune" and is around 150 feet deep.  To put that another way, you can bury a 15 story building in it!  Here's another photo to puts the dunes into scale a bit more:

^^^Notice the little person in the center of the photo??

     Thanks for reading! I post a nature-themed Daily Nature Fix blog every day. Upvote if you enjoyed it and be sure to follow me @customnature so you'll never miss one!  See you tomorrow.  - Adam

***Daily Nature Fix is a daily blog showcasing the natural world.  It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***