As may be noticed from the photos in the blog, on the about page, or in the store, The Wild Images Team has been to many places throughout North America. What may be more surprising is the fact that we have traveled to all of these places using a single vehicle, a very reliable 2007 Nissan Xterra Off Road Model. Our Photographer, Jeremy, was drawn to this particular vehicle after a road trip in the late nineties. One of his friends had a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder, which was used to drive the extremely rugged four-wheel drive road through Teapot Canyon to the very remote Dollhouse section of the Maze District in Canyonlands National Park of Utah. This is a notoriously difficult drive that takes 9 hours to complete a mere 50 miles. It often requires someone to stand in front and direct the driver to the best path through the deep dry washes and over the massive boulders. Yet his vehicle completed this with ease, even loaded down with four people, three dogs, and all of the necessary gear for a long stay in an area where no potable water is found. It was a trip that will always be remembered for many reasons, including the solitude of seeing nobody else the entire trip, sleeping in a sandstone cave during a lightning storm, and swimming in the Colorado River miles away and thousands of feet below. But one part of this trip that always stood out was the performance of the vehicle. Within a year our Photographer purchased a Pathfinder as well, this one a used 1995 model, and used it for many travels while he was learning photography. In the years since, Nissan came out with the Xterra, the rugged four wheel drive vehicle that was a counterpart to the Pathfinder which itself was evolving to more of a crossover style vehicle. It took a little while for our Photographer to have the funds to purchase an Xterra, but he was able to by one brand new in 2007. It is this same vehicle that has been used to drive all over the United States, up through Canada, and as far as Anchorage and Seward, Alaska. It has been to every state in the country at least twice except for just once to Alaska and of course not Hawaii. And the vehicle is still running well to this very day, over 15 years and 300,000 miles later. Here is an image of the vehicle as it makes its way over a well maintained dirt road in Red Canyon, Utah. A close inspection will find The Wild Images Team Coordinator, Christina, in the passenger seat. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Utah including the competition between cliff colors and clouds in Zion National Park, the intricate designs of the high altitude patterned wall in Zion National Park, distant rain curtains over the colorful cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park, cloud shadows defining the colorful pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park, the scenic view as the full moon rises over Red Canyon, the Goblin Valley State Park thunderstorm and lightning strike over goblins, the impenetrable colorful rim wall of Goblin Valley State Park, the gravity defying balanced rock with snow in Arches National Park, the moment in Arches National Park when a winter storm clears over pinnacles and the La Sal Mountains, the very bright but fleeting rainbow beyond The Hand in Arches National Park, the instance In Arches National Park when lightning strikes near the Three Gossips, the green slopes of Sandy Mountain guarded by red lichen rock sentinels, the wild clouds over the elevated plains of the Grand Staircase-Escalante, and finally in Midway where the five flags of the military fly over Memorial Hill, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts documenting our time in Utah include the road towards the extremely remote Valley of the Gods, an expansive view of the major formations of Zion National Park, the road winding through Fremont cottonwoods in Zion National Park, the road through intricately carved highlands in Zion National Park, the road through red and white rock cliffs in Zion National Park, The Wild Images Team vehicle on a dirt road in Red Canyon, the high altitude scene where a thistle soaks up the brief summer season sunshine, the moment a snake slithers over water plants in Cascade Springs, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance to Cascade Springs, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome standing proudly in Goblin Valley, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at The Brick Oven Restaurant, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at an overlook of Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome in front of the rock pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park, The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the entrance of Zion National Park, and finally The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome in front of the cliffs of Zion National Park.
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