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Calico Hills Photos
The Calico Hills Trail is the first set of trails that you get to in the scenic loop. It is variable length and relatively easy to take.

The Calico Hills are set apart from the rest of the Red Rock valley and are at the north end facing south. Light and the direction of the sun are important in Red Canyon because photos taken an hour apart will look different.

Calico Hills is no exception. There three places that you can approach them from, Calico Basin which is outside of the Scenic Drive, Calico Hills overlooks, 1 and 2, and The Calico Tanks Trail. Although there are decent photo opportunities everywhere, all the time, each one of these spots has a time of day that is more responsive to the sunlight.


The south facing Calico Hills trails are a good example of this. Midday shots put the sunlight more directly on all the crevices and relief that these cliffs show. Some shadow is always necessary. Too much shadow works against you unless you use them to your advantage.
If you do encounter a 'shadow' problem, you must try to take advantage of it. The same knoll from our too much shadow example is pictured from a different angle this time.

It has a different look and shows the size and scale of these huge boulders and cliffs.

One of the issues at the Calicos Hills is the scale of the place. If you don't communicate that in some of your photos, then the viewer misses the effect of 'being there'. The rocks and cliffs are huge. People look like dots against them.

This good in some cases. These cliffs are a favorite 'rock climbing' place to many. Where else can you legally deface 100 million year old geological treasures and be 'outdoorsy'? These are very easy rocks to climb. Putting spikes in them is so wrong.
In the crisscross fossils that you see everywhere, there is another scale that can be communicated here. Time. When looking at fossilized cross sections of sand dunes that existed so long ago some people think deep thoughts, others are driven to walk and climb on them. Perhaps rock climbing in a place like this, because it is so public and unnecessary, is a metaphoric act of some kind? It certainly is not done for exercise of body or skill, there other, better places. Everyone can see them here.

But that is an illusion also because from the overlooks, everyone is barely visible, they look like dots. Being surrounded by these immense yellow and red streaked cliffs and boulders does bring to mind the scale of things. That is one of the things about Red Rock that must appeal to people it can give temporarily give you a different perspective on things.
That is the reason that these places set aside from development and other types of encroachment. Because they move you, make you think and it is fun to be there. The Calico Hills have all of that.

The hiking, because it is variable, can be easy or moderate. It is visually interesting, from many perspectives.
 
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