Windswept Desert

a bone-dry basin

Originally published on Greengale

Western Utah's Sevier Lake is an endorheic basin, but it is actually a vast playa that remains dry most of the time. On a windy day in December 2025, I was hiking in the Confusion range, flying my drone, just barely steady enough in the intense wind to capture the three photos stitched here, which captured this aerial panoramic view facing east. The dust picked up by the stiff breeze is seen below the horizon, drifting northward.

Panoramic aerial photograph of a vast desert mountain landscape under a pale blue sky with wispy clouds. In the foreground, rugged mountain ranges with sparse scrubby vegetation create a mottled gray-brown texture across steep ridges and shadowed valleys. The terrain extends into the middle distance where additional mountain ranges fade into atmospheric haze. On the far horizon, a large white dry lake bed (playa) is visible, bordered by distant mountain silhouettes. The image captures the characteristic Basin and Range topography of the American Southwest, emphasizing the immense scale and arid beauty of the region.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

A few hours earlier, we had driven across highway 6/50, which passes right by the north edge of Sevier Lake, where the visibility was greatly reduced by the plume. From this elevated vantage point above the summit, the extent of the lakebed (~40 miles long) can be seen producing dust filling the valley to the north, near Delta, UT (the nearest town).

The vast scale of this remote region is difficult to depict on camera, but an aerial view captures it better than a photo from on foot. You will never traverse the land shown here without a vehicle, and very few people have any reason to visit. It is deeply serene—and an unnatural, alien place to be as a human being.