Worth the hike

This 3.6 billion year old rock is a long walk from the road. Once or twice a year I make the long, hot trek in to look for blooming prickly pear cactus. A few weeks ago I applied for a drone permit from the Scientific and Natural Area Program and the stipulation of the permit is to make one minute videos of 12 selected SNAs.  Gneiss Outcrops is on the list so the trip was worthwhile even though I missed the cactus bloom again.

Technical: Mavic Pro Platinum with 4 stop ND polarizing filter. Edit in Final Cut. Final edit aided by the insightful eyes of daughter Elizabeth.

A little late

 

I decided to photograph cactus flowers this summer. My first opportunity was at Louisville Swamp near Shakopee on July 4th weekend. I wasn't happy with the results. A couple weeks ago I went to Gneiss Outcrops near Granite Falls for prickly pear flowers. It was 90+ degrees, humid and I found something like this. Yesterday I was out and was only 88 degrees, still no flowers.  What am I doing wrong? After two frustrating visits I decided to research images like this on Google. This is the fruit not the bud, going back a third time will not result in my flower image.

Lesson: Next time I'll do some research before hand instead of afterward. On a positive note, Granite Falls has a great Dairy Queen where a salted caramel truffle Blizzard will restore you after your walk among the rocks.