Streaks of silver moonlight dance on the water. The setting sun purples the sky. It's a compelling scene, made more so by the fact that the moon is rising over the Pacific.

We're camped on Third Beach. 
In the morning, the tide drains the beach. It’s as if a mischievous god has pulled the plug on the sea. We wander among boulders plastered with sea stars, anemones and barnacles. Raccoons scurry about, crunching crabs. Black-tailed deer sample the kelp. The screams of oystercatchers break...

Brilliant hues await in the slots, the focus for Gary Luhm's trip to the desert plateaus of Utah and Arizona

The slot canyons of the southwestern Colorado Plateau (mostly southern Utah and northern Arizona) are peculiar phenomena of Navajo sandstone. Eroded by water and the scouring power of silt, sand, and debris, they cut vertically through the landscape like a saw blade. The warm-hued surfaces emit quality light — enough to make the slot canyons the centerpiece for a trip to a region that screams with superlatives...