And Yea, We Bounced Through the Valley of Death
Don and Dave Expose Themselves in Death Valley
We loaded Dave's pickup full of snacks and lenses and booked it out to Nevada for the first photo safari of 2022.
This was the long-awaited sequel to our 1993 Field Studies with San Jose State University's natural science program. But this time, we spent as much time as necessary to get the right photo.
Day 1
We explored the southern part of the park, starting with a view from Dante's Point for an amazing overview of the valley. We followed 190 to The Inn at Death Valley, followed Badwater Rd south to Badwater Basin, then turned right around and came back. We declined the opportunity actually to walk out to the basin.
On the way back, we drove through the Artist's Palette, where we saw the layered hills. I got the first real iconic (postcard) view of the makeup of the park.
Twenty Mule Team Canyon was the next turn-off for us. I saw a wash that carried and buried a bunch of old food cans that miners likely tossed away. IT may seem odd to photograph junk, but scenes like this are a visual record of human impact on the land. The simple fact is rust usually has a story to tell.
That night we drove down to Death Valley Junction and photographed the Amargosa Opera House. Although I didn't get a picture of the house I particularly liked, I did enjoy shooting the Orion Constellation through an old, broken street light.
We took 127 into Nevada, where it changed to 373 and followed it to the end at U.S. Rte 95. We found the highly publicized Area 51 Alien Center, which is next door to the Alien Cathouse Brothel; this took us by surprise since all the billboards we saw advertised an Alien Bunny Ranch. Clearly, they employ shapeshifters to serve the stacks of semi-trucks parked in front.
