Sometimes things come together just the way they are supposed to and you have to love when that happens. Our Death Valley trip was one of those occasions. About a month ago, our good friend and fellow photographer, Stewart Marcano, approached us about taking a trip to the desert of southern California. Another fellow photog, Elliott Crowley, was thinking about doing a “395 Trip.” What, you might ask, is a “395 Trip?” For this group it is a trip out highway 395 to the splendid and fascinating world of the desert.
San Diegans and other denizens of Southern California know that one of the highlights of spring is the desert. So desolate and blistering hot in the summer, the desert is amazingly beautiful in the spring as it comes into bloom. One of the best places to see this incredible display of nature is Death Valley. We discovered our friends Adam and Sara were headed to Death Valley as was a former professor, Christopher Broughton. For all of us this it was a no brainer. With little to no thought we added Death Valley to our 395 itinerary. Over a matter of days a trip what started with just three of us blossomed into a reunion of former teachers and fellow students from Brook’s Institute of Photography. Sometimes life has a way of bringing us together in the most magical and unplanned ways.
Our trip began at four in the morning with Stewart showing up at our house in La Jolla. Making sure we had coffee on board (after all four in the morning is four in the morning) we start our race north looking for first light. Passing through the Mojave Desert we began to get a hint of what was to come. Flowers in shades of yellow and blue covered the desert floor. We had never seen so many flowers on a dusty, bushy desert landscape.
Our first stop of the day was the old gold mining town of Darwin. It is a rather unusual place. The old town and mines are long deserted and spooky. You know there is no one around but you feel, none the less, that you are being watched. The newer areas of Darwin, which grew up around the ghost town is just as strange and eery as the older areas. You know people are there but the only place we saw them was at the post office where they waited for their daily supply of Netflix. Exploring the town and its decrepit buildings and rusting vehicles, we took pictures of what ever attracted us. Driving trucks with four wheel drive gave us access to some interesting and unusual sites. But don’t be deterred. You can enjoy this historic town by using more conventional (paved) roads.
After Darwin we headed to Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. We were the first of our motley crew to arrive at what we affectionally referred to as “Base Camp.” It is really a dirt lot camping ground. Before long “Base Camp” began to fill up so we reserved some spots and waited for our fellow travellers to arrive. It didn’t take long. Elliot showed up in his gorgeous Airstream and not long after, Adam and Sara showed up and pitched their tent not far from ours. Once everybody was settled we took off for our first adventure to the Devils Golf course. If you have never seen it you will understand when you see out pictures. Do not make the mistake Brett did and wear shoes with thin soles. These formations are amazingly beautiful but they are also SHARP!! So take care what you wear on your feet. Next we headed out on a lovely drive to the Artist’s loop. We also stopped for a short hike into the hills and found out once again that we were ill prepared for scrambling up rock faces with our equipment.
The next day we awoke before the sun and ventured down the road to capture the Dunes as first light hit them. We thought we were early but found that our friend, Chris Broughton, had beat us as usual and had already made the hike out. First light in the dunes of Death Valley is a magical time. Your really get to see the shape and form of the dunes as that low, raking first light of day breaks across them. Even if you don’t take your camera with you, you should see this at least once in your life. It is absolutely captivating!
Once the sun is up, you will understand why it is called Death Valley. The heat of the desert enervates you, stealing all energy and leaving a sweltering lump. Returning to Basecamp we prepared ourselves for the day ahead. Heading to Beatty, just inside the Nevada Border, this is a great place for several reasons. Gas is cheaper by $1.50 to $2.00 and they have a great little store, The Death Valley Nut and Candy Store, where you find an amazing selection of goodies. After all, what would the desert be without a sugar high?
From there we trekked north on the 95 past a few Brothels and came upon a burned out fuel station which afforded us the opportunity to take some great shots. Finishing there we rolled on to our next location. A dry lake bed along the 267 on our way back into the park was calling to us. The group pulled in and Elliot did a shot for a project he is working on while the rest of us gave him a hand or took pictures of our own.
Back on the road….again. If you have never been to this incredible place There is a LOT of driving in Death Valley if you want to see anything. We continued down the road and stopped briefly at Scotty’s Castle. This is a great spot where you can learn some history as well as get some great shots of a cool place.
Back in the cars, we headed for our next stop: The Race Track. Now for those of you who do not know of the race track, it is a magical and amazing place in Death Valley, as well as being one of our favorite places to see. First of all there is a 27 mile washboard road that attacks your kidneys for 45-minutes to 1 1/2 hours depending on the comfort and speed at which you assault them. Be sure to stop by Teakettle junction in order to admire the many tea pots that adorn the sign. After another 15 minutes or so of driving you will come around a corner and see the vast expanse of the dry lake-bed, or Playa, that is before you.
The first stop is the grandstand. This collection of rock juts out from the north eastern side of the lake and is worth an explore. Once you have explored to your hearts content, we recommend that you drive to the far west side of the lake so you can see where the magic comes from. This is our favorite part. The reason this lake is called the Race Track is that boulders are seemingly flung from this side of the lake and dragged all across the playa leaving tracks behind them as they go. These tracks go in all directions and seem to have no rhyme or reason. There are many ideas and philosophies as to how they move, but making up your own is far more fun. Brett’s favorite is that aliens are playing a game like marbles and when the rocks disappear, someone has scored a point. Make up your own, its fun! The best part is, is that the locations and dragged marks change from year to year. We have heard of people going out there and only finding one or two rocks on the entire bed after a full day of searching. Luckily the two times we have been out there we had our pick of many available rocks. As you will see by the pictures this is a magical and mysterious place and, we can assure you, these are not the last pictures you will see from us and this crazy place.
So as the sun set we scrurried back across the washboard for our almost two hour trip back to ‘Base Camp.” Once we arrived we made a fantastic dinner of Cheesburgers with Bretts Special seasoning mix. Elliott contributed one of his amazing salads, and the remainder of our veggies. After the feast some Vodka was poured, a few beers were cracked and a bottle of wine was popped. A perfect ending to a busy day.
Needless to say after the previous two days nobody felt like getting up early the next day. So after breakfast we packed up camp and had a discussion of how to spend the rest of our day. After a short talk Elliot decided to head home because he had a long drive back to Santa Barbara with his Airstream. The rest of us, (Adam, Sara, Stewart, Liz And Brett) decided that a leasurly drive home stopping at a few of our favorite stops along the 395, were in order. So we spent the rest of the day driving and stopping wherever we pleased. We got some great images and found some new sights as well. One new place we will have to explore more is the sleepy mine town of Randsburg. This place is half dirt biker heaven for a bar and snacks, and half sleepy old miners town. This is definitely a place we would love to come back to. For the adventures it would make a great place to do an engagement shoot. So if you interested… let us know.
This was an absolutely amazing trip. Everyone got along famously. We cooked gourmet dinners on Elliott’s amazing folding grill that was missing a wheel, we burned marshmallows, we woke up way too early to hike out for sunrise at the dunes, and kept our neighbors up with campfires stories, and when the trip was all over we couldn’t wait to do it all again.
Our first stop Darwin CA
We were drawn to this cool old water truck.
We saw this cool waiting room chair out in the middle of the desert on our way out of Darwin and could not resist stopping to grab a shot of it.
Mr Eliot Crowley at the Devils Golf Course
Liz out and about on the Devils Golf Course
Adam Morris out on the Course
Sunrise at the Dunes is a magical time
Liz doing what she does best
The Dreaded Gas Station in Nevada
Brett’s attempt at sexy
Liz pauses from shooting to take in all the splendor of the Playa
Brett gets down and dirty to get the shot
Our trip home on the 395
Brett and Adam in the back room of a cafe that is falling apart.
We made a pit stop for a photo op. Thanks for the portrait Stew.
The desert wildflowers were everywhere on the way home. It would have been a sin if we had not stopped to see them.