A Crater and a Colorful Canyon
First, yes, we did fall off the end of the earth. We are, after all, in Death Valley, and the Internet here is, as I may have mentioned before, iffy at best and non-existent a good portion of the time. Throw in a sand/dust storm, and, what can I say. We do not exist in the outside world.
In the morning, however, the dust storm had not yet hit. There had been hints of its coming the last day or so, but we headed out to the crater, knowing we would have clear air for the lava crater.
It is an other-worldly place. I am sure some films have been made here. If you look at the posters around our hotel, “Star Wars” and Gregory Peck’s “The Gunfighter” stand at opposite ends of the entertainment scene and era of movies made here.
At first, our group looked more like deer in the headlights, but soon, they found their vision and had fun making different photographs. You saw my owl from the other day scouting.
Breakfast only lasts until 10:00, and we found ourselves scrambling back to the hotel to make it in time. There was no question of calling. Cell service? What cell service? It is what it is, and we all know that coming out here. In Death Valley, there are places where there are signals, and we take advantage of those locations to catch up with the outside world.
In the afternoon, we headed for a canyons filled with colors of all sorts — mauves, teals, coppers, chocolates, creams, ochres, roses, plums, etc. It is an amazing place and speaks to the fantastic geology of this land.
On the way, I started making noises akin to a cat chattering at a bird just outside the window. There were beautiful, soft layers across the valley floor (see above). The layers were exaggerated by the dust/sand storm coming in.
Arnie stopped, and our little caravan pulled in behind. Everyone got out and enjoyed the same views that attracted me.
It was a quick stop, as we wanted to get into the canyon while there was still light.
Several of us clambered down from the parking area and headed up into one of the washes. I knew what I wanted, and I found it coming back down. The light bounced back into our wash, and with a little post-processing to finish it off, I was very pleased with the results.
Some people wanted another chance to do night skies, so we returned to Badwater to do more. Along with light painting and clearer skies for stars, people had fun.
As we drove back, the sand/dust storm engulfed us. Sand drifted across the road in places, and visibility at times was nearly zilch. We made it back to the hotel safely, and we were glad to be out of the biting sand that assaulted us as we hurried from our cars into the restaurant.
Dinner time found us sitting around the tables, downloading images, sharing with others, making selects, and processing before we did an evening critique session. Arnie and I were pleased to see that everyone got at least one great shot.
Another early morning, so we packed it up and headed off to bed.
Next: Day 4, An Iconic Location and some Dunes
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