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This post is just to tell you to keep scrolling down 'cause I added several posts today.

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I don't see you crying, robot!

(The is the only Star Wars-less title for the day)

I feel like this is about to be the scene in the final episode of Arrested Development when the family finally sees Michael Bluth cry and are put off.

I find a significant serenity out here that I have hitherto found unmatched in any other type of vacation.

It is difficult to describe concisely, and I would say that I have not put enough thought to the matter to truly communicate it if I had the time, but I will say that I feel both more and less like myself here than I do anywhere else. Sitting in front of the fire after a full day exploring the natural wonders here and eating a simple but hot meal, I feel far different than I do most any other time.

I can't attribute it to the lack of responsibility that typifies vacations since I have many of the same stresses here that I have "at home" (rather than daily work stress I have the stress of securing a new job, rather than the stress of feeding and getting the kids to bed I have the stress of getting to camp before dark and preparing a meal before the temperature drops, rather than the stress of daily home tasks I have the burden of lost potential on a trip that I will truly only make once in my lifetime) so I don't really know what the cause is.

Perhaps it is the combination of the place and the solitude. It may be that this is what vacations - and I mean real vacations - are like for others and that this is the only kind of vacation that does this for me.

As I said in so many words, I cant truly explain the origin or effect. But I am grateful.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

We must be cautious.

The picture you see below is the view from Dante's View (5475ft).  It is just Southeast of Badwater and a steep drive.  The last 1/4 mile of the drive is a 15% Grade.  I bring it to your particular attention because it is the view from which we first see Mos Eisley, the spaceport where Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi find a smuggler who agrees to take them to Alderaan.  The valley floor has changed significantly from the film since it goes through typical natural processes (and it's been 30 years) but if you watch the film and look at the picture, you'll see it.

Where's not going to get another chance at this...

(Admiral).

So I've changed my plans.  I initially chose Zion as a destination because, well, everything else was far out of the way.  But I have decided that I like the desert more.  So while I would like to see Zion, on my limited time, I am going to shuffle things in favor of the desert.

First, I am going to stay in Deva tonight and head to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada tomorrow, where I will probably stay only one night.  On the way, I will check out Ryolite and gold boom town which is now a ghost town.  This will take me through Vegas, so I might have to stop for a sweet all you can eat buffet and some cards.  Hmmmm.  Maybe that is how I will be able to afford my second camera body.

After a night in VoF I am going to cross the Hoover Dam for the second time in my life and drive to Holbrook AZ - the closest town to The Petrified Forest.  This will give me more time in the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.  I was initially planning on staying only 1 night here, which would mean less than half a day to visit and photograph.

From there, it's long driving days through the middle part of the country, but there is plenty of "Weird America" type stuff to see, so I might get some good shots of the Giant Cross in Texas, or the Woody Guthrie Statue (really).

What makes you think there will be settlements over there?

What is with all these Star Wars related titles anyway?  Well, gentle reader, many of the scenes on Tatooine (Luke Skywalker's home planet) were filmed here in Death Valley.  The dunes you are about to see are Stovepipe Dunes.  The desolate dunes C3-PO and R2-D2 are lost in after escaping from the captured Tantive IV are these very dunes.  They big'uns are about 1.5 miles from the road through loose desert sand. Once there, it took some hiking to find the shots I was looking for.  I don't know if you have hiked through this kind of sand before but it is exhausting.  It's hard to take a bad shot of these dunes if you show up for the sunrise (like I did).  After mid-morning the sun makes these (and any dunes) flat and bright.  But early morning and late in the afternoon, the contrast is great.  After the first shot of some bird footprints (most likely a Kildeer) there are just sundry shots of the dunes, including one featuring me.

Here is a little guy I found in the Visitors' Center parking lot.  Unfortunately he was pretty fearless, which means someone fed him.  So I got some good shots, but he'll probably be dead soon.  Wild animals that get fed by humans get used to seeing humans and then get sick from our food, hit by our cars, or become aggressive (in the case of feline and canis families) and are killed or put down.  So it was cool to see him, but overall, the story is bad.

These last shots are from Hell's Gate.  I went up at the end of the day to get some sidelighting of the valley hoping for some good color, but the haze in the valley defeated me.  Still you can see me again, and a shot looking down the southern end of the valley.

If there's a bright center to the universe...

Welcome to Day 1 in Death Valley.

(Please excuse the current lack of high resolution shots, internet here is slow so I may not get them all up for a while)

These first two shots are from the way into the park. The long road into the valley and the view from Crowley Point.

 

Started off by going to Badwater, the lowest point in the western hemisphere. There isn't much water here, but what little is here is, well, bad. The name was given when an early surveyor marked the small pools and his map with "Bad Water" after his mule wouldn't drink it. The water that forms the pool here can be runoff from the hills but mostly comes up through the ground picking up the mineral deposits as it comes. This is also the only known habitat of the Badwater Snail, who apparently doesn't mind the salt, but is too shy to be photographed. It is also endangered.

Next stop was Devil's Golf Course mostly because there is a sign pointing it out. The area consists of more salt and dirt, just taller formations than Badwater or the Salt Flats.  That is Telescope Peak in the background. It is the highest point in the park.  The drop from Telescope to Badwater is one of the biggest and steepest on the planet: from 11,048 feet to -282 feet.

After that I took Artist's Drive which doesn't photograph well in the morning and midday light. I may get back here in the evening for some shots. So then it was on to Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie is just above the Golden Canyon trailhead and overlooks the valley I was just in. I hiked out to the washes below the point and shot some pics. There isn't much water in Death Valley, but there is a lot of evidence of water and you can see in the runoffs, stratification in Zabriskie Point, and mud crusts.

I stopped and shot some roadside flowers as well. There ARE flowers in Death Valley. In the winter anyway.

Last shots, Stovepipe Dunes which I hiked this morning (exHAUSTing) and will have more for you later, the dusk sky in DeVa, and the homestead.

There's not much to see...

Actually, there is, but just no photos yet since I haven't gotten any off the camera.  I have been hiking and shooting and will hopefully have something to upload tomorrow.

Here are some tidbits from the drive:

Gas just outside DV: $3.39/gal.

Gas just inside DV: $4.49/gal

Firewood outside DV: $6.49/bundle, which is less than 1 nights' fire.

Firewood inside DV: Undiscovered so far (it's all BYOW).

Temperature at 7:30 AM: 27 Degrees.

The Sun goes down early in the valley due to the mountains on either side that, you know, make it a valley.  This presents quite a challenge in photographing places that look their best just before and just after sunset.