The alarm went off at 4:15 am. I
really wanted to keep sleeping but I forced myself to get UP. On the schedule: sunrise at Dante's View, which was about a 90 minute drive (sunrise was 6:30-ish). So off to Death Valley I headed, this time in the dark. Again, I started off over 4,000 above sea below and gradually descended DOWN below sea level. Then on my way to Dante's View, I went back UP, this time more than a mile above sea level. After my photo shoot there, I made my way back DOWN to below sea level, with a couple stops. I meandered around sea level, plus or minus a couple hundred feet, and afterwards, I went back UP to my hotel in Beatty where I started. Phew! I almost feel a little manic-depressive with all these ups and downs!
After my photo shoot at Dante's View (see previous post), I made a stop at 20 Mule Canyon Drive. This wasn't on my list, but I'm glad I did it. It's a 3 mile narrow drive through the badlands and the "back side" of Artist's Drive. Very cool! I then made a quick stop back at Zabriskie Point to scope out a good vantage point to shoot the sunrise (and avoid all those other annoying photographers), which I managed to do.
Next I headed towards Eureka Mine, which is way on the other side of the Panamint Mountain range. However, I discovered that the road to the mine was closed. I knew that a few roads were closed as a result of damage due to flash floods a few weeks ago (not unusual) but I didn't make the connection. Drat!
I then headed
back to the other side of the park to visit a couple other spots. But, these were largely a bust too. And the wind was ferocious! Winds were steady at 30-40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph per my weather app. Not very much fun. At one point, the wind caught the door of my truck and sprung it in the not so good direction. It closes a little funky now so I am praying I am not stuck with some huge repair bill. Arggh! Frustrated, tired and bummed at what had happened, I decided to bag it for the day and head back to the hotel early.
Along the way back, I stopped at Rhyolite ghost town and the Goldwell Open Air Museum (
www.goldwellmuseum.orghttp://goldwellmuseum.org/). Very unusual....I won't say much about it here and simply suggest that you look it up on the internet.
For dinner, I headed back to the VFW. The food (and beer) is surprisingly good, and I just love the atmosphere (despite the cigarette smoke). The place gets a lot of out-of-town visitors since it is highly recommended and Beatty is one of the two main "gateway" towns into Death Valley. In fact, tonight there were a bunch of international visitors. I spoke to a guy from Scotland and a couple from France, and I think there were folks from Germany and other locations as well. I love this place!
Tomorrow morning: sunrise at Mesquite Dunes (hopefully the wind will cooperate) with acquaintances that just happen to be here at the same time (more on that later).
 |
| Dead roots of bush along 20 Mule Canyon Road |
 |
| My rental truck parked on 20 Mule Canyon Road (this truck, a Ford F-150, is actually quite nice...I think I could easily own one of these!) |
 |
| Rock promontory along 20 Mule Canyon Drive (some of you know that I love Black & White photographs; I haven't converted many from this trip in the interest of time, but this scene screamed B&W when I saw it) |
 |
| 20 Mule Canyon Drive -- Note the tall sides of the drive. Not sure how they made this road because the stuff is rock hard! |
 |
| Because the sides of the drive were rather high, I was able to get a unique perspective of these rocks |
 |
| Classic badland geological formation along the 20 Mule Canyon Drive. |
|
 |
| Quick stopover at Zabriskie Point...note the hiker. |
 |
| Devil's Golf Course |
 |
| "The Last Supper" by artist Albert Szukalski at the Goodwill Open Air Museum |
 |
| What I assume to be Christ in Szukalski's sculpture |
 |
| "Ghost Rider" by same artist at the Goldwell museum |
 |
| I won't attempt to explain this. Visit https://www.speeltheater.nl/en/installations/ and scroll down to "The Beauty of Decay" |
 |
| Dinner (yes, a picture of my food): mussels in their housemade tequila-lime broth. Simply amazing! And only $10! (Mussels at a VFW...whaaaaat?) |
 |
| The bar at the the VFW with ubiquitous war memorabilia and local patrons. The bartender, Mary, is making a bloody mary...from SCRATCH (no mix)! |
Comments
Post a Comment