Death Valley – Day 1
The intent was to spend three days in Death Valley exploring the land, taking some pictures, and testing out the new FJ. I thought that being in the winter, it wouldn’t be very crowded and the fact we had a storm go through the area so I thought that there would have a sky full of clouds for the pictures I planned to take. In addition, the backcountry roads would be great to drive on; muddy, but safe. Everything went according to plan. Except the timing.
I started out early morning, stopped in Barstow for supplies, and arrived in Death Valley at about two in the afternoon. My first stop was going to be a short drive in Twenty Mule Team Canyon, but when I got there it was closed due to mud slides. Ok, not a big deal. I drove up to the top of Titus Canyon. Nope, closed due to mud and debris in the canyon.
It was now almost five and while coming back from the Titus Canyon I saw the next site, the Stovepipe Wells sand dunes.
Stovepipe Dunes from Titus Canyon road.
It was fascinating to see from a distance. When I got to the spot I wanted to take my images. The first spot was in the Devil’s Cornfield where I could get a view of both the plants and the dunes.
Devil's Cornfield
The second spot was closer to dunes where I could walk out into the near dunes and take pictures there. From both sites the views of the dunes were amazing.
Stovepipe Dunes at Sunset
Stovepipe Dunes at Sunset
While walking out toward the dunes, I got the chance to shoot some of the detail in the sand.
Sand Ripples
I spent that night in the Stovepipe Wells campground and woke up early to start day two.
All of the Death Valley images can be seen here.
Tags: Death Valley, FJ Cruiser, Images, Photography