Death Valley

Really, there's no rhyme or reason to my photos yet. They're not in chronological order, not by far. Right now, I'm just pulling from my flickr account and going through the 'archives' and seeing what inspires me to tell a story. Maybe March's project will be a photo from that particular day. Of course that requires me to take at least one photo every day, but there in lies the challenge.



This photo was taken in the sand dunes of Death Valley. Yes, that Death Valley. Do you remember several winters ago when LA was simply drowning in rainfall? Well that rain also fell in Death Valley, and caused all sorts of flowers and vegetation to bloom. That's right, BLOOM, in Death Valley. One of my high school friends, his girlfriend, a friend of hers, and I decided to make a trek to see the blooms in Death Valley. This was in March.

It was a ton of fun, and we spent the night in the sand dunes, after having dinner there. I'm sure we went to bed pretty early and we woke up fairly rested at the crack of dawn. Literally. So we got to watch the sun rise over the dunes which was a lovely experience and I have several minutes of it catalogued on my camera. This particular picture was taken on our hike back towards the cars. Guess which one I am. ;-)

We ended up going to the lowest point in the United States, Badwater Basin, which unlike normal, actually held water. The days did get warm, but nowhere near the overwhelming and oppressive heat that Death Valley is famous for.

Seeing so much green and other colors dotting the otherwise bare landscape was a sight to see. I think I came back from that trip with 300+ pictures.

And the best part of all? We beat the rush. Sure, there were other people there. But at least a week or so later, the Great Bloom was featured on 60 Minutes (if not other news magazines) and the crowds POURED into Death Valley.

I don't have many photos posted from the trip on Flickr, but just give me time. ;-)