Southwest
Road Trip: Part II

April
7-18, 2010
PHOTOS
AND STORY by Jason Hummel
Part
II – Death Valley Dunes, 2 days
Deciding
what to do next
is always a challenge, especially when plans are shifting and evolving.
This was why Kathy and I went to the Eureka Dunes in 2009 during
our first Death Valley road trip. We let happenstance rule and fate
direct. Nothing has changed this time around. Through the following
two days we traveled the sands and explored the southern reaches
of Death Valley National Park.




Not
enough can be said about the fields of sand verbena or the dunes
themselves. Words are poor reservoirs for explanation, but where
they may lack, images do not. Between shifting colors and light,
curving lines and swallowing shadows, a photograph salves the thirsty
imagination. Throughout an afternoon of clouds rolling over in big
blue skies and sights down long desert valleys, we began to feel
at home, even as the light began to fade and darkness unsheathed
the stars.


It
had been painful to go to bed so early, so many hours into the night;
I climbed up to the dunes from camp through pitch blackness. Over
and around me, sand screamed across the slopes until it was swept
out past sharp dune crests and deposited on the leeward sands below.
While exciting, it was hardly good for the night photographs I’d
hoped for. Nevertheless, I spent two hours trying. Moments passed
while I enjoyed following a bat with my headlamp and watching meteors
shoot through the sky.















By
mid-morning the next day we are packed and hiking across the desert
to the car. Most of the day thus far had been spent exploring a
mine and watching the sunrise. Locked in the valley between massive
mountains, the sunrise was late in coming, but the mine was a fun
distraction. I’m always surprised how much litter I find at
mines. There’s no excuse, but time and again I find in mining
different rules apply than for everyone else. Out of mind, out of
sight perhaps? Nevertheless, these thoughts scattered as I saw the
shimmering windshield of Kathy’s car in the distance. Once
there, a final look back at the dunes helped me realize this oddly
alien place is so similar to the snowy environments I’m more
familiar with. (continue)
More photos: see
Alpine State OF Mind.
Or CONTACT ME if
you are interested in prints or licensing. If
you enjoyed your visit, tell us about it on the
GUESTBOOK.
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