This past weekend one of my childhood friends and fellow adventure mates traveled all the way to San Diego from Oahu, Hawaii to visit for a long weekend. Instead of stay and lounge at the beach which he could easily do at home, I insisted as I normally do, that we go on an adventure to a couple of my favorite places in southern California. We'd start out with a night camping in Alabama Hills and then finish out the weekend exploring Death Valley.
Alabama Hills is one of my favorite places to camp and explore. Situated right at the base of Mt. Whitney in Lone Pine, California, there's nothing else like it. While it's a bit remote as it is situated on the Eastern Sierra (about 3.5 hours from Los Angeles and 4 hours from Las Vegas), the isolation you experience when you are there is memorable and refreshing. The area is best known for it's otherwordly rock formations which create some incredibly inspiring and super picturesque campsites.
The sunsets on Highway 395 rarely disappoint.
We got to Lone Pine after dark. After stopping for some fire wood and some libations at the gas station right before town, we headed on up to a spot I had camped at before. I like this spot because while it does not have views of the mountains, you are surrounded by huge rock formations which offer privacy and create awe in their own right.
Surrounded by huge rock formations, my buddy Adam chills by the fire.
We quickly burned through the dry bundle of wood and libations and called it a night not long after. Our plan to wake for sunrise was not to be thwarted by tiredness. When the alarm went off, we headed down Movie Road to jump on the bandwagon and capture an image from this iconic spot.
The iconic Movie Road shot.
The sunrise itself was kind of a letdown, but mountains still and clouds played nicely to help create the image above. After getting our fix, we went back to the site and packed up and went to breakfast at the Alabama Hills Cafe back in town.
Our campsite.
Upon finishing breakfast, we headed out of town en route to Death Valley. Before we made it out of town a rainbow appeared in front of the mountains and we stopped in an abandoned parking lot to take a couple pics.
Rainbow!!!
The 90 mile drive to Death Valley was and is relatively uneventful. We cruised on over and right when we got into the park stopped at another iconic road shot. There is a stretch of Route 190 (the route that takes you into the park from the west) that straightens out and almost disappears into the distance and makes for a great photo. This time we took an innapropriate, sophomoric picture to send to our high school friends group text. Here's the PG version.
Adam and Route 190.
After getting quite the immature giggle from our friend's responses or lack thereof, we copped a campsite at Stovepipe Wells campground and then went to the other side of the park to explore the drivable destinations. On the way, we stopped at the visitor's center so Adam could get his national park passport stamped. Outside of the main building there's the kind of large thermometer that banks have for some reason that read 100º. It was hot and dry, but it didn't stop us. The next stop was the Devil's Golf Course.
Instagram.
Reality.
What was interesting at this point in the day was that the sky had become filled with rain clouds and it had started to rain in the distance. Rain in these parts is a rather rare occurrence so this intrigued us. From the Devil's Golf Course, we continued over to Badwater Basin and walked out onto the salt flats. As we did so, the rain that had been in the distance started to approach us and eventually our paths crossed. As soon as the drops hit us, it would evaporate almost immediately, being claimed by the super dry desert environment.
Walking out into the rainstorm over Badwater Basin.
With no chances of being wet and no props to take fun photos here, we continued on to our next destination: Zabriske Point for sunset. Zabriske Point is an overlook that has incredible views to the west over a multicolored washboard of earth. It's likely to be the most crowded location in the gigantic park because of it's combination of beauty and ease of access. The overlook itself is a short walk up a curvy paved path from the parking lot, but for the more adventurous soul, there are options. There are several trails that hike down and in and up and around the area. We chose to go up and around as there were far less people.
A well defined path that we followed all the way to the uppermost point.
At the start of our little jaunt, the sky was a bit overcast and wasn't looking too promising, but as we continued on we were given reasons for hope.
Classic Adam.
The sun started to poke its head through the clouds and everything it touched started to become a nice warm color, including Adam.
At a certain point, I urged Adam to run ahead so I could capture him atop the highest ledge. I'm really proud of him for wearing his blue shirt as it created a very nice contrast against the dirt landscape. It even looked good in silhouettes.
Don't walk towards the light Adam!
It was so windy at this point so communicating was basically not an option. Luckily Adam knew to hold his hands up and pose when I was taking a picture.
Slightly stylized, but nonetheless epic. Adam stands stoicly atop the highest ridge.
After the sun went down, we quickly retreated back to the car on the path we came out on and from there, we went back to our campsite for the evening where we had a delicious meal at the Saloon and then retired to bed. The following morning, we took our time getting up before heading over to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes right down the road. There was not a cloud in the sky so while we adventured out deep into the dunes, I focused on creating high contrast shots between the sand and the sky with Adam as the focus point.
Adam has the looks of a lost soul stranded in the Sahara.
Strangers and dunes.
Following our adventure in the dunes, we headed back to San Diego and I kicked Adam out of my life forever. Just kidding, we're still friends.
