Death Valley

I did several trips with the FJ Cruiser in the five months since I bought her but it was time to raise the bar on the adventure meter. Waking up in Death Valley on the first day of the year sounded like just the opportunity to get some FatDesert photography.

After a full day of driving I pulled up to Eureka Dunes just as the sun was going down. This was my first time staying in the truck below freezing so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

I had a Cabela’s Mountain Trapper sleeping bag, two space blankets and a inflatable air mattress. I would learn shortly after this pic was taken that it can get pretty damn cold in Death Valley on a winter night.

At 5:30 PM its already dark and the temps are dropping. I quickly heat up some soup and have dinner. So much for sitting around the camp table with my fancy LED light. Its already too cold for me. I climbed into the back of the truck and got situated in my sleeping bag. I read my kindle for a bit then looked at the clock, it was only 7:30 PM. It was going to be a long night.

I woke up around midnight and turned on my head lamp. The light reflected off the clouds from my breath but fell short of penetrating the endless blackness that surrounded me on this moonless night. The windows were frosted with ice. I had draped one of the space blankets over my  sleeping bag earlier that night but that wasn’t going to be enough so I pulled out the second space blanket and placed it under my sleeping bag. Kind of like a NASA burrito. I fished around in my clothes bag and found my stocking cap. My personal survival cocoon now consisted of a cold weather stocking cap, Duofold thermal underwear inside of the Mountain Trapper sleeping bag which was encased in space blankets. Bring it on cold.

Up again at 3:00 AM but this time I had to pee. Damn its cold. How could I take a pee without leaving my sleeping bag? I optimistically pondered this for a moment before realizing that without a lot of clever plumbing it just wasn’t possible. Mission accomplished I hunkered back down into my foil burrito and wait for my body heat to slowly warm things back up.

I wake one last time around 5:00 AM. I’m freezing. I slip in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours waiting for that first hint of sunrise on the horizon. If you have ever had a miserable night out camping you know exactly what I’m talking about. That moment when you finally see the sky turn a lighter shade you smile inwards and feel grateful for the start of a new day on this lovely planet of ours.

Here I am in this pic waiting for the sun to rise above the nearby mountains. It wasn’t till around 10:00 AM, four hours after I woke up,  that sunlight finally hit camp and I could feel its long awaited warmth. My confidence soared.

On day two I headed over to Badwater Basin. After a few hours of aggressive washboard I arrived at the lowest point in North America. I explore the area and find  a few roads that head up into the mountains west of Westside Rd. I took the first one and headed up hill away from Badwater Basin.

After about an hour of negotiating rocks and arroyo’s I stop at the dead end of a box canyon. There was no view. I am surrounded by sagebrush and medium sized boulders in every direction. It was the worst campsite I had ever pulled in to. No cell, no view, no sound, the remoteness of my situation settled over me. Slowly I realized why I picked this spot. I was testing my resolve. I had always been fascinated with the Apollo 13 mission. How remote and disconnected they must have felt. I now had a chance to get an inkling of what those astronauts must have felt in their frozen command module.

I set up camp then explored the nearby area. I had learned the previous night how quickly things change once the sun sets so tonight I was better prepared and had dinner much earlier. After it was dark I explored a bit more using my LED headlamp to light up the nearby rocks. I climbed a nearby hill and saw a light off in the distance. It was around ten miles away. It was only a security lamp at some remote maintenance station but it gave me a sense of comfort seeing that light out there and knowing that I was not alone.

With time I began to appreciate this feeling of separation. Now its something I look forward to.

Breakfast in the box canyon. Doubt I ever head back this way so this pic will have to do.

I was anxious to get out exploring again so I packed up and got back on the trail.

I explored a few more trails off of Westside Rd. I found a good vantage point high up on the hill that looked out over the basin and thought this might be a good spot to call it a day.

I spent the afternoon enjoying the warmth of the sun and the overwhelming silence of Badwater Basin.

That night at around 10:00 PM I bundled up in my gear and climbed out of the truck. I grabbed a camp chair and set it up over looking the valley below. In the dead cold of a winters night in the desert the stars are so sharp. I pondered the vastness of it all as my body temperature dropped.  Eventually the cold won out and I jumped back into my elaborate cold weather survival cocoon.

After four days it was time to head back home. Death Valley gave me one last gift as I drove towards Big Pine. A storm was cresting the Sierra just as I headed into town. A shot good enough to add the the FatDesert portfolio. Photography isn’t about equipment, knowledge or skill. Although those things can be handy, photography is mostly about timing.