Eastern CA and Death Valley

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Saturday, 2 November 2024 - Started with sunrise photography of the Owens River and Basin Mountain, then drove a long, rough road to explore the tall Eureka Dunes in the northern part of Death Valley National Park, capturing beautiful light and shadows on the dunes before returning late in the day on a bumpy road.

We began the day in Pleasant Valley to photograph the Owens River at sunrise. Fortunately, it was a site close to our hotel, so we were able to sleep in until 0430.

deathvalley2024 — A lone fall colored Cottonwood was our focus.

deathvalley2024 — Basin Mountain at first light.

deathvalley2024 — The Owens River with the White Mountains in the background pretending to be a volcano.

deathvalley2024 — It was cold every morning. This portrait was taken by the workshop professional photographer - Ryan McGinty.

deathvalley2024 — The mountain top of Basin Mountain in black and white - I like the clouds at the peak.

deathvalley2024 — Zooming in and spotting a glacier high on Basin Mountain.

deathvalley2024 — Tall wheat like plants, backlit in Pleasant Valley.

deathvalley2024 — Just after lunch we set off for Eureka Dunes. It was a long way, the last 30 miles was a rough and rocky dirt road.

The dunes were very tall and a strenuous hike to the crest of the first set of dunes.

deathvalley2024 — The dunes were beautiful - but very tracked up. There is generally one way out of the big dunes, so the lower dunes are tracked up.

Eureka Dunes are in Death Valley National Park - the very northernmost part of the park.

deathvalley2024 — The odd shadows created by the low sun and the dunes.

deathvalley2024 — Looking across a dune to the surrounding mountains.

Challenging to see - in the center of the picture are two vehicles at a campsite. That is a demonstration of how high we are.

deathvalley2024 — Beautiful light falling on the sand. Constantly searching for the light and shadows.

deathvalley2024 — Graceful curves in the sand. So interesting how the wind creates these masterpieces.

deathvalley2024 — A rare selfie while I wait for the sun to slip lower.

deathvalley2024 — Looking back along the ridge line, I used to climb the dunes. I walked the length of the sand curve.

At the top of the picture is the road we took to Eureka Dunes.

deathvalley2024 — The shadows lengthen and create artful scenes.

deathvalley2024 — There were many plants on the dunes - here a tuft of grass survives on top of a small sand dune.

deathvalley2024 — Curves into shadow.

deathvalley2024 — Sand waves reaching into the distance.

deathvalley2024 — As the shadows lengthen, the landscape darkens. You can see Ryan heading back down off the dune walking along the ridge line. He is the little dot midway into the dune.

deathvalley2024 — Golden sand in the setting sun.

deathvalley2024 — The end of the day on Eureka Dunes.

Unfortunately, the sunset also meant a dark ride along a very bumpy road for 30 miles.

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