Tag Archives: death valley

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Golden Hills, Desert Sky

June 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening clouds fill the sky above golden hills, Death Valley National Park, California

Today’s photograph is about as much of a contrast with yesterday’s photograph (winter in Yosemite Valley) as you can find in California, though both were made at close to the same time of the year. This photograph comes from the golden hills and broad washes along the east side of Death Valley south of the Furnace Creek Area.

Earlier that afternoon we had arrived in the park for a visit of several days. After getting settled we had a bit of daylight time still in the late afternoon and early evening, so we headed south towards these clouds. (The clouds were perhaps a harbinger of the strange weather we would have later on during our visit, including a full day of very cold weather and even snow high in the Panamint Range.) Many of the hills in Death Valley are not exactly of brilliant colors—this desert is quite different from that of, say, Utah. But in this particular area colorful formations rise from the edge of the Valley, and the rocks that have washed down carry that color out into the Valley… at least if you happen to be there late in the afternoon before the sun drops behind the tall mountains on the other side of the valley.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Holly, Badlands

June 6, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Desert holly grows in desolate badlands of Death Valley National Park

In a world of rugged and tenacious desert life, the desert holly plant seems to stand almost alone, at least among plants that are large enough to make an easily visible contribution to the landscape. In almost any forlorn and sub-blasted spot where nothing else seems to grow you will find desert holly. And it won’t just be there, but will often give the appearance of being a healthy plant, as if there should be nothing unusual about growing out of nothing more than bare rock. There are often at least some green leaves, and when the light passes through the plant from behind, it can produce a warm glow.

I had seen this group of plants several times before when I visited this particular area where very little grows on a badlands terrain of colorful and varied soils. Nearby there are places where the dry and hard soil is white or red or even green and bluish, but this band of nearly black stands out. It is in a spot that where it is a bit awkward to stop and get out camera gear, so I have just passed by before—but this time I finally found a spot to pull over and walk back to this small dark gully with the desert holly plants arranged along its bottom.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Ghost Towns, Photographs: Southern California

Rusting Building, Leadfield

June 3, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A rusting corrugated building, one of the few remaining structures at the ghost town of Leadfield, California

This is one of the few standing structures remaining from the boom town of Leadfield, in the backcountry of Death Valley National Park, in the Grapevine Mountains more or less midway between the Beatty, Nevada area and the main Death Valley. The standard story is that this town was the result of one of the biggest swindles and scams in the mining history of the area, and the story is often told of the main promoter salting the mine with ore brought in from other locations and producing brochures featuring boats on the Amargosa River… which is typically completely dry. In the process of preparing this photograph to share I did a bit of reading, and it seems like the story might not be quite so simple nor so dramatic. Apparently there was a history of prospecting and mining in this area before the town was created in the mid-1920s, and lead and perhaps silver were actually mined from the place. A range of problems led to its downfall—the distance the ore needed to be transported, problems with the sale of shares in the mines—but it may not be true that the mine itself was essentially just a scam.

This building is well-known to those who have visited the place, as it is one of two buildings that still stand. Both are located near the entrance to one of the mine shafts, and it seems likely that this was not a residence but rather some building related to mine operations. Today it is a mere shell, but I find it amazing that it still stands nearly 90 years after the “town” (which apparently consisted largely of tents) was abandoned. Even more amazing is to stand at this spot and look out at the surrounding landscape—a rugged and uncompromising mountainous desert terrain—and imagine what it must have been like to live and work in such a place.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Base of the Panamint Range

June 2, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The lower reaches of the Panamint Range drop to the floor of Death Valley

The stillness of this image belies what was actually happening when I made the exposure. It was late afternoon, and the sun was just above the ridge of the Panamint Range as we drove down through Death Valley, past the Mustard Hills and towards Furnace Creek. As often happens in the spring, the winds were rising. I saw the scene and immediately knew I wanted to stop and photograph it, with the backlit hills rising across the far side of the Valley. I grabbed my tripod, camera, and one lens and headed across the side of a nearby hill that looked like it might provide me with a higher vantage point, and immediately recognized that wind was going to be a real problem.

The same wind that had filled the atmosphere with the beautiful haze that was glowing in the backlight was also making it nearly impossible to photograph. There are some winds that are strong enough that almost no tripod can hold a camera still, and this was that sort of situation. I set up, hanging onto the tripod to prevent it from blowing over, and waited for a lull in the wind. The wind momentarily diminished enough for me to make a few exposures as a cloud shadow darkened the foreground salt flats.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: death valley

Golden Hills, Desert Sky

Desert Holly, Badlands

Rusting Building, Leadfield

Base of the Panamint Range

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.