Tag Archives: national

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.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Swirling Clouds, Winter

June 12, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter evening clouds swirl around Yosemite Valley

I have had this photograph sitting here for a few months now, and I just “rediscovered” it while skimming through a collection of photographs from earlier this year. This was not a year with much of a winter in California and the Sierra, but during a brief window late in the season we did get some weather that felt seasonal. We were in Yosemite Valley near the beginning of March and had some time to wander around. I love winter fog in The Valley, so we were unable to resist going and photographing it.

The photograph is, of course, from the famous and iconic Tunnel View overlook. As I recall it now, a few months later, we had made a more or less snap decision in the evening about where to go, and when we saw the conditions that could bring the common winter Valley fog we headed up to this obvious location. When this fog drifts in the Valley it can be almost endlessly entertaining… if you are into such things, and I am. The fog can appear spontaneously as the temperature of the damp air drops. Or clouds may begin to drift up the valley and through the trees. Or perhaps a giant fog cloud sort of sloshes back and forth across the Valley in slow motion, occasionally seeming to rise up along the sides of the cliffs and peaks. At one point on this evening the fog quickly moved in our direction, and instead of looking off through the clear air to see it in the distance, within moments it silently came over us and hid the view of the Valley.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: national

Golden Hills, Desert Sky

Swirling Clouds, Winter

Desert Holly, Badlands

Rusting Building, Leadfield

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