20090411

Clouds obscured the sunrise again, but the weather started to improve soon after, and continued improving throughout the day.  We packed up our gear and visited Zabriske Point at about mid-morning.  It’s quite as beautiful as advertised.

The image above was recorded on April 11, 2009, at about 08:45 PST using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 29mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/250, ISO 200.  Manly Peak is in the mid-range about a third of the way from the right, and in the background lies the Panamint Range.

So, here we are at Zabriske Point…  We could make a grand fuss over how intimidated we might be by either the location, or the legacy of famous shooters who have defined the classic impression of it.  Nope.  There is still plenty of opportunity to make a contribution to the shared vision of even the most well-recognized locations/images.  Of course you’ve seen images of the place all over: Two of the most notable might be from the cover of the U2 album Joshua Tree (weirdly…  Dude, it’s not frackin’ Joshua Tree!) and that movie by Michelangelo Antonini…  No matter, shoot.

The image above was recorded on April 11, 2009, at about 09:00 PST, using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 66mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/400, ISO 200.

By now I’m certain you are wondering, ‘But where’s the HP?!!!’  Nearby as always of course, as you can see below.

After a brief stay at Zabriske Point we headed up to Dante’s View.  This is without exaggeration one of the most impressive viewpoints on the planet.  The image below was recorded on April 11, 2009, at 10:00 PST, using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 24mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/640s, ISO 200.

If you visit in the spring, be prepared for the fact that you have most probably driven from the valley floor at sea level to ~5500 ft above sea level – it’s both windy and chilly!  Most impressive are the girls in little more than bathing attire casually strolling around in 50F with not less than 20 knots of southerly breeze.  I see that you doubt my comments – okay, well have a look at the HP (below) – still think it’s balmy and +70F?!!!

From Dante’s View is there is only one way – down.  Down to the road that runs south from Furnace Creek to Badwater and beyond.  Along the way we passed several remarkable sites, including: Devil’s Golf Course – in spite of the corny name, do not miss this; Badwater; Artists Drive, including Artist’s Palette – a beautiful juxtaposition of mineral colors; and Golden Canyon – a beautiful canyon with an optional outlet to Zabriske Point.

The digs here at Furnace Creek are significantly more posh than those we found at Stovepipe Wells.  Along with this discovery we also found where most of the people stay.  Nevertheless, the technological sophistication remains in the darks ages: No cell service, no real network access, etc. So, I have to do is write this entry and plan for tomorrow – not too shabby actually.