Morning came early for me today. My alarm clock was a gentle reminder that even though it was still dark outside, it was time to move. I headed down a dark road with the intent of reaching the sand dunes before the sun did. As I drove, I saw the lights of Stovepipe Wells in the distance. I was traveling down a flat road, but I found it amazing how visible this little village was while I was many miles away.
The sky was getting lighter as I arrived at the sand dunes. I wandered out among the dunes, trying to decide if I wanted to be at the top of a dune or hiding in a dip. I kept walking, waiting, looking for the sun to rise above the mountains. When the sun decided to join the day, it cast shadows, highlighting wind-swept ridges and patterns in the sand. I think I have more pictures of the sand than I do of the sunrise.
As I was following beetle tracks in the sand, one of the black creatures that was leaving its imprint scuttled across the sand.
Walk a little further, look for patterns in the sand, follow an easy track between high points, climb a dune, slide down the other side. Walk a little further, play with my camera, walk a little further... By the time the light flattened out I had covered a bit of distance. Ah, time to reverse direction.
The Stovepipe Wells General Store was a good place to stop for a muffin and a cup of coffee, fuel for my next wander. It turned out to be a good place for conversation as I had a chat with the ranger who shared her excitement about Death Valley in the evening program last night.
And then, on to Mosaic Canyon. I thought about waiting until tomorrow when there will be a guided geology walk there. But hey, it was just down the road, and it was calling to me. The first half mile of the canyon was spectacular, narrow, with polished marble walls. The rest was more a more open wash. And yes, I followed it to a point where I could walk no further. Big chunks of rock filled the passage, a signal that it was time to run around. The plus to this being an out-and-back non-trail was that I traversed the interesting beginning of the trail a second time.
As I walked to my car, I had a surprise greeting. My camera was adorned with my new SmugMug camera strap, and that attracted Sam's attention. We both participate in the Digital Grin photography forum - which was the source of the camera strap. I knew that Sam was planning to visit Death Valley based on a post he made last week, but by the time I saw his plans I think he was already on the road. No matter, because when Sam saw the camera strap he asked my name. We talked, then since neither of us had concrete plans for the rest of the day we decided to explore together.
Sam drove Titus Canyon yesterday, and suggested the end of the canyon as a good place for walking and camera play. That sounded good to me since the Titus Canyon road is one that isn't accessible to those of us driving standard cars (as opposed to a high-clearance vehicle). The 3-mile two-way section of the road that we traversed in Sam's truck was pretty rough, and he said that the rest of the road was worse. It was a treat of a walk, with rock "paintings" drawing my eyes and imagination.
After our Titus Canyon walk we headed back toward Badwater, doing a quick loop around Artist's Drive. That was still beautiful the second time around, but I think I'd like to see it just a little later in the day.
Another good day, another night to dream of tomorrow's wanderings...
See, I really did meet Sam, thanks to my SmugMug camera strap.
Photo courtesy of Sam's camera and a woman in a parking lot who was willing to catch us in the lens.
