Despite high winds, falling snow and a blizzard advisory, Kim walked Charles the Great this morning, and I joined for another session this afternoon after the air had calmed a bit. But it was unpleasant enough to compel me to find alternative visual inspiration. So digging through old Kodachromes, I find these from a December 1971 trip to Death Valley, taken somewhere in the Owens Valley on the way:
Plus these in Death Valley itself:
Bill reminds me tonight that we encountered snowfall as well as sandstorm on that venture.
December 1976
From the December 1976 dregs. The distant landscapes were annotated as “death valley sandstorm”. Some slides have become discolored with age; will probably try converting to black & white.
Starting to nibble around the edge of my old color slides. Not nearly as numerous as my black & white negatives, and stored in pretty much total disarray. Here is my phototog friend Bill, his truck, and friend Mike — the same crew that did Mexico — on a Death Valley weekend in December 1976. In discussing this with Bill yesterday, he recalled our terrified screaming as we hurtled down a twisty road with the the smell of brake fluid in our noses. And then we blew a head gasket. On another trip, a cylinder cracked in a snow storm near Mammoth.
A couple of trips in wintertime …
More Death Valley …
http://whilebusy.com/2015/11/15/death-valley-thanksgiving-1971/
http://whilebusy.com/2015/11/20/yet-another-d-v-trek/
http://whilebusy.com/2015/11/16/california-nevada-desert-circa-1972-73/
Some more Gabriel Garcia Marquez moments from another Death Valley trip, circa 1972. I’m got an itch to go there right now, but I don’t want to until I can conjure up a replacement for my broken Nikon. And such a trip probably requires different considerations, budgetary and otherwise, than it did back then …
On one Death Valley trip, we traveling photographers stopped in the tiny town of Beatty, Nevada after having checked out nearby ghost towns, including Rhyolite. In Beatty, we came upon a wedding in a bar (of which I so far can find only one or two photos, although I know we shot there for a couple of hours or more), then met and followed “Death Valley Annie” in her ’59 Ford to her combined desert residence/thrift store/junk yard. We also documented various automotive wastage along the way and into the eastern entrance to Death Valley. I also find a roadside photo (no, I did not go inside) of the notorious Cottontail Ranch which suddenly popped up in the middle of the barren desert. And the evening before, we spotted a strategically-placed sheriff’s vehicle with cardboard cutout of an occupant “officer”. A few images here, must be hundreds more somewhere …
Possibly my favorite place in North America, Death Valley became a frequent destination for photographic treks from about 1967 – 1978. One such visit took place over a long Thanksgiving weekend in 1971; some new finds from the negative archives are presented here. From about 1974 on, the Land Rover was the vehicle of choice to traverse terrifying mining trails. But in 1971, it was the VW camper (pictured a couple of times here). (I have also done Death Valley with Ford truck, Porsche and Alfa Romeo at various times.) There is no bad time to go — of course, 120+ degree summers scare off many people, but in some ways that is the best experience. Thanksgiving is ideal in terms of moderate weather and the least tourists (springtime is most popular: decent weather and sometimes surprising blooming flowers). Don’t get me started about Death Valley … it can feel like several distinct planets and a religious experience (think Carlos Castaneda) and more.
