SAN FRANCISCO to LAS VEGAS

ARRIVING

Driving from the airport we had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge to get to our B&B in Sausalito. Easier said than done, we missed a turn off and did an involuntary sightseeing trip of downtown San Francisco, uphill, downhill, every crossing a 4-way-stop, it took ages. We finally did make it back on the Hwy 101 and onto the bridge.

An insider photo tip to turn left and go up the hill in the Marin Headlands to get some really good views is no secret anymore. There was almost more traffic there then driving through the town at rush hour. We were told to go photograph the bridge as soon as it as visible, it would mostly be covered in clouds or fog. We had clears skies every day and night ! From there we went to our B&B, the Gables Inn in Sausalito. I can only recommend the place, a warm welcome, nice room, and lucky again: wine and cheese every afternoon from 17:00-19:00. We dump the bags in the room and go have a drink, with all the cheese we ate we decide to skip dinner.

SIGHTSEEING IN SAN FRANCISCO

After a lousy night’s sleep and a good breakfast we take the 11:35 ferry to town, to PIER 41 to be exact. Takes us 30 minutes and is a great way of approaching the city. We meet up with our friend Dirk who happens to be in town, and as good tourists we do all the tourist stuff: Pier 39, a cable car ride (which is really cool), Coit Tower, China Town, we walk and walk and walk.

Somehow the men end up in a cosmetic shop which was quite a funny experience too. Dirk even bought a whole bag full of creams. Hope we’ll recognise him when we get home in three weeks, with all the good stuff he will probably look 10 years younger.

SAN FRANCISCO TO JUNE LAKE – 278miles/445km

We are out in the country now ! We passed settlements, you can’t really call it towns, like Chinese Camp with population 50 and Buck Meadows with even less. We had lunch at probably the hottest spot we were in today, a viewpoint at Moccasin Lake. The car thermometer said 104 Fahrenheit which is close to 40°C. As you can imagine Jürg wasn’t too happy about it, but we did find a spot in the shade. Yosemite entry will cost you U$ 30 per car, valid for a week. What I will remember most about Yosemite is trees and rocks, loads and loads of them. After stops at Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake a winding road takes us to Tioga Pass at 9945 Ft (3513m). From the Tioga pass a nice race track down to Lee Vining, still at 7000 ft high, but now it’s flat and the huge white Mono Lake stretches out in front of us. We make it to the information centre with 5 min to spare (closes at 17:00) and got the map and information where to go for the “tufas”.

By 19:30 we got to June Lake, our next B&B, no a motel his time, called June Lake Villager. We can’t see much of the town since it is pretty dark by now, but are told to go have dinner at the Tiger Bar right across the street, or the the other one with the blinking lights a little further on. We are tired so take the first best. This is fun, as set back in time, and old wooden building, a big bar, wooden tables and chairs, a pool table, a jukebox, old photos on the walls. They sell their own Tiger Bar t-shirts, half the town probably has one.

MONO LAKE, JUNE LAKE, BODIE, AND MORE MONO LAKE – 157miles/250km

It’s hard being a photographer, especially when the alarm goes off at 05:30. I was awake since 03:30 anyway, bloody jetlag… It is a 20 min drive from June Lake to the south tufa’s at Mono Lake, plus a 10 min hike from the parking lot to the lakeshore. Sunrise is at 06:40, first light about 20 min before that, so our timing is perfect. Shit it’s cold only 15°C/54F, okay it’s 06:15 and we are at 7000 ft, what did I expect ! It is the first time I’m cold here, so far the weather has been amazing. We try different spots, I get some nice shots in the predawn light and in the end we do a beautiful sunrise with tufa silhouettes.

Driving home we take the long way and do the June Lake Loop, very scenic ! We enjoy some time off at the lake side, just sitting in the sun and enjoying the views.

At 14:00 we leave for Bodie Ghosttown, about and hours drive north from here. It was an okay outing and we got some nice pics but the ghosttown is so well restored that it is almost too good for a ghosttown. All the houses are the same wood, and same style, making the whole thing look rather well organised and unspectacular. We do our best to find a few houses that are almost falling apart with broken in roofs and preferably leaning sideways, to make it look more authentic. And yes, there are a few if you look well, and those are our favourite motives. From there it’s back to our south tufa’s again for sunrise.

We stay till well after sunset when the sky and clouds turn red then pinkish, ISO up and it is still good to get a nice photo and by now all the non photographing tourists at least are gone, so we have the scene to ourselves.

Back home we decide to go to the other restaurant, the blinking lights one, called Sierra Inn, it’s a steakhouse and they should have pizza there. Yes they do, and they are very good and very big, even the medium ones, so we have our lunch for tomorrow as well. The bottle of Black Rock Merlot we share is really nice too, and after that it’s off to bed. I am so tired.

MAMMOTH LAKES to BISHOP and BRISTLECOMB PINE FOREST- 150 miles/240km

Today first stop is at Mammoth Lakes, which is about 15 miles Hwy 395, one right turn on Hwy 203, a few miles more on Lake Mary Road, and you’re there. Believe me, it is gorgeous. The first little lake we see is already worth stopping for, it turns out to be the first of the twin lakes. We do the twin lake scenic loop, then on to Horsheshoe Lake where there are supposed to be photogenic dead trees, they are dead as a result of extreme carbondioxide levels there, but all around it is green forest, looks weird. The view from the lookout point is sensational.

After about 75 miles we reach Bishop, a town spread out on both sides of the Hwy 395. We are staying at the Vagabond Inn right at the north side of town. Boy it is hot again, at the lakes we had comfortable 25C, down here at only 40000 ft it’s closer to 40C once again! This motel turns out be a very good choice, very friendly staff at reception, good room, lots of places to go and eat, and lots of supermarkets and shops. And the best thing: a Starbucks right around the corner. We head down south to the Ancient Bristlecombe Pine Forest. It’s about 15 miles south of Bishop, there a left turn onto Hwy 168 east which we follow for another 10 miles, another left on the White Mountain road. Only about 37 miles but it takes almost an hour ! I was very happy I was driving, the 168 not only has very many turns, it is also like riding a boat in a storm, so wavy you go up and down like crazy in addition to all the turns. The White Mountain Road has even more turns but at least it’s more or less even. This recommendation better be good ! And it was, this is so beautiful !

BISHOP to LONE PINE – 120miles/192km

I am getting better at sleeping, 6 hours at a stretch ! Breakfast is included here, but it looked so horrible we decided to pack and go and drop by the Erik Schat Bakery. This turned out to be a bakkerij, a dutch bakery, must be good ! It was, Jürg was in cookie heaven, could hardly decide which to take, plus we bought bread, salami and cheese, and each had a half sandwich (which was huge) and really good cappuchino.

The stop at the photo gallery was our lucky stroke, the gallery showed beautiful photos but better still, the lady told us to go up to the lakes for the fall colours. That turned out to be a splendid idea and it was well worth the 20 min (one way) detour. We first went to the smaller North Lake, it was absolutely beautiful ! A small lake with trees in blazing colours of yellow, green and orange around it, mountains in the background, this is so pretty !

Back on Hwy 395 we drive south to Lone Pine, west of it we already see the reddish rocks of the Alabama Hills. Our motel here is the Comfort Inn located at the south side of town, just before the visitor centre. It is also quite okay for a 2 star motel. We put our stuff in the room and go for the hills. They are only about 3 miles west of the town, turn on Hwy 168 west at the only traffic lights in town, can’t miss it. After about 3 miles you turn right on Movie Road, so called because many western movies were shot there. Even before we reach it we stop to take some photos, this reminds me of Damaraland in Namibia, very scenic ! We leave the main road and drive around between the red boulders which differ enormously in colour, shape and size and the whole landscape is full of them.

The arch we were looking for was the Morbius Arch and we set up for some sensational sunset photos. Turned out to be rather hard since it looks better and it is much bigger from the other side. We will have to come back for a sunrise shot tomorrow.

LONE PINE to DEATH VALLEY – 221miles/354km

The alarm goes at 05:45, not too bad, almost like going to work back home. We are at the arch in about 20 min, half the time is driving, the other half hiking. It is very cloudy and we get some nice shots. We try to find the other arch called Patriarch Arch but have to give up after a whole lot of hiking and looking. Back in town we have sandwiches at Subways and a good coffee from the shop next door to it.

By 09:00 we are back at the motel, shower, change and let’s get to the Death Valley. It is about a 200 mile drive from here, easy ! As we get lower and lower it gets hotter and hotter, the scenery is absolutely amazing ! It is so wide and big and open, I don’t even try to take a photo, it will never do justice to the grandeur of this scenery. We do a short stop at Stovepipe Wells to have a drink before we start our first hike, it is just west of here and called Mosaic Canyon. It is by now 13:00 and 110 F/40C and at the canyons entrance is a big sign saying – no hiking after 10 am – sorry guys but this is the best time to do a canyon, no shadows or as little of them as possible ! So we hike and sweat, boy it is hot, hot, hot ! We get some nice shots but after about 10 min decide to go back, we got enough and it is unbearably hot. The rangers recommend a gallon of water, per person per day, and believe me, you do need it ! We check onto our Motel the Ranch at Furnace Creek, furnace….yes that’s just what it feels like, we are at 115 F/46°C by now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon we first head south, I read the salt flats at Badlands look totally disgusting, and they do. Something like a ploughed field in about that colour, not the beautiful flat white circles, just messy, brown and grey. This spot is the lowest I’ve ever been: 282 ft or 85.5m below sea level ! It looks gruesome anyway, let’s go.

We do a short stop at the Devils Golfcourse, which is better to photograph, nice mountain background and also a very ploughed through earth, which is stone hard, but here it is supposed to be like that. As it is on the way we decide to do the Artists Drive, now that was a good decision ! The mountains and rocks show so many different colours here we hardly know where to look first, amazing ! It is a 9 mile one way drive, we won’t get anywhere if we keep this pace up, stopping every half mile or so. The Artists Palette is the best part, here the colours are so bright and there are so many colours on a relative small part, it is truly breathtaking. Better hurry now, we want to get to the sand dunes for sunset.

Turns out our timing was pretty lousy, I speed but as we get to the dunes most of them are in the shadows already, the really big, good ones are way in the back, that will take ages to get there and it is still so bloody hot. We drag our backpack, water, tripod as far into the dunes as we are able to, looking for a cool dune but not really finding one. Maybe I am a little spoiled but after Namibias sand dunes these are only half as good. Besides all the sand is a mess from the loads of people walking here every day and most of the dunes are rounded, not so many sharp ridges which throw the nice shadows. Oh, hell, we’ll just sit in the sand and watch a beautiful sunset, in the meantime almost being blown away and getting a free sand peeling…. The tripods legs are so full of sand you can hardly turn the wheels to set its height anymore. I’ve had it with all this heat and sand and wind, let’s pack up and go.

DEATH VALLEY – 76miles/121km

The alarm goes at 05:45 once again, no problem for us we are used to it by now, and it is only 93F, a lot cooler than yesterday evening ! We drive to Zabinsky Point, a mere 4 miles or so. Park the car and up the hill to the view point. I see an elderly gentleman with a tripod and big camera even more to the right, go over and ask him. He says this is the spot where all the photographers always stand, better viewing, more contrast whatever. So I move over. Bad luck again, there are lots of clouds blocking the rising sun, I am not totally happy with the results of this morning, but we’ll have another go at sunset. This time we will make sure we are on time, not like yesterday at the dunes. Time to go home and have breakfast.

Photographers are such dumbasses, we leave at 11:00 to do one canyon that’s still on the list, the Golden Canyon, and it was golden ! It is of course incredibly hot, but what else had you expected…great time for a hike, all the other tourists are somewhere inside or in the shade, hardly any people there, but the photographers are out…

Back at the motel we went to the pool for a swim, that was really nice. Lunch back in our room because as soon as you were dry the heat was unbearable again. Couldn’t stay in the water forever, we were already totally wrinkled…. At 17:00 we head for Zabinsky Point once again. Let’s see if it’s good with light from the other side, the clouds have gone so nothing should get in our way this time. But it wasn’t half as good as the morning, so we took a few pics but not really all that many. At least it’s not quite as hot today, only 106 F.

DEATH VALLEY to LAS VEGAS – 140miles/224km

At 06:00 I leave for the “alternative salt flat site “, you have a small line of salt mostly on the right side of the road driving south about 2 miles down on West Side Road, (a dirt road which turns off the Badlands road after about 6 miles). Jürg is not coming so I can speed down there without him complaining. Get there in 15 min and walk along the side of the salt flats till I am quite a bit in (don’t want the road in the picture), and set up. This is a special feeling, me all alone in the middle of Death Valley, not a soul to be seen, not a car for miles around, it is dead quiet, the only thing I hear is my own breathing. I even do a few shots with the self timer and race forward to get myself in position, feels kind of stupid ! When you walk across the salt and touch a rim of the salt crust it sounds like breaking glass, so I take care not to hit one.

We get to Las Vegas by 13:00, I leave Jürg in the car and go check in at our hotel the Excalibur. As I enter I stop dead in my tracks, this is incredible, a hall the size of 2-3 soccer fields filled with slot machines, poker and blackjack tables, gigantic screens on the walls, restaurants and bars all around and a noise….it’s peeping, hooting, ringing at a rather high noise level. I take quite a while till I find the registration desk, have to make my way at least half way through the noisy hall. They have 4000 rooms here, and at least as many people !

This city is fun, there are photo motives everywhere and it is not so hot anymore! I don’t think we’ll be hot again this trip after our Death Valley experience. Back at the hotel we have dinner at the Steakhouse, which is totally delicious. At 20:00 we meet Christian and Regula, the pro’s, and the 4 other photographers which are coming on the Indian Canyon Tour with us, in the lobby bar.

After drinks and a chat Frank, Jürg and me go out to do some night photography, this is fun ! The plan to be in bed by 22:00 is quickly abandoned, there is so much so see, it’s midnight till we get back. I really look forward to the start of our 2 week photo tour tomorrow. The whole story will be posted in my next blog !

For our best photos : Go to gallery

 

copyright photo and text : Astrid & Juerg Bluemel for www.bluemelphoto.ch