At one time, this was Furnace Creek Lake. It isn’t Furnace Creek Lake any more, that dried up and went away 5 million years ago. What is left is this eroded sediment, now known as Zabriskie point. It’s a hotbed for tourists from all nations. If you want, you can hike down into these ululations of rock, exploring the intricacies, depths and peaks of this weird landscape, as well as messing up the view for everyone else. This was what many people were doing when this photograph was taken; I was fortunate that there was only one person hardy enough to venture into this particular angle and he was easily disposed of through some creative cropping. The rocks have a red and gold hue, as you can see. They also have an odd texture which makes them really interesting. In order to see these rocks you must overcome numerous obstacles. First, driving about a mile from the Furnace Creek Inn, you must then exit the highway and find a parking place. This can be truly daunting. Next, wend your way about 100 yards up a steep hill, avoiding tourists and many other photographers carrying much larger and more impressive cameras than you have, and then stop. Don’t fall off the edge (the terrain is steep) and don’t feel discouraged because the guy next to you has a camera that cost $5,000 more than yours (he is just overcompensating for a small penis). I took dozens of photographs of this area. At least half didn’t come out because I forgot to reset my camera for autofocus from the night before.

As the last adventure of the day we went to the Devil’s Golf Course. It is dead center of Death Valley. The sun was setting over the Panamint Mountains as we zipped down the one lane highway to the lower levels of the valley. We passed the crowded parking lot at Golden Canyon. We zoomed past the sign that announced we were 100 feet below sea level. In the distance I saw the shadow from the Panamint Mountains creeping across the valley floor. It was only 4 PM, but in winter the sun set early and the mountains blocked the sun early. Light was failing, bringing panic to my photographer's brain. Telescope Peak cast the longest shadow and I could but hope that our destination had not yet fallen dark. Finally reaching the turn off, we saw three cars coming up the dirt road towards us from the salt bed below. They left long golden trails of dust, backlit by the setting sun. This was a good sign. The valley was still lit. Reaching the parking lot in the middle of the salt lake we parked and got out. The entire area was strewn with tourists as if abandoned by some overturned tour bus, all climbing about the salt mounds and risking broken or twisted ankles (the terrain is treacherous). Later in the year the salt flats are whitish, covered with … salt. Apparently there had been lots of rain recently so the golf course was mostly covered by mud, making it look brown instead of white. Nevertheless I climbed out between the mounds of salty mud, past the normal range of tourists, risking broken and twisted ankles, and took some photos. The photo here is an HDR composite. It wasn’t intentional, but I had taken four almost identical shots trying for the best lighting. As it came time to photoshop, I realized it might be interesting to try merging them. So I did. This was the result. Photoshop did it all automagically.

This is the road to The Devil’s Golf Course. In some ways, this road was prettier and more interesting than the salt flat itself. Driving down to it, there were these cars coming our way and they left huge dust trails behind them that glowed with the setting sun behind them. It was neat-o. So, on the way out we are about up to the main road (which is only slightly better than the dirt road going down), and I suddenly yelled “stop the car!” We pulled over on the very thin roadway and I leaped out. There were three or four cars coming up behind us, so I took some shots. It doesn’t look like it, but they were coming pretty fast and the road isn’t that wide, so it was a bit of a thrill. There was time for about three photographs and then I leaped back into the car and we took off. You can see the glint of a few cars in the parking lot of the salt flat on the left side of the photo. You can also see the woman in the passenger side of the lead car telling her husband “what is that crazy person doing up there… watch out…” It’s times like these I love taking photos.