Friday 8 November 2024 - Out early for sunrise at Dante's View high in the mountains framing Death Valley.
We were up at over 5,000 feet, it was cold.
Waiting for the sun.
Looking into Death Valley and Badwater Basin, the giant salt-covered lake bottom.
The sun is just touching the mountains on the west side of Death Valley.
Mountains on the east side of Death Valley into the sun.
The afternoon adventure began early as we had a very long (2.5 hour) drive and, of course, several
miles of dirt road to reach Ibex Dunes.
Ibex Dunes is in the extreme south of Death Valley, matching our adventure to Eureka Dunes in the
extreme north of Death Valley - a distance of 121 miles as the crow flies and 180 miles driving.
There were very few "dunes" but they were very tall.
A sand avalanche on the side of a dune.
The gang photographing away. I am second from the right.
Beautiful curves sculpted in the sand.
As the sun lowers, the shadows make for dramatic photographs.
A series of shadows and curves.
Moving from one dune to the other for sunset. It looks like I am in the lead, but two photographers have preceded
me.
Beautiful pictures on the second dune - which is much taller than the first.
The sun is very low, casting long shadows.
The dunes look very smooth because they are far away - there are still ripples on the surface.
More curves and shadows make dramatic shots.
As we move about, this dune will end up being the big star at sunset.
Light and shadows in the sand dune waves.
After the sun set, there was a burst of color that painted the big dune.
Exceptional to be in the middle of nowhere with no sound and the beautiful sand.
Due to the long drive back, we stopped in Shoshone, CA at the Crowbar Cafe. There were only
four buildings in Shoshone, so expectations were low, however, the food was good.