The Shark Fin casts a striking shadow against dawn's morning glow and the sunrise washed granite countenance of Lone Pine Peak (12,949 ft; 3,947 m), Alabama Hills, California. At the right of the skyline, Mount Whitney (14,505 ft; 4,421 m) and Keeler Needle reach for the greatest heights in the contiguous United States.

I spent two very hot and uncomfortable nights camping in Death Valley and gave up half-way though the second one and decided to drive to Lone Pine for sunrise. The gradients in elevation, temperature, and moisture over relatively small distances in this part of the world are astounding. The light, as it turns out, can be pretty astounding too.

Technical Notes: Stitch of four horizontal images.

Tags:   Alabama Hills Aleta de Tiburón California Eastern Sierra High Sierra Landscape Lone Pine Lone Pine Peak Mount Whitney Shark Fin Sierra Sierra Nevada Tumanguya Whitney Portal alpenglow dawn granite high country high elevation magic hour morning morning light mountains sunrise very old man

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The Milky Way soars above the Mesquite Dunes in the small hours of the morning in Death Valley National Park, California. Creosote Bushes (Larrea tridentata) cast shadows in the foreground, and the northern rampart of the Panamint Range creates the jagged horizon. Death Valley is known for its dark skies and in recent years the Park Service has built on that reputation by removing unnecessary lighting and by installing downward-facing lower-wattage fixtures where lighting is deemed necessary. The result is a portal to the galaxy, a lost doorway to the heavens for many who live surrounded by light-polluted night sky.

I found myself in Death Valley meeting up with a college friend and his family for two nights before we journeyed south for our 20th-year reunion. The timing was unfortunately difficult with respect to dark skies, as the waxing moon dampened the starlight for much of the night. However, I did my homework and discovered that there would be an hour or so between moonset and sunrise when the stars might shine brightly over the darkened diamond deserts (queue Woody Guthrie tune now)... My friend and I got dressed at 3:30 and found ourselves out in the dunes a little before 4:00. It was dark enough that it was quite difficult to discern the contours of the undulating sand. After raising the hackles of a nervous sidewinder rattlesnake when I set up my tent in camp some hours previously, I was also alert for sounds and movements of the serpentine type. Nothing eventful came to pass, and the starlight, darkness, and peace were enveloping.

Technical details: Single exposure with low-level LED lighting with a warming filter to bring out the foreground dunes.

Thanks very much for stopping by!

Tags:   California Death Valley Death Valley National Park Landscape Mesquite Dunes Milky Way National Park Panamint Mountains U.S. National Park desert dunes galaxy low level lighting mountains night nightscape no-flash nocturnal sand sand dunes Creosote Bush stars

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The rising sun reveals ripples and texture at various scales in the Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California.

A friend and I woke at 3:30 in the morning to observe the Milky Way and the darkness of the heavens in this relatively remote spot. It was fascinating watching the detail of the universe give way to the detail of our beautiful planet. Navigating the dunes in the nascent morning light, it was also interesting to observe the quantity of fresh Sidewinder marks in the sand. Thankfully, the Sidewinders appear more than capable of avoiding blundering hominids in the dark.

Tags:   California Death Valley Death Valley National Park Landscape Mesquite Dunes National Park U.S. National Park dawn desert dunes magic hour morning morning light ripples sand sand dunes shadows sunrise Stovepipe Wells United States

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Like a surfer navigating a very slow-moving break, the Creosote Bush bides its time and knows exactly when to drop into the swell, Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California.

Following a transcendent night out in the dunes star-gazing and photographing the Milky Way, the ripples revealed at sunrise were almost equally fascinating. I visited the Great Sand Dunes in the San Luis Valley a couple of weeks ago, and the smaller scale of the Mesquite Dunes is quite a different photographic experience in comparison. There are more plants scattered amongst the latter as well, probing the sand many meters down for hidden moisture.

It is snowing in Boulder as I write this, and the heat of last April in the desert is but a memory.

Tags:   California Creosote Bush Death Valley Death Valley National Park Grapevine Mountains Landscape Larrea tridentata Mesquite Dunes National Park U.S. National Park desert dunes morning morning light mountains sand sand dunes

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Large boulders are strewn about the landscape near the summit of Iron Mountain. The Pacific can be seen in the distance. The scrub vegetation supports a significant diversity of bird and mammal life - there were hummingbirds everywhere on the way up.

Tags:   Iron Mountain California San Diego County Southern California Pacific Ocean

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