7th April 2011, 13:08
| #1 |
| BHPian  | It was Spring Break and the weather in the Bay Area was nowhere near spring with storms lashing lots of rain and no sunshine on any weekend. My friends and I thought this would be a perfect time to make a getaway to the Death Valley National Park! It had rained just a week back there and we were looking forward to pleasant temperatures and desert flower blooms and nice clouds to form vibrant backgrounds for our photos! We planned to rent an SUV (good for the high-clearance trail roads in Death Valley and also good to carry all the camping stuff we would have) and drive to to Death Valley from the Bay Area and take a night halt at Lone Pine to see Alabama Hills (which is a nice hilly area near the south of the Eastern Sierras and where a lot of Wild West movies have been shot) My friend had rented a car online from Budget car rental and unfortunately we didn't have a good experience there. When adding a driver under 25 they didn't mention anything, but as soon as we had rented our ride and started our journey, a Nissan Murano, we got a call saying Budget didn't allow drivers under 25 and we needed to go back! On getting back, since the rental was on the SJC airport, parking was expensive and we had to make rounds just to find the right parking spot. All this cost us 2 hrs and we decided to cancel the rental and go to Enterprise from whom we had rented cars before for drivers under 25. The experience there was good and we got a good deal on a luxury SUV, the Lincoln MKX (a rebadged Ford Edge), not really an SUV, but good for high clearance trails. As with any American car, we realized we were going to get a huge fuel bill! Our first day was more or less a long drive on the boring I-5 upto Bakersfield, from where we took the CA 58 to cross the Sierras from the south and hit the scenic highway 395, which runs right across the Eastern Sierras. The journey to Lone Pine took about 6-7 hrs including a break and we were eager to catch the sunset at Alabama Hills. Unfortunately there was a snowstorm on the sierras and we couldn't get nice sunset shots. The Owens river, with the snowstorm over the Eastern Sierras visible on the right    Alabama Hills, with our ride in the foreground  Yes, the car had lights under the ORVMs! (to see what you're stepping into when coming out of the car?)  Finally happy with the way things turned out with the storm, we went to the Best Western Inn hotel that we'd reserved a room at for a good night's sleep looking forward to enter Death Valley the next day.  The next morning, we had decided to capture sunrise over Alabama Hills and then head over to Death Valley. Luckily the storm over the Sierras was just clearing and we got nice clearing storm landscapes at sunrise. Sunrise bringing out the pink in the clouds over the Sierras   The famous Mobius Arch  Just after sunrise on Alabama Hills  After sunrise, we decided to head over for a bit on Whitney Portal (the road which leads to the basecamp of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous USA) to see the storm aftermath and were blessed with the freshest, driest, softest and 'powderiest' snow we had seen! Thats the only pic of the Lincoln that I took here  The powdery snow, it tasted awesome, felt just like ice-cream  Loved the contrast between the snow on the mountain ranges and the brown in the valley (this is the Owens valley)  A Pine tree (no way related to the peak) in front of the Lone Pine peak (this peak gives the town its name)  Whitney Portal with Mt. Whitney seen in the background (the spires seen just to the right of the center)  After experiencing the awesome snow, we headed back to the hotel for breakfast and left for Death Valley from there on... Day 2, entering Death Valley The Crowley point, the first vista point after entering death valley from the west  Badwater Basin, the lowest point in contiguous USA This is a vast salt flat  A Panorama  Artists Palette, an interesting colorful landscape formed from various minerals  Sunset light on cliffs, rightly called The Red Cathedral  Last edited by GTO : 15th April 2011 at 17:10. Reason: Merging three posts so that the opening post is content-worthy. |
|
| |
|
7th April 2011, 13:23
| #2 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NCR
Posts: 565
Thanked: 25 Times
| |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 13:29
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 13:37
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 13:51
| #5 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Chennai
Posts: 99
Thanked: 32 Times
| Re: Death Valley: A Photologue The car sure does look Amazing! nice find  What, is it a 5 seater SUV? |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 13:53
| #6 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | |
|
|
7th April 2011, 14:22
| #7 |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 296
Thanked: 115 Times
| |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 14:30
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,644
Thanked: 587 Times
| |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 15:21
| #9 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 1,666
Thanked: 340 Times
| Re: Death Valley: A Photologue Surely, your lincoln steal the show here as everybody said. The lights on the ORVM is a good thought. The front looks huge but in a good way. Can you post some interior pics too of your ride. Your it would be fantastic going by the outer appearance. and nice pics of the drive . Waiting for more updates. |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 15:58
| #10 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 19:48
| #11 |
| BHPian | Re: Death Valley: A Photologue WOW, Death Valley. It reminds me of the story done by National Geographic. It is about a couple(or individual, cant remember) lost out in this valley during winter (no means to reach out to the world. The park is closed during winter). How they survived this ordeal, is pretty terrifying. More than the story, the Lincoln is captivating.  |
|
|
| |
|
7th April 2011, 20:49
| #12 | ||||||
| BHPian | Re: Death Valley: A Photologue Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
These pics are not from Death Valley, but from the Eastern Sierras Quote:
Refer the history section Quote:
Quote:
| ||||||
|
|
|
7th April 2011, 21:15
| #13 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
|
|
|
10th April 2011, 12:48
| #14 |
| BHPian  | |
|
|
|
11th April 2011, 21:58
| #15 | |
| BHPian | Re: Death Valley: A Photologue Quote:
I use a Canon EOS 400D | |
|
|
 |
Most Viewed