Down-size my Death Valley Trip?

[Richard K.]

I was planning on being in Death Valley 5 full days, Feb. 7 - Feb. 11 (leaving Feb. 12). After reading about possible (likely?) road restrictions, I'm wondering if I shouldn't cut back to just 3 days in DV and maybe go to Souther climes (Anza Borrego?) instead for a couple of days and return in the summer to do the Racetrack, Point Aguerreberry, Saline Valley, etc.? :confused:

Thanks for your thoughts on this!! :)

What would the Lone Pine (Alabama Hills) area be like in Feb.?

[Sirius Glass]

You cannot predict the road and weather conditions in Death Valley or even the Mojave this far in advance. They can be anywhere from bone dry to a qagmire or anything in between.

[Kevin Crisp]

It could very well be bone dry and cold in February, both in DVNP and in the Alabama Hills. But then again the flooded out trip I mentioned was in February....

[Drew Wiley]

DV or Saline Valley in the summer???? That's a cruel way to die. Anza-Borrego is a
LONG drive from Death Valley and subject to the same weather variables. DV is so
large that there will always be plenty to do. Just hike around a bit. With luck, these
current rains will green up the Valley - something I have only seen twice in my own
lifetime, along with a 30-mile long lake at the bottom. The Lone Pine area isn't too
far away and has a great deal in it too, but will probably be cooler. Sometimes I just
wish folks would throw away their "must see" or "must photograph" lists and just nose around. The whole country around there is remarkable, especially on foot.

[Kevin Crisp]

The weather predictors are saying that despite the recent many, many inches of rain (28" and counting at Lake Arrowhead, for example, just in December) they still think this will be a relatively dry winter. Several have pointed out that a rip roaring wet start and then nothing for follow up is typical of a La Nina condition.

Typically our Decembers are fairly dry, with standing water peaking in April.

[Ed Kelsey]

Amusing that you would take anything the Weather Service says with a grain of salt especially after the recent rains in So Cal.

[Kevin Crisp]

I think every weather prediction should be taken with a grain of salt. Especially so anything out more than 7 days or so. The last series of storms seem to have been very accurately predicted within the 10 to 14 day time frame by the National Weather Service.

In general the El Nino effect hasn't seemed to mean much in my observation. Besides, I blame the parents.

[generubin]

I've been traveling DV for 50 years. No way Anza Borrego even compares closely to DV for scenery and grandeur. As fast as DV gets flooded, it also dries out.

Alabama Hills is beautiful year round for photos. I have found the most rain and snow around DV area is in February. The wildest weather makes for the best memories.

Any desert can storm in the winter and require tire chains, 4wd or not, I always carry them.

[D. Bryant]

I was planning on being in Death Valley 5 full days, Feb. 7 - Feb. 11 (leaving Feb. 12). After reading about possible (likely?) road restrictions, I'm wondering if I shouldn't cut back to just 3 days in DV and maybe go to Souther climes (Anza Borrego?) instead for a couple of days and return in the summer to do the Racetrack, Point Aguerreberry, Saline Valley, etc.? :confused:

Thanks for your thoughts on this!! :)

What would the Lone Pine (Alabama Hills) area be like in Feb.?

There is so much to see and photograph in DV if you haven't been there before I can't imagine why you would want to travel to Anza Borrego. If the weather allows just slow down so to speak and explore DV. Time permitting do go to Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills and over towards Mt Whitney.

Be prepared for an inspiring trip. I think you will be pleased with what you find but don't try to see to much, if you do you will waste a lot of time driving.

Don Bryant

[Mark Barendt]

I have a buddy who spends a month or two each year in DV and finds plenty to shoot.

Having been there a fair number of times myself I can't imagine not being able to fill 5 days.

Also summer is hellish.

[Bruce Watson]

I was planning on being in Death Valley 5 full days, Feb. 7 - Feb. 11 (leaving Feb. 12). After reading about possible (likely?) road restrictions, I'm wondering if I shouldn't cut back to just 3 days in DV and maybe go to Souther climes (Anza Borrego?)

Really, when you do this kind of work (landscape photography) you have to take the weather as it comes. Make the most of the weather / light that you have. If it's possible to do the full time in Death Valley, do it. If not, you should have a Plan B. For me in that part of the US in February, Plan B would be Joshua Tree NP. Plan C would be Sedona AZ. Plan D would be the parks in southern AZ, especially Organ Pipe.

But it's all good. If you want it to be.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

I'm in death valley right now, camping up Trail Canyon, off the West Side rd. I'm picking up the new cell site here on my iPad. Manley Lake, which covers the salt flats at Badwater, is huge at the moment. I'll be shooting sunrise there again tomorrow.

Generally, DV is not an easy place to make meaningful images. Its huge and weather plays an even bigger role in creating photo conditions. The icons are still worth seeing, but you often find you want a lens with 180 degrees of view! It usually takes a day or two to adjust your senses to the vastness, and begin to see intimate scenes among the vast stretches of gravel, rocks, and aggregate washes. Fortunately there are many many locations here worth exploring. I'll check in again when I find a connection.

[Kevin Crisp]

But it looks [I]different[I] when it is hellish, don't you think?

[Curt]

I have a buddy who spends a month or two each year in DV and finds plenty to shoot.

Having been there a fair number of times myself I can't imagine not being able to fill 5 days.

Also summer is hellish.

When it's good it's very good, but when it's hot it's not.

The longer you stay in a place more you start to see. The weather changes and it takes time to notice the subtle details. Trying too see too many places can be unrewarding photographically speaking. It's good to explore for a return visit though.

[Richard K.]

Great advice from everybody, thank you! :)

[Mark Barendt]

But it looks [I]different[I] when it is hellish, don't you think?

Mirages :) , overheated cars :mad: , and heat stroke :eek: ; does tend to make things look "different".

[Fred L]

Sounds like a trip I should take when I can make the time. Would be great if you can post a TR when yer back and have some downtime.


cheers,

Fred

[Sirius Glass]

The icons are still worth seeing, but you often find you want a lens with 180 degrees of view!

I have often thought that a 360º FOV would be better!

Steve

[Kevin Crisp]

The things that always amaze me about Death Valley in July/August are:

1. All the new unreleased cars and trucks you can see being hot weather tested by the manufacturers. They love running them up that endless hill from Stove Pipe Wells heading West to Panamint Valley. I suppose heat like that with a climb like that can't be found anywhere else.

2. Sometimes car windows get so hot they won't go up and down.

3. How you can drink lots of water and never discharge any.

4. How the coyotes will come and watch you when you stop by the side of the road to do anything, especially changing a flat tire. They are patiently waiting for you to keel over so they can make their move.

5. How you can take a fresh lunch sandwich out of a plastic bag and have the bread feel like a piece of toast within 5 minutes. See No. 3; the heat and dryness are doing the same thing to you.

6. How you can be in the most obscure places in the park and find your solitude interrupted by a big air conditioned bus discharging Germans, French, Danes or Swedes.

7. The unprepared people I come across that would be serious trouble if somebody didn't come along to give them water, or 5 gallons of gas.