Off
this morning at 0445 to get to Zabriske Point for sunrise. We made it with a
little time to spare and photographed with probably 75 other people
at the point. Since I was there last they have put up some fencing to keep
people from being reckless, and probably stopping some erosion.
The view of the eroded canyon walls and the vista here is wonderful.
After
breakfast at Furnace Creek Resort we headed back to Panamint Springs
with several stops for wildflower photography. A short nap in the middle of the
day. We first had to return to Beatty, NV for refueling and
then went to explore Artist’s Palette, which is a canyon with a variety of
colored rocks. We did a short hike into Golden Canyon, before returning to
the Sand Dunes for sunset.The sunset was subtle but always a fun experience. There was a bit of a hike out to the taller dune.
It
had been a long and hot day and several people felt the heat as a result. One of the party I believe suffered a little from hyponatremia, which can occur from drinking water only, and not replacing electrolytes. There
was also the beginning of a stomach bug developing with a couple
of people. Dinner was at the Stove Pipe Wells saloon.
A
few of us went out the following morning for sunrise on the dunes. Some of the foot
prints had been obscured due to some good winds that had
developed
last night. The wind had not been an issue last night as it was
