Category: National Parks

During my recent trip to Death Valley National Park, I visited the Eureka Dunes. At over 600′ tall, these dunes are the tallest in California. They are located almost 100 miles due north of Furnace Creek, requiring either a 40 mile off-road drive or 160 mile circuitous route around the park to the northwest. After soliciting advice from the park rangers, I decided to try the off-road option since the road was reportedly dry and in good condition. There were a few washboard sections, but nothing as difficult as my previous drives to the Racetrack. When I finally arrived at the dunes, I was impressed by their girth. If you’ve visited the Mesquite Dunes, imagine them piled on top of each other until they blocked out the horizon. I was daunted by their size, but since the sunset was approaching, I grabbed my camera gear and headed straight up. I probably climbed about 2/3 of the way up to the top, but once I surveyed the massive ridge patterns to the north, I went back down and headed towards them. As the sunlight turned golden yellow and the shadows began to elongate, I settled on this image beneath the summit. After the sun sank below the mountains to the west, I hiked for 45 minute back to my truck, and then drove for over 2 hours back to my camping trailer. It was a long day, but worth the effort.

During my recent visit to Death Valley National Park, I created this image Mesquite Sand Dunes Sunset 3. Because they are close to the road, the dunes get a lot of foot traffic and are usually covered in un-photogenic tracks. However, several days of strong wind had blow away any footprints and created razor sharp edges on the dunes. When I began my hike, the wind was still howling. I stood for over an hour in the maelstrom being sand blasted, but the winds ceased 20 minutes before sunset. The conditions serendipitously came together to create this beautiful image. You can watch my iPhone video from this shoot here.