Death Valley Flowers

[Jim Dick]

Yesterday we took a drive from Inyokern to Death Valley, a trip of 280 miles round trip. It was a lovely day and the drive was spectacular. We drove past Searles Lake where they mine Trona, in the town of Trona, which is processed into soda ash. This is used to make glass. This is only one of a dozen products made in Trona. The town itself is very small with many abandoned, run down buildings. American Chemical has three plants operating in this small valley.

From there we crossed the Argus mountains into the Panamint Valley. There is an abandoned mining town which has a few old buildings, a caretaker, and not much else. At the end of the valley we climbed the Panamint mountains which topped out over 4900'. I would not want to make this climb in our coach though we saw many coming from Death Valley.

Death Valley certainly has it's share of flowers though most of them are the yellow Desert Gold with a few white and purple flowers mixed in. At the visitor's center we saw a Desert Five-Spot flower. I have attached a photo of this magnificent plant. Small but extremely pretty. There was yellow everywhere we looked but I must admit we have seen more variety in other locations. There were also a lot of visitors since it was Sunday. I wish we could have done it on a weekday.

I hope you enjoy the attached photos.

 

[DonJordan]

Jim,

Great pictures again.  That Desert 5 spot is spectacular.

 

[thebrits]

Lovely pics, Jim.  Death Valley looks quite different from when we were there in November.  Our daughter drove out there from Las Vegas last week, and she was very excited over all the flowers.  Maybe we'll have to spend next winter out west so that we can see them again.

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi Don,

Thanks. I really liked that Desert Five-Spot. 

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi Peggy & Dennis,

Thanks. We sure were lucky we picked this year for our trip west. I have never seen flowers this magnificent in the 8 years we've been coming out here!

 

[Lorna]

All your photos are great and the Desert Five-Spot fantastic.

 

[Jim Dick]

Lorna,

Thanks. I have a great camera!!! ;D ;D

I really liked that Desert Five-Spot. What a gorgeous flower!!! I'm really happy I got to see it.

 

[DougJ]

Jim,

Prompted by your private e-mail, I've sent you two ".PSD" files.

They are big!!!  So if you're on a slow connection you may want to wait until you've got something fast.

Ciao,

Doug

 

[Jim Dick]

Doug,

Thanks, I just finished d/l the large file. Now to sit down and go through it. Appreciate your help!

 

[DougJ]

Glad you got it down, and I hope in retrospect you'll find it to have been worth your effort.

Ciao,

Doug

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi Doug,

Any effort to educate me is well worth the d/l time.(G) I appreciate your efforts.

 

[jscuzz]

Jim:

Beautiful pics. Now I have to make ours come out looking like yours.

 

[DougJ]

My motivation, Jim, was my recollection that you weren't finding the time to read about layers.  So I thought I send you a couple of files that provide a quickie look at layers, imperfect though my own understanding is.

Ciao,

Doug

 

[Lorna]

To add to Jim's pics of flowers I am putting up several pics from the north end of the 303 north of Phoenix.

 

[DougJ]

Good additions to the collection, Lorna .  Of the three, I like #005 best.

Ciao,

Doug

 

[Ron]

To add to Jim's pics of flowers I am putting up several pics from the north end of the 303 north of Phoenix.

Great shots Lorna.  Just almost unbelievable how beautiful the desert is this year.

 

[Ron from Big D]

To add to Jim's pics of flowers I am putting up several pics from the north end of the 303 north of Phoenix.

Nice photos Lorna.  Wish I didn't have to miss it all.

 

[Lorna]

Thanks guys.  Doug I have to agree with you that is my favorite also.  Ron I am sorry you have to miss all of this beauty too.  I am very happy that you came through the surgery with flying colors and are on the road to recovery.  It was good to talk with Shirley and hope she is able to get some rest now that you are at home even though she is your nurse and driver.

 

[Jim Dick]

Jim:

Beautiful pics. Now I have to make ours come out looking like yours.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks! Just get a Canon Digital Rebel. It does it all for you. Actually we are very fortunate to have such great scenery to shoot.

 

[Jim Dick]

To add to Jim's pics of flowers I am putting up several pics from the north end of the 303 north of Phoenix.

Hi Lorna,

Nice photos! They are amazing this year.

On our way north to Discovery Bay the I-5 was full of wild muster plants. I was dying to pull over and take some pictures but there was no place available. When we stopped at vista points and rest areas, there were no flowers. I'm tempted to take the car and drive south to find some of the flowers. I can just see the yellow flowers against the green hills and blue sky with puffy white clouds.