I’ve always been really curious about Death Valley’s Racetrack. Sure, comps are limited: playa, rocks, trails, hills, sky, all presented with not much variation. However, the mystery and remoteness of the place has captured my imagination since the first time I saw an image of rocks magically carving trails across a dry lake bed. This winter my wife and son and myself finally made the long drive in. The road was in great condition with no bad washouts. Take it slow, watch for tire puncturing rocks, and it was easy. A Mercedes sedan even managed followed us in for the last ten miles. I’m sure all of you photographers out there have experienced many, many frustrating sunrises or sunset where the sky holds great clouds in every directions EXCEPT for where we need them to be. Not this time! The entire time I scouted for rocks I watch as a few high cirrus drifted through the sky. This happens all the time and I figured they’d evaporate at sunset like the always do. Then just as the good light started coming on, these clouds parked themselves right above the horizon, perfectly in line with my comp. I couldn't believe my luck! The entire sky was blue except for these clouds sitting right above the horizon. The trip out there wasn’t completely relaxing and stress free. Temperatures were forecasted to drop into the teens that night, so we decided to sleep in the truck instead of pitching a three season tent in the wind. After games and books we turned our headlamps out and hung the car keys in a “secure” easy to reach location. Around three a.m. I woke up cold so I decided it was time to turn the truck on for some heat. Keys were gone! What?! Can’t be? I woke my wife up and we looked for fifteen minutes, fumbling around in the darkness looking everywhere we could think might possibly have fallen. Nothing. Gone. Frustrated I decided to go back to sleep, but not before stepping outside to pay mother nature a call. As soon as I opened the door (which I had locked from the inside before turning in) the alarm went off. You have to realize, when it’s four a.m., pitch black, 18 degrees, and a car alarm is screaming at you, and you’re in your boxers, you kind of start imagining the worst. I immediately convinced myself the alarm would continue to go off for the next two hours and drain the battery. We wouldn’t be able to find the keys even when day breaks because the fell into some awful crevice in the truck (a rental) from which we’d never be able to retrieve them. Distant words of a photography friend who implored me to take it easy out there because, “tows back from the Racetrack run around a thousand bucks”. Miraculously the alarm went off. I did my business then went to sleep, trying my best so shut out all of the “what if” thoughts roaming my brain convincing me that I’m completely screwed.. In the end, that mid-night freak out was for naught because we found the keys within two minutes in the light of morning. At least it provided my wife and I fodder for a great running joke and point of self derision for the rest of the trip. via 500px http://ift.tt/1FDDjo8
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