Fall 2006 High Desert Tour |
Over Veteran's Day weekend I toured Owens Valley, the Inyo Mountains, Panamint Valley, and Trona Pinnacles. I shot several panoramic photos along the way.
Take the panoramic tour of the High Desert on Google Earth. When Google Earth opens, expand 20061110-12_High_Desert_Tour.kmz, click on the folder labeled Fall 2006 High Desert Tour, and hit F10 to view the panoramic tour. Click on the cameras to see the pictures. Click on the pictures to link to higher resolution versions.
Near the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns adjacent to Owens Lake.
Moments after I parked, I heard the drone of an approaching multi-engine turbo-prop. A Royal Air Force Hercules C3 flew directly overhead.
Friday afternoon I drove up into the Alabama Hills to shoot panoramas along Movie Road before the Sun disappeared behind the Sierra Nevada.
On Saturday morning, I made the long climb to Barber Point (aka Mazourka Peak) at an elevation of 9,400 feet. It's an easy drive that does not require 4-wheel drive.
It was overcast and cold on the mountain. Snow was falling on the Sierra Nevada at a lower elevation than I was standing at. There is an antenna farm up there, so I had five bars of cell phone signal strength.
The trail between Barber Point and Papoose Flat is a real workout. In places it is necessary to use first gear in low range.
Papoose Flat.
Little planet view of Papoose Flat is made by wrapping the 360-degree panorama in a circle.
Little planet view of Papoose Flat
Little planet view of the Inyo Mountains
Little planet view of the Inyo Mountains
The most distant mountains in this picture are on the far side of the Eureka Valley, near the Nevada border.
Little planet view of Harkless Flat
On Sunday I drove home through the Panamint Valley.
Father Crowley Overlook
Little planet view of Father Crowley Overlook
I took the dirt Indian Ranch Road along the foothills of the Panamint Mountains to the ghost town of Ballarat.
The road leading into the canyon on the right side of this picture goes up Pleasant Canyon to Rogers Pass. I found it washed out a few miles up two years ago.
Now a ghost town, Ballarat served nearby mining camps from 1897 to 1917.
Last wall standing.
The pass through the Slate Range offers the last glimpse of the Panamint Valley.
Highway 178 makes a sharp left turn immediately after the road cut into the Panamint Valley. The wreckage of at least ten cars litters the slope below the road.
There are three wrecks at uper left and a fourth at lower right.
Three wrecks are clustered behind the big gray boulder and there is a rusty green panel near the bottom of the picture.
Another crumpled car.
There are two wrecks and a couple of tires in the wash.
The Trona Pinnacles are pillars of travertine that formed where springs flowed into a lake that covered the area during glacial periods of the Ice Age.
The pinnacles were a false god's home in Star Trek V
Little planet view of Trona Pinnacles.
- advertisement -
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my photographs of California’s High Desert.
California High Desert locations include Owens Valley, Panamint Valley, Saline Valley and the Inyo Mountains.
Put a copy of the California High Desert 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my photographs of the Mojave Desert.
A dozen photos of the Mojave Desert. Locations include the Panamint Valley, the ghost town of Ballarat, the ghost town of Cerro Gordo, the Inyo Mountains, and the Saline Valley.
Put a copy of the Mojave Desert 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my photographs of the Saline and Panamint Valleys.
A dozen photos of the Saline and Panamint Valleys. The Saline Valley is a remote and beautiful part of Death Valley National Park. The primitive roads and utter lack of services make it one of the least visited parts of the park. I strongly recommend 4-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicles to get there. We get a flat tire on nearly every trip. The Saline Valley is bounded on the west by the Inyo Mountains with peaks reaching over 11,000 feet. The bottom of the valley floor is at an elevation two miles below the peaks of the Inyos. The lowest pass out of the valley is almost 4,000 feet higher than the almost dry lakebed.
Put a copy of the Saline and Panamint Valleys 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my photographs of Inyo County Mountains.
A dozen photos of mountainous terrain in Inyo County. Locations include:
Alabama Hills
Papoose Flat Road in the Inyo Mountains,
Hines Road in the Inyo Mountains,
Cerro Gordo in the Inyo Mountains,
Lee Flat, and
Hunter Mountain.
Put a copy of the Inyo County Mountains: 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my photographs of the Basin and Range province in eastern California.
A dozen photos of the Basin and Range province in eastern California. Locations include:
Barber Point in the Inyo Mountains,
Papoose Flat in the Inyo Mountains,
Harkness Flat in the Inyo Mountains,
Panamint Valley,
Ballarat ghost town,
Owens Valley, and
Trona Pinnacles.
Put a copy of the California Basin and Range: 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my very wide angle photographs of eastern California, from the Sierra Nevada to Death Valley. The photos are 9-1/2" x 13-1/2".
A dozen very wide angle 9-1/2" x 13-1/2" photographs of eastern California, from the Sierra Nevada to Death Valley.
Horseshoe Meadow
Owens Valley
Whitney Portal
Alabama Hills
Cerro Gordo
Holiday Mine, Inyo Mountains
Lee Flat
Ubehebe Crater
Racetrack Playa
Ulida Flat from Hunter Mountain
Put a copy of the Wide Open Spaces of California: 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $23.95.
You can buy a 2020 Calendar featuring my Little Planet photographs. The photos are 9-1/2" x 13-1/2".
A dozen 9-1/2" x 13-1/2" 360-degree panoramas wrapped in a circle to make little planets. Locations include Antelope Valley, Saline Valley, Hunter Mountain, Racetrack Playa, Horseshoe Meadow, and the Inyo Mountains.
Put a copy of the Little Planets: 2020 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $23.95.
- advertisement -
Send a message to Brian.