I took too many pictures… clearly. This was The Racetrack, up in the northern end of the park. It was huge, quiet, and beautiful! The weather was amazing. It was weird to be there after having seen so many photographs of the rocks over the years. We brought Gnobkin the Gnome with us, too!

After a while, there wasn’t much more to photograph, so we headed back to camp. On the way, we stopped by the Ubehebe Volcano, which was tough to photograph because of its size. By the time we got home, it was just about dusk, so we cooked dinner, and then I set up to take a few pictures of the stars. It was really windy the first night, but the second night, it didn’t get breezy until a couple of hours after the sun went down. I wanted to capture star trails, which wasn’t easy… it’s so hard to see what you’re doing and make sure you’re using the proper exposure. It’s also difficult to leave your camera sitting out with the shutter open for over an hour, and not have some sort of movement happen to the tripod. It was a learning experience…

I can’t believe that was three blog posts for one day of camping… thanks for looking!

Day One | Day Two, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 | Day Three | Day Four

At Teakettle Junction, we chose to head over to check out some abandoned mines before going to The Racetrack. We wound up an the Lost Burro Mine, which was really cool. We didn’t see another soul for several hours, which is both nice and a little unnerving…

Day One | Day Two, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 | Day Three | Day Four

Day two in Death Valley was jam packed with stuff we wanted to see :) It was a long day, but so worth it! We started out by heading up past the Ubehebe Volcanic Formation to see some deserted mines, then through Teakettle Junction to The Racetrack. It was gorgeous! On the way back to camp, we stopped at the Ubehebe Volcano (I am not sure, geologically, if it’s considered a volcano or just a “volcanic formation.” I should know this…) — it was a tiring day!!!

The sun rose before we were ready. You could tell it was storming in the mountains, which is where we camped last year. I’m glad we chose to stay in the valley this time…

Breakfast and coffee!

And we’re off!

At Teakettle Junction, you can choose to go one direction to see some abandoned mines, or toward The Racetrack. We wanted to be at The Racetrack closer to sunset, so we spent a couple of hours driving to and exploring the Lost Burro Mine, which was really cool. Going to those abandoned spots makes you wonder what all went on there, and what life must have been like for the miners.

Day One | Day Two, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 | Day Three | Day Four

Gosh, I took over 600 pictures for this trip. I wanted to document it all, I guess! I had the most amazing time! We got there in the early afternoon on Thursday. By the time we made it to the northern part of the park, where we had planned to camp, it was almost dusk, and we got the tent put up just in time for the wind to start. That was really the only weather we had to endure. The rest of the trip was just absolutely amazing :)

The sun went down, the wind came out, and my camera got put away! More to come as soon as I can edit them :)

Day One | Day Two, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 | Day Three | Day Four