Second Chances
Second Chances
It’s rare to get a really good shot the first time. Landscape professionals sometimes visit the same location dozens of times until the conditions are perfect. I usually have one or two days at a particular spot.
Such was the case in 2014 when I visited Death Valley with fellow photographers Jon Christofersen and Mike Loebach. We only had a few days to explore Death Valley before returning to Las Vegas to fly to a rafting trip down the Colorado River.
We made the most of those few days. It was hot (110 degrees), dusty and severely clear. But we had a chance to try Lobotomy Bock Beer. Their motto: I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. We also wanted to scout Aguereberry Point.
John Pierre Aguereberry
"Pete" Aguereberry was a renowned Death Valley prospector and gold miner for more than 40 years. After striking gold with partner Frank Harris in 1905, Aguereberry won a legal battle in 1909 and assumed control of the claim.
He transformed the claim into the Eureka Mine. Working it from 1907 until the early 1930s when his health deteriorated, Eureka produced an estimated $175,000 at a time when gold was only $20 an ounce. At current gold prices, that’s over $16,000,000!
Aguereberry lived in his two-room cabin near the Eureka mine and mill. The cabin was built in 1907, and he lived there until his death in 1945. There were two other cabins in the mining camp. One was a guest cabin and the other’s purpose is unknown.
Pete delighted tourists by showing them “The Great View of Death Valley.” He discovered a magnificent 6,433 feet elevation viewpoint perched on the west side of Death Valley National Park.
He built a 4.5-mile-long road there by pick, shovel, barrow, and blasting powder from the mining camp. Now known as Aguereberry Point, it offers breathtaking views of the Panamint range, Mount Charleston, Furnace Creek, and the salt flats of Badwater Basin.
The First Try
Back in 2014, Jon Christofersen volunteered to drive the 6.4 miles from the highway to Aguereberry Point. The road is extremely rugged and not for the faint of heart. Feel free to look it up at www.dangerousroads.org And don’t tell your car rental agency where you’re going.
We enjoyed a decent sunset, and I came away with the photo above.
The Second Try
We returned to Death Valley last February 27th. And again, Jon volunteered to drive in total darkness for another chance to photograph “The Great View,” this time in the pre-dawn.
I think the better conditions and experience paid off. The result was a prior Friday Photo that you can view at https://cderus.zenfolio.com/p1026313732/he6db50fd#he6db50fd
Thanks for looking,
Chuck