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Greg Campbell wrote:
I'll throw in a word for the scenic Lake Isabella route along 178 between Bakersfield and Ridgecrest. It's shorter but slower, and will probably add 20~30 minutes to the drive. The route is, IMO, much more scenic and is worth considering if you have some spare time.
I'll also suggest the 'back way' in to DV from the Ridgecrest area - via the Trona - Wildrose road. This takes you past Ballarat as you tour the length of Panamint Valley.
I don't know how your better half is going to like 4~5 days in DV. As much as I like the place, I usually 'have to go' after about 4 days or so. The landscape is certainly pretty, but I start to miss things like trees and water.... As mentioned, getting around the park takes time. Unless your wife is willing to come along, I don't know what she's gonna do besides sit around the pool and read, etc. If you two are game for some desert hiking, buy the superb "Hiking DV... " book by M. Digonnet and give it a good read before you arrive. There are dozens / hundreds of neat places to explore....
Yosemite has more attractions, but even then 5~6 days is going to test the patience of someone not 'game' to get out and tromp around. A side trip to Mariposa (while you ride the shuttle bus and shoot) is about all the area offers. I suppose it all depends on her personality and preferred activities......Show more →
I could echo much of what you write, especially concerning the amount of time in DEVA. I often photograph there for about five days at a time, sometimes more than once per year. I love the place, but photographing in the park is not an easy thing if you are serious about it. There is a lot of driving, sometimes in difficult conditions (if you go past the usual stuff), and the terrain is not easy to like for folks who aren't natural desert rats.
When I occasionally hear people refer to what I do in these places as "fun" or "play," I think of a particular trip to DEVA a few years ago on which I really understood the work part of this. After a few days of getting up before 4:00 am to drive an hour or two or more on gravel roads in the hope that I might get the right conditions for a subject, my understanding of the work nature of this activity was confirmed. (I do love doing landscape photography, but serious landscape photography mixes some moments of ecstatic joy with many hours of lesser experiences. ;-)
I've done the Lake Isabella route, too. It is more scenic, especially in the spring when the river flows through the canyon on the ascent from the west. While being more visually interesting than the often (but not always!) boring freeway over Tehachapi Pass, it may or may not warrant photographs. And, on the right days (such as spring!) the hills on the western ascent of Tehachapi can be quite something, too.
I notice that you mentioned Wild Rose Canyon Road. That route has been closed for over a year now. There was a apparently a bad washout over a year ago and budgetary and other reasons have seriously delayed repair work. It was still closed when I was there about a month ago. I do like the Ridgecrest/Trona/Panamint approach to DEVA, but most folks will have to go all the way up to 190 and cross via Towne Pass until that other route is repaired.
Dan
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