Solstice Trip

Gathering Storm, Alabama Hills CA

We were just finishing up dinner when the winds began in earnest.  My husband is too polite for an I told you so, but he did.  The clouds were coming in, and parking the camper on this knoll with a view was asking for it.  So we packed up.  We'd scouted a spot tucked back in the Alabama Hills' famous boulders for just such an occasion.  It was lovely, right down to the owl which sang to us after the light snowstorm cleared.  And we were well sheltered.  We've passed a few long nights with high winds.  I don't like wind under any circumstances but in the camper there's no sleep to be had at such times.

So, this is our (apparently annual) winter solstice road trip.

We used to volunteer at an event called Miracle in the Desert for homeless families which occupied us Christmas Eve and Day.  The local Rock Bottom Restaurants stopped sponsoring the event four or five years ago, so we started a road trip tradition.

The solstice, like Winter in Chinese Medicine, is about renewal, planning and preparing.

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer - Albert Camus

The long winter nights camping are ideal for brainstorming, reading, and visualizing how I’d like to coming spring’s rebirth to be.

Devil's Playground NV

This year, we began at Devil's Fire (AKA Little Finland or Hobgoblin’s Playground).  I'd been there 18 months or so ago but Marco had not.  The rocks here are delicately beautiful, and BLM seems to avoid signage or other help in finding the place for that reason.  Sadly, two of my favorite formations had been destroyed in the interim.  It’s still a delightful place.  The weather was overcast as it had been during my first visit, but there were still photos to be made.

Charcoal Kilns, Death Valley National Park

There were three nights in Death Valley.  Every time I leave this huge diverse park, I make notes about what to do next time.  The list is longer with each trip.  I loved light painting at the charcoal kilns at nearly 8000 feet elevation.  This project was much easier with an assistant shining the light on my cue.  The moon rising over the ridge really made the shot.  

Death Valley National Park

The dunes were magical as always.  Well, perhaps more so.  The skies were full of lovely clouds and there was a rainbow.  I'm tempted to say that watching the dog run and play was better than the photography, but it’s tough to beat a rainbow.

Mojave Preserve, CA

The wind really kicked up on the last night in the Mojave Preserve.  We met friends with a bigger rig than ours and, I confess, we used them as a wind break.  Any port in a storm.  At 36 degrees with gusts to 50 there were no sunset shots that night.  I did gear up and walk for 30 minutes or so, but not with great joy.  We’re grateful for the Spaghetti with meat sauce and homemade fruit cake they served us and for RV heaters.  The next day dawned joyfully clear and still.

“The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come.  At the darkest moment comes the light.” ~ Joseph Campbell