Day 7 – Death Valley California Part One

At its peak, Rhyolite had over 10,000 inhabitants and by 1920 it had shriveled to less than 20.  Today it seems that there are two houses that are lived in, the rest is blown over, collapsed, and in a general state of decay.

There was no lack of interesting photographic subjects in this ghost town – and it being a first for both of us – we spent over an hour exploring and photographing it.

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

antique classic truck

Click image to see HDR Photography version

Rhyolite ghost town

Rob’s camera of choice, his 2 Megapixel Blackberry Bold.

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

Rhyolite ghost town

We spent about 2 hours in Rhyolite, photographing and just walking around and exploring.  Garbage dumps consisting of ancient tin cans littered the area.  We made our way into a few buildings, but most were fenced off for safety reasons.  We were  however, able to get into the abandoned bank vault in one of the main banks of the ghost town.

Our next stop was the Death Valley Sand Dunes

Page 5 – Sand Dunes

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11 Responses to Day 7 – Death Valley California Part One
  1. Jan
    December 24, 2009 | 4:49 pm

    Hey, where are the dunes photos?

  2. Rob
    December 25, 2009 | 9:57 pm

    Dar will put them in eventually Jan. With our travel schedule and stuff, the biggest challenge right now is time for her to do the photo editing. To be honest, she’s not even done editing our own wedding photos!

    as soon as she’s got them done, they’ll be put up.

    I’m assigning her a “photo of the day” and we’ll soon have a gallery up as well. Even if we dont post a trip log for the day, we’ll have a photo of the day

  3. Jan
    December 28, 2009 | 4:21 pm

    Hey. love those photos…thanks! I really like the angle on the opera house, inside and out, and the wagon wheel and the dunes, and…you get the idea! Places like that are really awe-inspiring. Thanks again. And I do know how hard it is to get the photo stuff done. Since we got home from Malawi I have made only one post to our blog. However, it’s a philosophical one that needed some time to process before posting. Check it out at http://nesscafe.wordpress.com

  4. Darlene
    December 28, 2009 | 4:43 pm

    Hi Jan, there’s still more coming for this day yet, including ghost town and sand dunes. Check back again tomorrow, I hope to have them finished. Just downloading 300+ from my memory cards now.

  5. Darlene
    December 28, 2009 | 4:44 pm

    Jan I tried your link but it just goes to a “how-to” word press page.

  6. Rob
    December 29, 2009 | 7:51 pm

    Dar, I edited Jan’s comment with the correct link now

  7. Nazima
    December 29, 2009 | 9:05 pm

    Pictures are gorgeous as usual. You should be tweeting this.

  8. Darlene
    December 31, 2009 | 9:37 pm

    thanks, I think Rob is but he still wants to add some more stuff to it before he advertises it

  9. Dawn
    May 28, 2010 | 7:28 am

    Thanks for sharing your stories! They are great! I am a young snowbird too so I have had some of the same challenges. I would like to know how you were getting internet service in these remote places?

  10. Rob
    June 6, 2010 | 12:24 am

    When we book our sites, we ask about wifi. All our wifi is provided by the parks. Most are free, but we’ve had to pay for some Tengo at times. Next year we’re going to get our own wireless modem and hook up with “Clear” who provide a signal in both Arizona and Texas

  11. Wendy R
    June 8, 2010 | 11:10 am

    On another trip to Death Valley, it is most worthwhile to visit Scottys Castle. The story of Scotty and the castle and how it came to be built is fascinating. It is a US National Parks historic site. Good luck with your continued snowbirding (we are young ones too).

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