The Imperial Sand Dunes - " We need to experience this barefoot "

After refueling and heading out of the glorious Salvation Mountain we started north toward Phoenix where friendly faces, a hot shower, and a night of sleep in a home that didn't have four wheels awaited us, oh and civilization let us not forget that. The roads started off incredibly flat and straight for as far as our eyes would let us see. We continued like this for hours with another car passing once every thirty or so miles, gradually the landscape started gently raising and collapsing. The soft hills coated in low small vegetation and little else, in the distance one could see mountains majestically painting the horizon as the sun started to lower itself in the royal blue sky. Driving onward we suddenly found ourselves being wrapped in a terrain we had yet to encounter while on the road, pale dunes of sand higher then the van on either side of the road, the winds blurring where road war ended and dune began. Amazed at what we were seeing we found the nearest pull off and in one moment ripped our socks and shoes off and began our sprint into the marian landscape. The sand beneath our feet felt like silk and all at once we flashed back to children dancing in the yard with no care or worry of the troubles in our respective lives. We summited the biggest dune we could see and gazed out toward the setting sun, the landscape went for miles with no sign of anything else. The difference between the shadowy sides of the dune and those painted with the sun was that of fall and spring. As we stood and watched the sun set the dunes became richer in color and the sky began to show us what a sunset should always be, brilliant purples, pinks, blues, all seamlessly mixing and mingling together. I will never forget that moment and the feeling of complete freedom that overwhelmed me. This is what life was all about and this the feeling i will forever chase. endlessly. 

Salvation Mountain - " We found an oasis "

After a hasty getaway from the Salton Sea we drove a few more miles and reached the eastern end of the vast lake and the final town we would drive through before reaching Salvation Mountain. As we pulled through the town we saw it was surrounded by massive power plants and power lines strewn around like cobwebs in an old attic, businesses and houses were just as deserted as the other small towns we ran through earlier in the day. The further we got the less building we were seeing, as they tapered off completely the roads became surrounded by piles of broken glass shimmering in the mid day sun, abandoned concrete structures coated in vibrant graffiti and cryptic messages were now the only thing resembling structures and life we saw. Miles into the distant desert as far as the eye could see were old camper vans on blocks with slapped together tent huts around them, “do people really live out here” we both murmured. Surely one couldn't survive out here for long, as we came up on one of the martian huts we saw a weather torn man sitting in a lawn chair in worse shape then him, he gave a slight nod as we drove past as if to answer or previous question. Cresting a small hill on the dirt road we traveled one could see a large mound in the distance, not like the sand covered ones we had been seeing for miles, this one was special for ever a few miles out the radiant colors it had been painted  with glowed in the distance like a mirage from the movies. We sped up to make our way to it as if it was going to disappear before we could reach it, the parking lot was small and the van kicked up a dust storm as we pulled in and parked off to the side, the once small colored mound had grown quickly as we approached now towering over our van as we left the vehicle. “ Welcome to Salvation Mountain ” a friendly voice chimed from a few yards away, we glanced to where the voice had came and saw an older women sitting pleasantly in a shaded  hut next to an old car hand painted with life lessons. She told us how this place was special to her for more then just obvious reasons,. That back home, which surprisingly was very close to our home, she could no longer walk due to issues involving her back but once she got out here to Salton Sea that she hasn't had a day of pain since! This was further proven by her climbing and painting the side of the mountain all day.After continuing finishing up our conversation with the pleasant lady we began exploring the most odd of places, starting with a “cave” on the far right entirely made by hand using only what was available which from the looks of it was adobe, branches, and old car parts, once inside you felt as though you just jumped into a child Dr. Suess book. Strange colors lined the walls in sporadic patterns, makeshift portholes formed with circular shards of glass molded into the wall sides, these let in beams of multi color light that danced around the open room. The air inside and out was clean and dry, we passed through a dimly lit corridor and ended up in a room filled with belongings of fellow visiter's, everything from photos to drivers licenses lined the walls, a penance for the extraordinary place they just experienced. On top of the mountain you could see the desert stretch miles until meeting mountains, we made our way down said our goodbyes to the kind women, took one last look back at the brightly colored peak and hopped into the van and off to our next adventure. 

The Salton Sea - " Why is there a pile of dead birds? "

The Salton sea, this place has been scene to many post apocalyptic movies and documentaries due to its odd life. the sea is well below sea leve which has caused extremely high salt content in its water. In a past life the sea served the wealthy and elite of new old hollywood, but suddenly was rejeected  due to the sea no longer supporting most aquatic life within it, this caused most of the surrounding areas of this resort desitnation to become barren and abandoned. Upon arriving you could see nothing but desert and sea for miles, as the van hummed past dead foliage and abandoned shacks we grew curious as to what was ahead for us. We continued on what seemed to be a never ending highway of deja vu, noticing quickly we were running out of gas we opted to stop at the nearesttown sign. The town resembled footage of a nuclear fall out, everything stuck and rotting in the glorious past, the shine of new paint was now coated in salt depsits and rust, roads cracking from unrepair and sun damage, then we got hit with the stench, something of rotting fish and other forms of decay. Since already in a town with no gas station in sight we figured we would let curiosity get the best of us and started exploring round the forgotten town. Like something out of a movie as soon as we left the van an old man peddled by on a bicycle and mumbled something toward us neitheer could make out. We continued on cameras in hand for anyting worth our time or film in this alien terrain. Rounding a corner near the van we stumbled into an unsettling amount of headless birds piled up and thought it best to be on our way. 

Joshua Tree National Park - " I've never seen stars like this "

A few hours down interstate 99 and we found ourselves in Bakersfield and surrounded by low lying foliage and desert mountains of rich purples and tans. Nightfall reached us shortly after making our way into Twentynine pines, the nearest town to Joshua Tree, at this point the roadways stretched flat and straight for forty miles on end, this is were we found out that our reliable and trusty van was limited to a less then satisfying ninety five miles per hour. The light pollution was just about at zero due to being so far out and the cold air killing an atmospheric haze. as we zipped down the open roadways with the windows down and a late night nineties boyband playlist singalong happening the night was one ill never forget, Me and a good friend with nothing but a horizon of stars in a new land. Upon reaching the entrance of Joshua Tree National Park we read a sign saying to quietly find a place to sleep and camp and not to worry about paying the camp fees until the morning. This put a slight smile on my face, knowing that there are still places in this world that gain trust onto fellow peers and trust an adult will act as such, now i don't know if this is a sad reflection on myself or this worlds current status but thats neither here nor there. Through the help of the always trusty trip advisor app we found a nice camping area outside of the famous arch in the park and nestled our camper in-between rock formations and began setting up our van for sleeping and our photography gear for capturing the brilliant display the sky was putting on for us. The night brought upon us howling winds and frigid temperatures, although warmer then the previous night in Yosemite the winds were far worse. We propped our selves and gear up high on the close rocks, weighted down our tripods, and sat bundled up as the long exposures jammed. We stayed out for a few hours before the bitter cold made us pack up and retreat back to the van, the time i was out on those rocks sitting just me, my camera, and the surrounding stars was a real form of magic, i felt my soul cleanse, the mess thats usually in my head cleaned, it was the truest form of peace and happiness. The night spent in the van again brought shiver but was bearable. Again we had found ourselves pleasantly awoken moments before the sun was about to rise. We pulled back to curtains to reveal the glorious scene beyond the windows, tones of violet and teal painting across the rocks and sky, stepping out of the van was like stepping onto a martian terrain. We packed up our gear and headed into the vast desert to begin capturing the beauty that surrounded us. We climbed on top of the massive stones, down through dusty trails avoiding cacti. Quickly we grew hungry and thought it best to go find some food before the mid day sun, we headed into the nearest town and grabbed a delicious skillet of vegetables and eggs. As delicious as breakfast was and as needed as the coffee we raced through it fueled for more adventure. On the way back through the winding roads into the park we made a quick pit stop at the local donut shop. Once back inside the boundaries of the park we headed further south until the road went from pavement to sand, we pulled off and followed a rocky trail to what was a mining town.All that was left of the town was some old stone foundations and a couple closed off shafts. We perched on a cliffs edge and took in the view while picturing the old town bustling with pick ax laden workers. Continuing down the road we made our way to the location of Skull Rock, a formation thats as old as the park itself, massive stones reach to the sky with the unique weathering on them transforming them to form a skull overlooking the vast desert. We climbed and took in the last of our time in the amazing park before foraging onward to The Sultan Sea. Joshua Tree was a unique landscape and brought our eyes and cameras spectacular sights. There was absolute magic in that desert, the kind that makes you happy to be where you are with whom you are with. 

Yosemite National Park - "The heat doesn't work"

Leaving the warm Venice air proved to be difficult knowing we would soon be welcomed to cooler winds and white powered on our boots, still we picked up the camper van, loaded our packs and gear into its selected places, picked our music for the five hour drive, and started up to Pacific coast highway toward our first national park of the trip. The drive started off slowly winding through the hollywood hills and the un-nerving Los Angeles traffic before having us climb over mountains wide and high. It was about two hours in of these hill climbs before we descended and had us traversing flat desert roads north through Bakersfield.After passing through Fresno we started heading east inward two the gates of Yosemite National Park, we heard reports of snow storms days prior but until reaching the gates we had no idea how they had and will affect our journey. The swirling roads that lead into the park were fine at first, then suddenly the sides of the roads became peppered white, then the roads themselves, eventually as we passed through the small mountain town of Fish Camp the roads had iced and the snow was coming down viciously.  We passed sign after sign stating no vehicles past this point without chains and four wheel drive. It would be smart to turn back, then again no story ever begins with “and then we turned back ” so we proceeded on. Luckily for me Tom has had experience driving vans on snow covered roads, still the drive wasn't without its fears as Yosemite seems to not be one for guard rails or any other measures that would save a wayward vehicle from falling thousands of feet to its doom. We made it roughly a half hour past Fish Camp and decided to find a lot to park and camp for the night, the snow falling had made sight non existent and we were beginning to push more snow then driving over. Upon parking and setting up camp we thought it best to have a small quick snack of trail mix and water, then prepare for bed. The back of the van was spacious after folding out the cushions and the three hundred and sixty degrees of curtains covered all windows nicely for privacy and darkness. We did however have one downfall in our first night in the wilderness, the heater, we quickly figured out did not plug in and work. Of course we had the heat from the van but it would need to stay running in  order for that to work, and being that we had not seen any gas stations since turning off the main highway we knew this wouldn't be an option. We threw on double layers of sweatpants and sweatshirts along with blankets and tucked in for a long cold night. We awoke early, minutes before the sun rose over the skyline to the sound of a plow truck, well that and the immense cold that had crept in while we slept. Taking the many clues that sleeping in wouldn't be an option we tossed our boots on jumped up front and headed out.The next stop? Half Dome, and yes that should sound familiar as aside from being featured as a backdrop on all apple computers and photographed by some of the worlds leading photographers. The roads although increasingly better then the night before were still slick with ice and snow unable to be scraped clean by the plows. We winded further and further, higher then we had ever traveled before in this journey. As we turned a corner before us like a glowing red fire on a sun-kissed horizon was the entrance to a tunnel, it was long and resembled more of a lit cave then anything, as we drove through anticipation to where this would lead out grew, words couldn't do justice what laid before our eyes upon reaching the end. We pulled off immediately into the lot on the left side of the road, there before us in all of its glory centered between its sister peaks, Half Dome. For this marked the first time in my life i was left utterly speechless, for all at once my eyes soaked in the rising sun, the deep teal aura of the sky, the snow topped peaks surrounded with brilliant green pines it seamed to suck any words from my grasp immediately.  It took everything in us to peal ourselves away from this view but we knew more where to come and that the road was calling. Originally we had planned to head up and over the mountains and onto the eastern side of Yosemite but due to the overwhelming snow all roads but the one we were on had been closed, luckily the road was a massive loop so no back tracking needed.Upon getting into the van and heading out we started the decent into the valley of Yosemite. The mountain tops receded but we were rewarded with an increase in gorgeous pines and sun soaked fields. We soon found ourselves driving beside the Merced River down Northside Dr, we immediately found a clearing and pulled over. As soon as we pulled off i knew the image i wanted to take, i grabbed my camera and a wide angle lens and positioned myself onto the river bed facing upstream the river provided a mirror like surface that portrayed gorgeous symmetry and took in all the blue tones that saturated the landscape.  By this point our less then small breakfast of trail mix and water was proving to not be sufficient, our stomachs growled and turned begging for nutrition. We set off to find food, this proved to be more difficult then anticipated, we traveled for miles on back winding roads with no sign of food. We stumbled onto a couple hopeful spots but due to the weather all were closed. What seemed forever but turned out to be only an hour or so of driving found us off of the snow covered mountain roads and proceeding off the mountain ranges, at the end of this road a quaint mountain town with a small diner/convenience store nestled in the center. The hosts were gracious and kind, asking about our journey and provided quick food and beverages to quench our hunger. We said our goodbyes and feeling well nourished we climbed into the van for the eight hour drive to Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.