Best of Calf 10-06-25 скачать в хорошем качестве

Best of Calf 10-06-25

My first day of the program, The Best of California Yosemite, Death Valley & Eastern Sierra by Backcountry Journeys, started in Las Vegas. There, I met our team leader, Paul Anderson, and the rest of the photography group. Over dinner, we discussed California’s iconic destinations that awaited us. After breakfast, we left Vegas and embarked on a long desert drive to Death Valley and its surreal landscapes. Following a group shot at the entrance sign, I got my first glimpse of the undulating badlands. One of our first stops was Zabriskie Point, which brought to mind the 1970 film of the same name—Pink Floyd's music running through my head. The short climb took me past striated hills of yellow and brown sediment, carved from ancient lakebeds, making the canyons glow with remarkable intensity. Moving on, we stopped at The Harmony Borax Works, a historic industrial site known for its role in the late 19th-century borax mining boom and the iconic "20 Mule Teams" used for transport. From the signage, I learned about its discovery and establishment: Borax was discovered in the region in 1881 by Aaron and Rosie Winters. Businessman William Tell Coleman acquired the claims and built the Harmony Borax Works in late 1883 or early 1884 to process the "cottonball" borax ore found on the salt flats. The plant employed about 40 men, including many Chinese laborers who collected raw ore and produced about 3 tons of borax daily. Due to extreme summer heat that made the processing water too hot to crystallize borax, operations shifted to the Amargosa Borax Plant during those months. The finished product was hauled 165 miles across the desert to the nearest railroad in Mojave, California, by massive wagons pulled by teams of 20 animals—18 mules and 2 horses. This innovative transport method, born of logistical necessity in such a remote location, became an enduring symbol of the American West and the borax industry. The Harmony plant operated for only five years, shutting down in 1888 after Coleman's business empire collapsed due to financial speculation and the removal of the borax import tariff. Francis Marion Smith, owner of the "20 Mule Team Borax" brand, acquired the site but never reopened it for processing. The iconic "20 Mule Team" image lived on as a marketing tool long after the Harmony works closed. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1974. Our accommodations were at The Oasis at Death Valley in Furnace Creek, which truly lived up to its name as the only sign of life for miles around. We enjoyed lunch and an ice cream break as we explored the interesting shops at this desert refuge. In the late afternoon, we were taken to Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, which evoked scenes from Star Wars, with its desert planet, Tatooine. The setting sun cast a fiery glow on the mountain backdrop as I trudged through soft sand that swallowed my feet with each step. Capturing dunes without footprints proved nearly impossible unless I wanted to trek a mile out and back—you can see what I chose. We left as the moon rose over the mountain ridge, bathing the sand in a luminous glow.