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Death Valley: A different kind of winter wonderland

Its natural beauty is painted by the sun, and its famed landmarks — Scotty's Castle and Furnace Creek Inn — beckon.

  • The moon glimmers over Mesquite Dunes with the Panamint Mountains beyond.… (Dan Blackburn, Dan Blackburn)
February 13, 2011|By Dan Blackburn | Special to the Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Death Valley, Calif. — — In the summer, the sun in Death Valley shows no mercy, pushing the mercury over the 115-degree mark, sucking every drop of moisture from the earth and air. It is a cruel dictator.

Winter then stages a coup. Daytime highs average in the 80s, nighttime lows in the 30s. Life returns to the 3-million-acre national park, and visitors will find a flourishing golf course, horseback rides, Jeep rentals, hiking, swimming pools and the historic and highly regarded 1930s-style Furnace Creek Inn.

As an added prize, the 5,270 square miles of Death Valley serve up some amazing sunrises and sunsets in winter. The sunrises are so spectacular that visitors — including my partner, Gloria Cortes, and I — roll out of warm beds in the predawn hours to stand in the dark as the rays of the rising sun begin to paint the desert and its scenery in rainbow hues.

Sunsets are equally awesome and have the advantage, in winter, of an early show: The sun's descent behind the Panamint Mountains begins in late afternoon, and the final glimmer fades away well before dinnertime.

Our first morning in the park last month found us bracing ourselves against a cold breeze that blew across Zabriskie Point, one of Death Valley's best-known landmarks. You may recognize the name from a 1970 movie of the same name. That's far from Death Valley's only turn on the screen; more than 100 movies have been shot in Death Valley, including parts of the "Star Wars" series. It also was the foundation for the popular 1950s television series "Death Valley Days," hosted for a time by Ronald Reagan.

Photography is one of the real draws at this time of year. Because the sun is at a lower angle now, you avoid the hot overhead light encountered at other times of the year. As a result, the winter months become a special time for photography workshops. If you see half a dozen or more people lined up with tripods at one of many scenic locations, it is a pretty good bet that a workshop is underway.

"Photography is all about interesting skies," said Gary Hart, who leads a well-regarded photo workshop. "Doing it in Death Valley in the winter maximizes the odds of getting something interesting. I also love shooting the dunes, especially with no footprints. The opportunity to be creative with curves and lines is great."

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