When I was on my trip out west last summer, I was up before dawn every single day, watching dramatic sunrises everywhere. Of course, the best sunrise photo I got, you can't see "sunrise" at all... it's fog and clouds obscuring layer after layer of the Grand Escalante Staircase in Utah, shot from a mountain to the west (with a mindboggling scenic drive itself).
But for Death Valley... well, I've been reading a history of the Far West, and the fate of the "Death Valley Party", California-bound pioneers who unwisely cut across Death Valley and mostly died... ugh. What really gets me is that the whole reason they headed south in the first place was because they'd heard the fate of the Donner Party the year before. Everyone knows the story of how the Donner Party became cannibals to survive, but what's lost in history is how they made mistake after mistake following a "nigher way" shortcut through the Sierra Nevadas that led to falling over a month behind schedule and getting trapped by the winter snows.
The Death Valley Party started late, and to avoid the Donner Party's fate, headed south to the nice, safe Old Spanish Trail at the hands of an experienced Mormon guide. This meant they'd get to California late, and then have to travel far north to the gold fields and riches beyond imagination. So when they found an anonymous note on the trail telling them of "a nigher way", of course like idiots they took it, over the advice of their guide. The trail led to Death Valley, where most of the men and all the animals died (the women and children fared better, and most of them made it to California, starving and dying of thirst).
But for Death Valley... well, I've been reading a history of the Far West, and the fate of the "Death Valley Party", California-bound pioneers who unwisely cut across Death Valley and mostly died... ugh. What really gets me is that the whole reason they headed south in the first place was because they'd heard the fate of the Donner Party the year before. Everyone knows the story of how the Donner Party became cannibals to survive, but what's lost in history is how they made mistake after mistake following a "nigher way" shortcut through the Sierra Nevadas that led to falling over a month behind schedule and getting trapped by the winter snows.
The Death Valley Party started late, and to avoid the Donner Party's fate, headed south to the nice, safe Old Spanish Trail at the hands of an experienced Mormon guide. This meant they'd get to California late, and then have to travel far north to the gold fields and riches beyond imagination. So when they found an anonymous note on the trail telling them of "a nigher way", of course like idiots they took it, over the advice of their guide. The trail led to Death Valley, where most of the men and all the animals died (the women and children fared better, and most of them made it to California, starving and dying of thirst).
Why are people so stupid?
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