Joshua Tree / Mojave Desert Photo Tour - April 18th “Primm Valley”
April 19, 2013 at 1:54 PM
We have arrived and are now in Primm Valley, Nevada about 2 km from the California state line. This will be our base for the first four nights. Our trip journey saw us flying out of Detroit at 7:50 a.m. this morning flying into Las Vegas, then our land journey began into the desert.
This afternoon was spent organizing our gear and settling into our hotel, then when it got a little cooler this evening we spent some time leading up to sunset exploring the outer rim of Mojave reserve. One of our first locations was the solar reflection project just inside the California state line. Out on the desert floor are thousands of mirrors. Driven by computers, the mirrors follow the daily path of the sun and focus the intense sunlight on a tower located in the centre of the mirrors. The sunlight heats black coils at the top of the tower that are filled with water. The resulting hot water and steam are sent into the ground to turn a turbine which produces electricity. The water is cooled underground and used again.
We finished our evening by visiting the old mining town of Nipton. Mostly artists and a few workers from the nearby solar facility live here now. The heaviest traffic was a 15 to 20 car freight train that passed though, but it made for a great photo stop as the setting sun approached.
That’s it for our first day. On Friday we will visit several of the Canyon regions on the inside rim of the desert. The altitude as we cross into the Mojave regions reaches 5,234 feet. Good night from the Photo Tour Trekkers in the Mojave desert.
Lone cactus tree near the solar collection site
Wide view of the solar collection site, you can see the thousands of mirrors and the intense concentration of light.
A close-up shot of the tower ... that’s very bright, and hot!
Flowering desert cactus
Old and forgotten artists studio in Nipton
Whoops, no doors!!! James and Dan.
Very close street view of Nipton.
Just a sky shot! If you look closely you can see the moon.
The Nipton Trading Post.
One of the many freight trains that pass through Nipton with the beautiful backdrop of the mountains.
Another view.
Motion at the crossing, not too close Joyce!!!
Setting sun in Mojave.
That’s it for this evening, we are off early in the morning as we drive over the outer mountain range for our first day of photographing in the desert.
Please add a comment
Travel safely and looking forward to more photographs.
Cheers and wish I was there, ;-0)
Jerry
Great stuff already, keep em coming.
Dave