Titus Canyon

Getting to Titus Canyon in Death Valley was an adventure. The park service maps listed the road as one that requires a vehicle with a high clearance. We were traveling in a Kia Sportage and I thought we were good. The 10 mile dirt road to the mountains was rough, but bearable. Once the road started to climb the Grapevine Mountains, I knew we where in trouble. The rocky (I would not call it dirt) road was narrow with steep cliffs. The turns were sharp and blind. I was moving at about 5mph. But when I pressed the breaks to stop the car, it just kept on bouncing forward on the gravel and rocks. That was extremely scary. Vidhi and the kids where tense. They were yelling at me all the way up to the climb, but there was no sound from any of them during the climb. They were all holding the arm rests as tight as possible. Probably just as tight as I was holding the steering wheel ;-). We did not see any other cars, until we reached the canyon. At the canyon we noticed that all vehicles that were there where big and had reinforced tires!

The ride was enjoyable once we entered the canyon. It was only then, I picked up the camera. The canyon was spectacular. The midday light was sharp, making it difficult to get proper exposures. I didn’t care. I kept shooting.

After we came home, the entire family thought that this ride to the Titus Canyon was the highlight of our vacation. Go figure…

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