By Cameron

2-25-95

I leave for Death Valley tomorrow.  I’m going with Dan DeLong, Stuart Ellis and Greg Rusky.  I think I’ve packed everything I need.  We’re bringing a lot of shit with us including a dog.  I’m in really good spirits. about trip.  I know challenging things will happen.  It’s just the way these things go.  But I also know that they’re the parts that I’ll look back on and smile about.

2-26-95

We’re off.  Dan and I are heading south on I5.  Pretty good start so far.  Everything’s RED.  We’re flying.  Dan’s got the speedometer pegged.  Someone made it obvious to me that 55 is too slow for I5.  Hawk on a fence post.  Bag of Art.  We made it through Buttonwillow without incident.  Except the dog.  It finally took a leak.  We’re just exiting Tehechape.  Lotsa windmills here.  I want to fight them.  Graves on a hilltop.

2-27-95

We 4-wheeled it up a ridge last night.  We couldn’t make it to Panamint City.  The road was gone.  Greg’s Scout almost went over the edge.  The sleeping went ok.  Greg snored like a fucker, but I threw rocks at him till he stopped.  Had eggs and hash for breakfast.  Yum.

2-28-95

On Death Valley floor.  We spent yesterday exploring the landscape.  We also entered a mine.  It was incredible.  Most of the mountain was supported by wood on the inside.  I entered the mountain from the side and squeezed out an exit in the top.  Tight fit.  The image of my mid-section being crushed flooded my head the whole time I was extracting myself from the hill.

Devil’s Golf Course.  I must come back here.  The salt is incredible.  Bleak Vastness.  It is incredibly moving.  So fragile but unstoppable at the same time.

Artists Palette – Oh my god!

Restaurant in Beatty.  Dan and I took a little hike over the mtns.  It was the most intense hiking experience I have ever had.  For a large portion of the hike, we didn’t know if we were going the right way.
Stuart and Greg dropped us off, and drove around to the point where we’d meet up.  It was 4:00 pm.  The hill went up and up and up and up.  Dan did a great job of figuring out where we were at any given time.  I was really impressed with his attitude.  We had a good time together.  It was a hard fucking hike, but it was a blast.  About 6:00 it got dark.  This was shortly after it began to rain.  I never really felt cold.  My skin was soaked, and cold, but my body felt warm despite the wet.  At about 6:20 we were in total dark, but we were on trail.  And then we spotted the truck’s tail lights.  We signaled and they signaled back.  Dan and I let loose an inspired yell.  That was a great feeling.  We got back, and decided to eat in some casino restaurant that evening.  That’s where I am right now.  A great fucking day.  Devil’s Golf Course and the hike through the Funeral Mountains.  My legs are tired.

3-2-95

Couldn’t make an entry yesterday.  We were busy.  We woke up in the morning, ate, and then rappelled down a waterfall.  We got some pix.  It was incredible.  We all had a pretty good time about it.  Stuart had some trouble, but we got him down ok.

My camera took a tumble and broke the readout.  But it still works except that readout.  Oh well…

Then Stuart and Greg climbed down the mountain that Dan and I climbed up the day before.  Dan and I went and got a burger at some joint and then buried the treasure.  I made the treasure map.  It worked out pretty well.  Treasure was a bottle of Champagne.  The spot where the treasure was buried was the most awesome camp site.  It’s really cool.  Flat, protected from most of the wind.  It didn’t rain last night.  That was kinda nice.

Today’s Stuart’s birthday.  I think we’re going to walk the valley floor today.  I want to see those salt flats again.

Dan has heard me sing a couple times this trip.  He says I have a pretty good voice.  I’m going to try to learn to sing. 

Mmm… The wind feels good.

3-3-95

Well, we did walk the valley floor yesterday.  It was great!  Pretty hard though.  Most of the way through was just salt + rock.  Then about half-way was the beginning of the mud.  Fuckin’ A!  That mud was probably 6 inches deep after a while.  I was so damn tired I began to wonder if I could even continue.  Well… not really…  I knew I could make it.  I HAD to.  There was no turning back.  Then about 3/4 the way across we hit the water.  The going was easier.  The ground was crusted firm with salt.  The water was never deeper than my knees.  The going was nice and easy though.  It was great, but due to the salt, I’m really beginning to feel scummy…

I talked to Dan.  He’s got a couple songs he hasn’t written lyrics for yet.  I’m going to try to write some.  Sounds like fun!

Today we’re going to explore the mines at Skidoo.  We’ve been there already, but didn’t get to spend much time.

3-4-95

The mines at Skidoo were cool!  We explored a little and had some fun.  Then I watched the dog while the other three went into a different mine shaft.  They all started feeling dizzy, so they got the fuck out.  Bad air is somewhat common there.

After that we hooked up the scout to be towed by the Ranger.  Pretty squirly, but it worked.  We drove 45mph the whole way home.

Finally got here at 8:00 this morning.  I took a shower and it felt incredible. I could not believe how dirty I was.