Last month, my friend Jess from Washington was visiting California and we spent a day smack in the middle of nowhere. I suggested to meet at a gas station in Trona, because I wanted her to experience a desolate place and a semi-ghost town where nothing grows or happens. Luckily, Jess is adventurous and always down for anything so this proved to be the perfect plan for an adventure.

After catching up for a bit (the last time I saw her in Seattle), we drove out the Pinnacles. On our way there, we stopped by the decommissioned train tracks and had a field day photographing leading lines, symmetrical compositions and listening to the wild sounds of the wind blowing through the metal tubes. We had so much fun that it almost took us an hour to drive the 5 mile road in. By the time we got to the pinnacles, all the clouds have disappeared and the wind had intensified. We drove around the large tufa formations and popped out of the car a few times to take pictures, mostly to find other SUVs and trailers in our shots.

We drove further away and decided to look for a higher vantage point and if every story has its own weird happening, we had ours here. As we setup for our sunset shoot, Jess decided to use the car key to tighten the tripod plate on her camera and she bent the end of the key. Staying positive, we continued photographing the sunset but later her worst fear became true when the key wouldn’t fully insert into the ignition. After some brainstorming and trial-and-error work, we fixed the key by forcing it on the same plate but turning in the other direction until it looked somewhat straight. Suddenly the car started up and we were heading out of the park. What an awesome end to a great day!

I haven’t seen Jess for almost two years at that point and it was amazing to reconnect with her and to have a rad time with a friend who shares my love of photography. Until next time, sister!!!