THE LAST DAY ON THE ROAD

After wrapping a tourism gig in Utah a few weeks ago, I arrived in the Mojave to shoot my next project. My plan was to spend six weeks between Death Valley and the Mexico border camping and occasionally spending the night in a cheap motel, while linking up with friends for climbs and hikes. When I work from the road March through November, that’s how I roll — and I love it.

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But within a matter of days, the gig was cancelled, and there were rumblings that all of California would be under a stay at home order. I quickly found a cabin to rent two hours away, but I couldn’t check in for several more days. With constant rain, freezing overnight temps and wind gusts that shook my Jeep, I wasn’t exactly keen on leaving camp, either. I was also starting to get worried about Covid-19, so I knew staying put was my best bet. I had all the supplies I needed, so I just had to be patient. I read, I wrote, I cooked some legit camp grub and I called my mom when I could, but I was going stir crazy. Even though I had hundreds of miles of pristine wilderness around me, I was probably only outside for two hours a day.

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On my last day, I noticed a winter storm alert just to my north. Great. Another evening crammed in the backseat under all of my blankets. As the monster cloud moved towards me, I considered shooting it, but before I could even open the door, the freezing rain started. And then it turned into snow. But this wasn’t the kind of half-assed desert snow that melts as soon as it touches the ground. The flakes were huge, and they were sticking to Joshua trees and cacti. The sun came out for a moment, and I ran down the dirt road shooting whatever caught my eye. I was yelling in disbelief, because of all the times I’ve been to the Mojave, I never thought I’d see snow here. Blue hour hit about fifteen minutes later, and I snapped this shot on my long lens. All the rotten weather I endured that week rewarded me with this magical moment, which was the highlight of the month of March for me.

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Trying to find the little wins isn’t easy, but they’re there. You just have to look.