Bodie & Lundy Lake Adventure, Part 2

So during the night we enjoyed temps in the mid teens, as well as falling snow.  I also realized how much I hated to get up in the middle of the night, get out of the sleeping bag, and run to the bathroom in snow/ice.  When the sun came out, we had some nice photo ops given to us by the photo gods.

Then as luck would have it as we started to pack up and get ready to leave to Bodie, it started to snow again.

The road to Bodie is about 9 miles long, and the first 6 or 7 is (now ice & snow covered) paved road, and the last couple is all dirt.  About halfway through the paved section disaster struck.  One of the drivers of a car couldn’t decide whether to be in first or second gear going up a snow covered hill.  She lost all her momentum, and came to a stop.  Since she couldn’t get enough traction to go up, we helped guide her as she slide/reversed down the hill about 200 yards to a flat section, where she could turn around.  Her passenger had never been to Bodie, and this was my 4th trip, so I volunteered to go back in the car so the other girl could visit Bodie.

After I grabbed my gear I started heading down the icy hill (see where this is going!).  I had my D200 & 70-200 VR in my hand as I was planning on shooting the car tracks, when I slipped.  The lens went hood first into the ground, which helped break my fall.  I broke all the plastic that connects the hood to the lens, the manual focus ring is stiff, filter threads are a little tweaked, and I’ve realized that the focus is a little off.  Its not too noticeable by itself, but when I put on my 1.4 TC I can really see the difference.  So its off to Nikon today for repairs.

Luckily the owner’s wife of where we were staying at volunteered to take us back to Bodie.  It was 19 degrees when we got out of the suburban, and this is what we were treated with off & on during the day

Though we had icy winds, freezing cold temps, and lots of mini blizzards, the photo gods rewarded our perseverance.