Death Valley winter weekend

Any amateur photographer worth his or her Badwater Salt Flats knows winter provides the best shooting opportunities in Death Valley, especially early and late in the day. The sun stays low, the weather is tolerable and the air is clear — barring any sand storms, as we endured on the last day of a recent trip.

That said, digital photography in the desert presents some unique challenges. Sure, that undulating sandstone and filtered sunlight looked fantastic in the slot canyon when you snapped photos during a hike. But very often, no amount of processing will help a downloaded image that ends up with a washed-out sky and a shadow-heavy canyon.

And when it comes to composition, does the world really need yet another shot of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes with the Grapevine Mountains in the background? (Guilty as charged, see photo above.) As we discovered in a ranger-led program on desert photography that we stumbled upon at Death Valley National Park, the answer is a resounding "no."

Search-and-rescue operations in national parks numerous and costly, but effective

A new report that appears in the online journal "Wilderness & Environmental Medicine" includes some interesting statistics involving search-and-rescue operations in national parks.

Notably, they're costly and numerous, but effective. "Without the presence of NPS personnel responding to SAR incidents, one in five of those requesting SAR assistance would be a fatality," the report concludes. "Future research and the development of any prevention efforts should focus on the five NPS units where 50% of all SAR incidents are occurring."

The report, published by the Wilderness Medical Society, has a catchy title: "Dead Men Walking: Search and Rescue in U.S. National Parks." Its authors looked at the NPS' annual search-and-rescue reports from 1992 to 2007 and SAR statistics from all NPS units in 2005. Some key findings:

--From 1992 to 2007 there were 78,488 people involved in 65,439 SAR incidents. These included 2,659 fatalities, 24,288 injured or sick people, and 13,212 "saves," or saved lives.

--On average there were 11.2 SAR incidents per day at an average cost of $895 per operation. Total cost from 1992 to 2007: $58,572,164.

--In 2005, 50% of the 2,430 SAR operations occurred in five NPS units. Grand Canyon National Park (307) and Gateway National Recreation Area (293) reported the most. Yosemite National Park (231) was third.

--In 2005, Yosemite accounted for 25% of the total NPS SAR costs ($1.2 million); Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve ($29,310) and Denali National Park and Preserve ($18,345) had the highest average SAR costs.

--Hiking (48%) and boating (21%) were the most common activities that required search-and-rescue assistance. Hiking (22.8%) was the most common activity resulting in fatalities. Suicides (12.1%) were second. They were followed by swimming and boating (10.1% apiece).

Perhaps all of this will serve as a reminder to be extra careful while exploring our great national parks and to be thankful that there are emergency teams close by if we need them.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: View of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times

Boy dies in Death Valley, underscoring danger of summertime heat

News item: A 6-year-old boy succumbs to heat during a camping trip in Death Valley National Park after his mother's vehicle becomes stuck in soft ground on a rarely traveled dirt road. It's the third fatality attributed to the heat -- the other two involved hikers -- inside the park this summer.

Reaction: Not to sound callous but why would anyone want to camp or hike in Death Valley in August? Temperatures last week, when the latest tragedy occurred, reached 117 degrees.

That said, the tragedy may serve as yet another reminder that an excursion to Death Valley during the summer requires more careful planning than trips to most other destinations. The Las Vegas woman who had set out on a one-night camping trip with her son and dog, brought a case of 16-ounce water bottles: fine for a day or two, but she was missing for five days.

Park officials recommend that visitors drink 1 to 2 gallons of water per day while inside the park, if they'll be outside their vehicles.

They urge vehicle travelers to carry tarps that can be used for shade in case they experience car trouble. They caution visitors not to rely on cellphones because service is spotty inside the park. Equally important, they urge visitors to provide family or friends with a detailed travel schedule, in case something goes wrong.

The Las Vegas woman told her family she had planned on camping in the southern portion of the park and visiting Scotty's Castle and Eureka Dunes at the northern end. It remains unclear, however, how she ended up on the obscure road in the southern portion, where her Jeep Cherokee became mired in the bottom of a gravel wash.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: A view of Golden Canyon, below Zabriskie Point, in Death Valley National Park. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times