Across the San Joaquin by wysiwig

Photography • Landscape • posted on Feb 23, 2010

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Description

If you follow Highway 41 south from Yosemite you will eventually come to a wide spot in the road near the southern edge of the San Joaquin Valley in California named Cholame. On September 30, 1955, James Dean and his mechanic Rolf Wütherich set off in his Porsche 550 Spyder for a sports car race at Salinas, California. Dean was a popular and talented 24-year-old actor who had achieved great success after appearing in a handful of movies. You could say he was the Brad Pitt of his day. Dean was driving west on what today is Highway 46 near Cholame, California when a black-and-white 1950 Ford Custom Tudor coupe, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old Donald Turnupseed, attempted to take the fork onto Highway 41 and crossed into Dean's lane without seeing him. The two cars hit almost head on. James Dean died while an ambulance was racing him to a hospital. His was the only death. The area has changed little since then. This is a view of the Santa Lucia Mountains looking west from Cholame.

Comments (17)

alanwilliams

2:45AM | Tue, 23 February 2010

Wonderful panoramic shot, striking colours and a really good sky make this a completetly successful landscape picture in my opinion.

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myrrhluz

2:55AM | Tue, 23 February 2010

Beautiful! I love the clouds, the shadows on the hills and the bright green in the forefront! Also the little settlement. I agree. Completely successful. Very interesting narrative as well!

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durleybeachbum

3:19AM | Tue, 23 February 2010

A very striking landscape. I was only 11 when that happened but I was aware of the death..maybe my mother was a fan.

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njb2000

5:35AM | Tue, 23 February 2010

Great scene and nice historic story!

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cocker666

8:04AM | Tue, 23 February 2010

Just the right amount of sky and land a perfect shot.

MrsLubner

8:37AM | Tue, 23 February 2010

This is the best part of Valley life...driving it and looking at the landscape...the mountains as they line the valley floor. This is a stunning view of this. Great lighting.

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