On a cloudy Palm Springs, California morning I made my way to the Aerial Tramway to get a few shots of the San Jacinto mountains and the Valley Station designed by Albert Frey. Constructed in the early 1960s, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is regarded as an engineering marvel because of its place in the rugged Chino Canyon. It's currently the largest rotating tramway in the world and takes travelers from the desert to an alpine landscape in mere minutes.
I couldn't come back to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway without thinking about my previous visits. On both our road trips through California, my friend Dave and I visited the tramway to get views of the Coachella valley. During our first visit in 2009 I captured a bit of video of what the experience was like, and it's still one of my favorite clips of that trip. It's funny how so many memories come flooding back just by being in the same spot again. I reflected on Dave's passing, and as the view became obscured by a sea of white as I reached the peak, there was something almost heavenly about hiking above the clouds.
The Medicine Hat Brick and Tile plant (formerly I-XL) is about to open for public tours for the first time ever. After closing in 2010 following the flood, the factory was donated to the Friends of Medalta in 2011 and plans for utilizing the space began. From kilns and old machinery to dramatic lighting and vast spaces, there's so much in this industrial landmark to explore. You can even peddle your way through one of the giant tunnel kilns.
A couple weeks ago I was part of the media tour that got a glimpse behind the scenes of what the new public tour will look like. My relationship with this space goes back to 2012 when I first began documenting landmarks around the historic clay district - and wow, they've made a lot of progress in that time. You owe it to yourself to come down to Medalta to check out this new attraction. Here are a few of the new images I shot inside the factory.
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I couldn't come back to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway without thinking about my previous visits. On both our road trips through California, my friend Dave and I visited the tramway to get views of the Coachella valley. During our first visit in 2009 I captured a bit of video of what the experience was like, and it's still one of my favorite clips of that trip. It's funny how so many memories come flooding back just by being in the same spot again. I reflected on Dave's passing, and as the view became obscured by a sea of white as I reached the peak, there was something almost heavenly about hiking above the clouds..png)
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