Death Valley

Thursday, we headed out to Death Valley to meet up with Jerry and Wanda.  We spent the first night at the Stovepipe Wells Hotel, and the second camping out in the desert.

Not what you want to see crossing the desert on a two lane highway!  We left at 4:30 AM to make the most of our short trip.

 Around 10 AM we had made it to Trona.  Trona is a community built around a large borax and potash industry.  It also is near the Trona Pinnacles, over 500 tufa towers on a dry lake bed.

 This area was once an immense lake over 600 feet deep.  The towers were caused by underwater springs that deposited calcium carbonate.  That wisp of smoke in the background is from the Trona fertilizer plant.  There are many homes available in Trona in the $10,000 to $20,000 range.

 The Trona Pinnacles have been the site of a number of movie scenes, including Star Trek V.

 Gail is emerging from an abandoned mine shaft in one of the pinnacles.

 Back on the highway, we spotted these wild burros, which are descendants from the ones used in the  many mines in the area.

 We took a side trip down a dirt road to Ballarat, now a ghost town.

A scene from Easy Rider was filmed in Ballarat, and the Charles Manson family moved to a ranch just south of Ballarat, leaving graffiti in the town.

 A Western Side-blotched Lizard basking in the warm February sun.

 There is a sole inhabitant of Ballarat who runs this trading post, although he didn't have much to trade.

 He was telling stories to a couple sitting on the porch.  He warned us about burrows standing on the highway on blind curves.  We had just missed the Nude Dancing "Burrows", apparently.

Well, it was on to our destination of Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley.  We arrived too early to check in, so we headed up another dirt road to the Mosaic Canyon trail head.

 The trail passes through narrow slots of polished rock.  Not the place to be in a flash flood!

 The steep surrounding mountainsides are quite colorful.

 After a mile or two, there was a little scrambling to be done.  Gail peers over a ledge that, fortunately, we were able to go around.

We finally reached the End, a dry waterfall.

 Heading back down to the car, it was time to check in and meet up with Jerry and Wanda.  We had a fun happy hour and dinner, and made plans to head into the desert behind the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes the following morning.

 Friday morning, and the weather was weird, at least for Death Valley.  The temperature was in the 70's and the air was very humid.  The forecast predicted a chance of showers.

 We back packed through the dunes, headed for the flats to make our camps.

 The dunes are always amazing with their shapes and shadows.

 Camp Bob and Gail.  Note the lack of furniture (rocks, logs).

 Camp Jerry and Wanda.

We wanted to show Wanda some Roadrunner tracks we had passed, but found these as well.  Wanda pointed out an object she first thought was a rusted hand grenade.

 Scat, petrified wood?  Nope. We carried these hard objects over to show Jerry, and he and I simultaneously thought -lightning!

 Yes, these are fulgurites.  Fulgurites are caused when sky to ground lightning passes through sand or soil, and the immense temperature melts the sand into glass.  They can be as long as 16 feet and take on different shapes.  Note the hollow tube in the center, a characteristic of fulgurites.

 Later in the afternoon, we all made off to climb to the top of the highest dune, a power point.

 Hiking up soft sand at the angle of repose is hard work!

 That little ant at the bottom is Gail, the only one of us to charge straight down to the bottom.

 We all had a toast, and then Jerry and Wanda broke into some ballroom dancing before I could get my camera ready.  They have come here a number of times and say this might be their last.

As it started to get darker we had dinner - boiling water poured into freeze dried food.

 Off in the distance we could see blowing sand, and about twenty minutes later, after we got in the tent, it was upon us.  Sand actually blew up under the rain fly and came through the fine mesh screen.

During the night, the full moon came out and lit up the desert.  Since we had gone to bed around 6:30 that evening, Gail was up and hiked to the top of the dunes at 4:30 in the morning.  When she came back awhile later, we both climbed back up hoping for a beautiful sunrise if the clouds would part again.

 The dunes were groomed clean of tracks, but the sun never broke through.

As we finished up breakfast, the wind started to whip up, and raindrops began to fall.  It was time to pack up and retreat to the cars.

 Gail here, fighting the wind and blowing sand.

Thanks, Wanda and Jerry, for inviting us along on another fun adventure!

The End