Sunday in the rain - at Death Valley

Sunday January 22, 2017
A little rainy and cool - in the hottest, driest place in the world. 

Ranger guided talk again this morning at 10 am at the Mesquite Flat Dunes.  Good information from our Ranger this morning. 
After her presentation and information we continued on the dunes for a walk. It was easy to walk on the dunes as they were wet so the sand did not fall away as we stepped. 

There are two kinds of vegetation in this area. Creisote and Honey bush. The Honey bush grows a pod like a pea pod that is food for most of the animals on the desert. Most of the animals in the desert are all nocturnal. 

The honey bush has a very thin leaf structure. Grows deep tendrils for roots to find water in the floor of the desert. 

The creosote bush smells just like you would think it smells. 

 Here is a blossom and two fuzzy blossoms already spent. 

These bushes actually create a hump in the sand as they grow. They also grow in groups. Their root system creates more surface roots and grow on to another, sprouting new plants in circles. 

Natural stripes in the sand from the wind. It has been windy here as well as cool with rain. 

Ken in his rain parka finding the path or least resistance. 

This is what appears to be the highest peak here at the Mesquite Flat Dunes. Actually most of Death Valley is not dunes and sand. Most of it is the mountainous ranges. 

 With all of the rain in the last few days, the water does sink in pretty fast, but in some areas it stands for a bit creating these patterns and some mud. 

Ken and I found this mound of a dead and rather large creosote tree. 

We got a badge today. Based on which hikes you complete, once you gather 4 points, you get this sticker. I have more we are going to do, but reached the 4 points. 

This is an example of an Alluvial Fan. Shaped like a fan, at the bottom of canyons, where they open up, sediment 'fans' out onto the ground below. In some cases as this is Tucki mountain, the debris that is fine is blown across which makes up the dunes. 

Our afternoon Ranger talk was about the 20 Mule Team Borax. Yes it really existed and mined Borax from Death Valley for about 5 years. Great story. These are the remnants from the original works. 

These wagons carried several tons of borax several miles out of Death Valley to be further treated and prepared for use. 

They are not sure what that structure is. .It may have been an office for the works. The yellow colored mounds behind is Mustard Canyons. We could not drive through that area today as it is not paved and the dirt road was a hazard to get stuck in . 

A panoramic view on our way back to the Ranch. Lots of clouds.

Plan for Monday is Salt Creek and Badwater. 

January 23, 2017 - Monday's travels'

Lots of wind all last night. Was not sure what the weather was going to be today. Actually has been really nice. 

Our first adventure was to Salt Creek - yes there is a creek in Death Valley. A small fish called a pup fish lives in the creek. This time of year though the creek is too cold for them to be coming downstream, so they are in the main pond way back beyond the board walk. We have trekked that path in the past. Today we took a different route. Instead of going on beyond the boardwalk, we went left over the creek and into the canyons along the creek. 

Followed the canyon, climbed up and over and then back down to where the board walk ends. 

A view of Salt Creek from the top of the canyon. 

The canyon we were traveling in to the west of the Salt Creek.  Some sand and rocks. 

Up on the top of one of the parts of the canyon. 

Panoramic view with Ken as a measure on the left side. Everything is so big here. Wide open spaces. 

Many interesting stones around here. many colors and shapes. So I take pictures as leave the behind for others to enjoy. 

Just something silly - this set of branches was in front of me as I was climbing up the canyon. 

See the snow caps? I don't know if they really got all of the snow predicted. Above 4000 ft 6 inches, above 6000 ft it was to be 15 inches and above 8000 ft it could have been 2 feet. 

Looking down again at the trails and deciding which spot was the best to climb down. Some spots were kind of steep. 

You can see Salt Creek on the left side. 

As I was climbing down, I spotted this rock.  Does not look as colorful here as it did in my hands. But the lines and variations were pretty. 

 

Ken checking out another angle we could have come down. Along with the slope, we had to watch how soft , how compact or how many rocks that would move would be under our feet. 

A 33 mile drive to our next adventure. Ubehebe Crater.  Got there and as it is up at a higher elevation, it was colder and very windy. And we do not have our winter coats. They are in the trunk of the car sitting at Detroit Metro airport - Ken had a few more layers than I did, but he too was cold. So I got a couple of pictures of the crater - an volcanic crater, and we left. 


This crater is 770 feet deep. When the water flashed to steam, it sent debris  in a cloud at 100 mph. Ken had the idea he was going down to the bottom and climbing back out. Glad it was too cold.


A panoramic view of the crater. 

 A slightly different angle of the crater. 

On the way back to Furnace Creek Ranch, we stopped on the road side to hike a little here and there. Again found some interesting rock formations. 

The first two are front and back of the rock. Note the straight line and patterns. 

Not really an arrow head. Again colors are not quite showing. 

This one looked like a good paperweight. 

Forecast was for rain around 3pm, this was about 2:15. Nearly 5pm when I as preparing this, and no rain yet. 

Another snow cap photo. 

The straight angle on the bottom of these clouds caught my attention. 

Tomorrow is Tuesday - we are planning on hiking to The Natural Bridge and the Badlands that includes a Ranger talk. Both are pretty short, so will be looking for something else as well. 

Wednesday we head for Las Vegas to fly out for home early Thursday morning. 

Death Valley - January 21, 2017

We did not hike at Red Rock in Vegas on Thursday because it rained. Just bummed around town.  Friday we drove to Death Valley - After we traded in our rental car for something different. The first one was a Hyundai Velocipter?? Though a hatchback was a good idea. Did not work. They actually traded us up to a full size car.

On the way to Death Valley as we went through the Mountain Spring pass, temps dropped to 32. So Rain changed to sleet, then snow.  As we came out of the pass and came back down temps rose to 43 and just rain. 

We arrived at Furnace Creek Ranch at 2:30 and got our room. Checked in with the Rangers at the Visitors Center to get ideas of what was open, anything new and fun ranger talks or walks. They also now offer a challenge. Do certain hikes, take pictures and show them to the rangers once you have accumulated 4 points and you get a patch. It is paper but still cute. 

Saturday January 21 -
Ranger talk at 9am at Golden Canyon.
The walk/talk took us into the canyon about 3/4 of a mile. In the 1930's when they were mining Borax, they started to advertise trips to Death Valley and paved a canyon for car rides through them. A few years later with rains - flash floods - it washed the road out. 
Death Valley became a National Park in 1994.

Panamint Mountains: Telescope Peak, the heights peak in Death Valley.  This was right across the street from the parking lot for Golden Canyon.

Some of the rock formations in Golden Canyon.

The red rock you see at the top is called Red Cathedral. You can take a path to get up close to them. We had done that in the past. Did not do it this time. 

 Near a turning point in the path - Heading to Zabreskies Point. 

Panoramic shot as we pass through Gower Gulch loop on the way to Zabreski's Point. 

A close up of the rock formations  in the rocks. So many different shapes, colors and sizes. 

I was taking a side walk up a small hill. Death Valley is one park you can walk just about anywhere. 

Watching the clouds come in across the mountains. Again atop a hill on Gower Gulch. 

Making our way through  the passes. 

A view from Zabriskies Point. 

The other side of the Gower Gulch Loop back to Golden Canyon

Just to show you the enormity of a rock in the middle of water flow. We had just climbed down three dryfalls to get to this point. 

Wonder when this rock will fall - the next rainfall - tomorrow? 

The "wash" after the dry falls we just climbed down. You do not want to be in these 'washes' when it rains. You will get washed away and not likely survive. We are on the trail you see to the right. 

When we returned to our room, as I was going to get ice for our drinks (and a few sore muscles), this critter greeteded me. I thought if I moved too close too quick, it would scare away. The opposite, Ken was concerned it was going to rush me. haha. The original Road Runner. He was within 3 feet of me, until he realized I had no food for him. They eat bugs and lizard/frog type things. 

Sunday is questionable. Rain and high winds are forecast. It may be a rest day reading. Should have brought some of  my crocheting. Had my hands on it as I was packing. But I have three books. 

There are a couple of ranger talks meant for outdoors and a Flintknapping demonstration that is near our lodging. So will check those out tomorrow if we cannot hike. 


Our hike wish list is longer than the number days:
Ubehebe
Fall Canyon
Bad Water
Salt Creek and the Pup fish
and Mesquite Flat Dunes.

Going to have to chose. 

Tuesday January 24, 2017

Slow start to the day. So we started with an 11 am Ranger talk at Badwater. This location is 282 feet below Sea Level.

The area is called Badwater - Why? because it is 3X saltier than the ocean. Back in the day a prospector made the 23 mile trip on a burro from Furnace Creek Ranch hoping to find gold. Saw this pool and was hopeful and thirsty. But his burro would not drink. Not a good thing to drink. 
Over time this spot is known due to small frequent earthquakes to be dropping and they say there is a point here that is now 284 feet below sea level. 

As you look at this picture - this area is adjacent to the Badwater area. The two furrows you see next to the mountain are evidence of the ground shifting and dropping lower.

Up close shot of the salt crystals on the ground across the Bad water - yes a creek of salt. 




Standing back,  you see the rings of salt formed. .

 We walked out as far as you can see on the Bad Water. There is a rather wide path where people have walked. 

Ken and I standing on the boardwalk before heading out to the Badwater lands. 

Since were were in that direction, we then came back to the Natural Bridge.  A rock formation that forms a bridge. Ken gets nervous under it, eyes it for any cracks and hustles out from under it. haha. 

It is formed in a canyon. We had a 1.5 mile dirt road to travel before getting to the trailhead. That was a treat - big ruts, not sure when it was last graded. But we navigated through  it. Should have taken pictures of the ruts. 


A long range look of the entrance to the canyon. 

Opposite the canyon on the other side of the road is the Panamint Mountains. Snow capped and cloudy. 

Starting our way in the canyon. 

Ken heading for the Natural Bridge. But while most people stop here,,,,,,, we went on further down the canyon. 

Ken climbed the path to the left. I was having trouble bending my knee tight enough to push up. So up he went. 

He is somewhere on the ledge in the light. Cannot see him. 

The other option up was to scramble up this dryfall. We did this 10 years ago the first time we came here. A little slippery even though it is dry. Once you get up there, the canyon goes and goes and goes. 

Here is the view of the Natural Bridge from behind looking towards the entrance. A much more dramatic view. 

Helen climbing up a dryfall. 

 A look again towards the trailhead from the canyon. Quite a sight. 

On the way back to the Ranch - we came across an area that was all volcanic rock. Some pretty interesting structures. This volcanic rock was just there on the road side. That is one thing neat about Death Valley - you can stop and pull over to hike or look at anything just about anywhere along the way. There are very few spots that you cannot stop and walk around.

 This was another volcanic structure just to the left of the other one. 

 Hills with some color along the way back to the Ranch. 

 Shot of the Furnace Creek Inn - a little too rich for my pocket book to stay here. You dress for dinner etc. Kind of like Mackinac Island. 

 Here is a distance shot of the Ranch in the midst of it's palm trees. There is plenty of flowing water at this spot. 

And here is our little friend the Road Runner who came to tell us good bye.