Once we were done with the weather on the coast it was time to head to the Mojave Desert to warm up and explore Death Valley for a few days!
We headed north into the Mojave desert at the town of Mojave towards Ridgecrest, which was the site of a significant earthquake shortly after we passed that way. We passed several large solar farms under construction on the trip north from Mojave, a sign of transition to renewable energy in California.
Once we got to Olancha Ca. we turned east to head into Death Valley.
Death Valley was named by a group of pioneers lost here in the winter of 1849-1850. Only one of the group died here, but they all assumed that the valley would be their final resting spot. They were rescued by two of their young men, who had learned to be scouts. As they climbed out of the valley over the Panamint Mountains, one of the men turned, looked back, and said "goodbye, Death Valley."
Since the 1848 discovery of gold in California, Death Valley has experienced over 140 years of boom and bust mining. From the 1880s to the early 1900s, mining was limited and sporadic in the Death Valley region. Primitive and inefficient technology, scarcity of water and fuel, and the difficulties of transportation made it economically impossible to mine any but the highest grade ores.
One of the earliest successful mining operations was borax mining active from 1883. The mining was famous not for its ore deposits, but for the Twenty Mule Team wagons used to transport the partially refined borax. A very memorable advertising campaign used the wagons’ image to promote Boraxo soap and the Death Valley Days radio and television programs in the 1950s and 60s.
In the early 1900s the renewed interest in gold and silver mining, created new mines but Prosperous large-scale metal mining in Death Valley ended around 1915.
Death Valley's last mine was the Billie Mine, an underground borax mine along the road to Dante’s View, it was the only active mine in the park. In 2005 when the Billie Mine closed, the last of Death Valley’s mines had ceased operations.
Back to more recent history, on the western edge of Death Valley National Park is located Rainbow Canyon, nicknamed Star Wars Canyon. It is commonly used by the United States Air Force and Navy for fighter jet training. As we were coming over the first set of mountains into Death Valley we spotted the first US Air Force jets running the route.
When we got to the Father Crowley overlook, where people gather to watch the jets we were blessed with a small air show, it was spectacular!
The road from Olancha to Panamint Springs was exciting, winding, narrow, steep and pretty much straight down if you miss a corner. This prompted recollection of a line from the movie It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, "he went sailing right out there".
The trip from Panamint Springs to Stovepipe Wells was less eventful, but no less spectacular. And hot, smoking' hot. The trip from Stovepipe Wells to Furnace Creek is in the valley bottom providing spectacular views of the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells and the surrounding mountain ranges.
There were no rooms at the inn in Furnace Creek, or at the campsite with shade, so we set up our tents in the parking lot with bathrooms, also known at the Death Valley Campsite. It was not that bad.
One we got settled in at "the campsite" we still had a couple hours of daylight to explore. Our first stop was the Badwater Basin which is noted as the lowest point in North America, with a depth of 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. It consists of a small spring-fed pool of "bad water" next to the road; the accumulated salts of the surrounding basin make it undrinkable. There is animal and plant life, including aquatic insects and the Badwater snail.
On the way back we headed up the Artist Drive. Artist's Drive rises up to the Artist's Palette which is an area on the face of the Black Mountains noted for a variety of vibrant rock colors and is evidence for one of the Death Valley area's most violently explosive volcanic periods. Late in the day Artists Point is spectacular. Once done here its was nearing sunset, we had about 20 minutes to get to Zabriskie Point, the next stop.
We got to Zabriskie Point with time to spare before sunset. It's noted for its erosional landscape composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.
Zabriskie Point is featured prominently on the cover of U2's album The Joshua Tree and is also the name of a 1970 movie by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni.
We spent sunset and got up early to see sunrise, The light is magical at both ends of the day at Zabriskie Point. After the spectacular sunrise we headed back to "the campsite" for some breakfast which was some delicious cheesecake we had purchased the day before. It was time to pack and head out to Dante's view, our last stop in Death Valley. Before that, I noticed we needed some gas, I would recommend making sure your tank is full before heading into the valley. The price at furnace creek was about $2 per litre, allowing for exchange rates!
Dante's View is quite a drive from Furnace Creek, but it provides a spectacular view of southern Death Valley and is directly above the Badwater Basin. To the south, the Owlshead Mountains and to the north, the Funeral Mountains are visible beyond Furnace Creek. Across Badwater Basin to the west the Panamint Range rises dramatically to Telescope Peak.
Dante's View was a suitable end to our all to brief Death Valley Adventure, there were many other sites worthy of exploration, but we simply ran out of time. Death Valley remains on the list of further exploration required!
I've attached some photographs of our adventure. Enjoy!
Dean.
