LAST DAY IN DEATH VALLEY

Thursday the 12th we packed up our house and drove to Pahrumph and the Pair-a-Dice Escapees co-op rv park. We got a great big hug first thing in the door. Wonderful! It had been a long time since we had one of those welcomes! After we got settled in we went uptown for fuel, groceries and a little orienting tour. Pahrump originally consisted of several large cattle ranches. I don't know the population. I do know the town is 26 miles long and8-12 miles wide and is situated exactly 60 miles from Las Vegas on the east and 60 miles from Death Valley on the west. It consists of clumps of buildings separated by small acerages of undeveloped land. The downtown consists of---wait for it----several casinos!!! Most of the town is residential with business scattered throughout. We came here to have a convenient jumping off place for our last foray into Death Valley. Friday we got ourselves onto the truck and drove down 127 (hwy 178 in CA) through the little village of Shoshone. The road took us up two passes and past ever changing scenery. It heads west until it joins the Badwater Road. Here we turned north.




Our first stop was Ashford Mill Ruins. The sign faces the mine.

The gold was processes here. This is all that's left of the stamping mill. The equipment is gone. the rest of the building was further downhill. While we were wandering around here Duane struck gold. He found a 2010 high school class ring. We were able to identify the school and mailed it to the principal there.

As soon as we decended through the last pass, we started catching glimpses of the alkali flats that most people associate with Death Valley. The center of this area is called the Badwater Basin. This is the lowest point in North America. A temporary lake forms here after heavy rainstorms. The salt forms from the evaporation of water seeping up. At this stop is a large parking lot, a restroom, and a short boardwalk info board area and the area here where people are welcome to walk out on the flats. In this pic, the temp was 100 d.f. We walked out with two tour busses of Italian tourists. We walked 10 min. either way. I got very sunburned.

This info board explains the formation of lake beds in the Valley. Click on it to read it. Very interesting.

After our walk on the flats we took a short gravel road to an area called Devil's Golf Course. Rock salt is eroded by wind and rain into jagged formations. (Only the devil could play golf on such rough links.)

More alkali pools

Back on Badwater Road we drove past the Artists Palette road to Furnace Creek and made a south east turn onto 190. We stopped at Zabriskie Point for a view of some more yummy ice cream formations. (click to enlarge)

We took another little side road called Twenty Mule Team Canyon Road. It showed lots of evidence of recent heavy rains. Further on down the road we veered of onto the road to Dantes View. From this lofty peak we could see the whole alkali flat. Facing north you can see the river action in the evaporated salt.

Directly below (middle of pic) you can see the little neck of salt where we walked with our Italian friends earlier in the day.

You may have to enlarge this to see the snakey river to the south.

We took a short hike along the top of this peak before driving back down the road and out of the park on 190. This concluded our tour of the south east corner of the Park. We had seen about half of Death Valley, but our touring wasn't done for the day. We drove slowly through Death Valley Junction. This was the headquaters of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 1900's. Today the town is woned by Marta Becket and Amargosa Opera House, Inc. It consists of the Amargosa Opera House where Marta performs on Saturday nights, a small hotel, and a cafe. Nothing was open but the cafe so we drove on. It was late in the afternoon when we came to the road to Ash Meadows. We had planned to visit later, but took the opportunity when it presented itself.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a haven for rare native wildlife. Three interpretive boardwalk trails allow people to view the area without disturbing anything. The visitors center was closed as one of the trails, but we saw plenty on the one walked. The refuge was originally privately owned and concrete drainage ditches, a slough drained to harvest peat, and other preliminary plans for development into shopping and housing. In 1984 the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired the property and began restoration of over 23000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert uplands. The name Ash Meadows refers to the abundance of ash trees once found in the area. The resuge encompases springs, creeks, wetlands, pools and this Crystal Resevoir.

Endangered Devil's Hole pupfish. When we worked in the Coachella Valley Nature Preserve, another kind of this prehistoric fish was introduced there but didn't survive. We were thrilled to be able to see one of these beautiful fish.

We thought this sign was wonderful!

Tomorrow, more fun.

Louise and Duane