12 Days in Death Valley
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Leapin' Lizards! Incredible Insects!
Amazing Amphibians and Arachnids!
Fantastic Flowers!
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What I Learned in Death Valley

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Click on any picture to see it full-size.

My 2015 Death Valley Adventures began on The SJSU FSNH 2015 page!


Friday March 27

After I left the SJSU group in Rhyolite, I drove down the 95 to Pahrump and got there a little after noon. I was looking for my fast-food obsession, Del Taco, but I knew there wasn't one there...I did, however, find a Sonic and had the best cheeseburger and fries EVER. At least, that's what it tasted like after a week of camp cooking! I called my sister in the middle of it. Mmm-mmmph-mumble-gobble-mmm, I said into the phone, but she understood me. They were in Ridgecrest and expected to arrive around 3. Perfect! I finished my excellent repast and did the shopping. I was amused at the 24 hour liquor and gambling store in the stripmall! only in Nevada.

I got to Stovepipe Wells a little after 3, and the first thing I saw was MY HUSBAND whom I had not seen in a week. After five solid minutes of hug and smooch, he said they had just arrived too and Diana and Kitty were checking in, so I did the same, and we went into our rooms and unloaded stuff. Where's Mike? I asked. There was a problem with his rental car, Diana said, so we left him to sort it out. Okay, I said, and drove back to Cow Creek to pick up Jim...he had been out all day with a bunch of SJSU folks, and we had agreed to meet back at Cow Creek at 4. They were nearly on time; I took him back to the motel and SHOWERS were had, oh my god what luxury. I was so eager to get clean that I didn't even remember to bring my own shampoo into Diana's shower...and I DIDN'T CARE.

Then Mike showed up, but didn't feel like going out to dinner, so the five of us went to the restaurant at Stovepipe Wells. You can see that Diana, Kitty and Doug are pretty tired, they had been driving all day, and Doug had to catch a 6 am plane to So Cal to be there...but dinner was good, and afterwards Doug and Jim sat up for hours drinking whiskey and talking about guy stuff. I'm glad they hit it off! Jim rocks. I took him back to Cow Creek around 10:30, and SLEPT IN A BED that night. And with my hubs again! What joy! I do love camping, and I don't mind doing it by myself, but civilization is good too.

Here is the 24 hour liquor and gambling store in the strip mall...amusing. The Mesquite Dunes, looking lovely. And not a very good picture of Diana, me, Jim, Kitty and Doug, taken by the waiter in the Stovepipe Wells restaurant.
What I Learned on Friday: Changing gears is hard. Even moving from camping to a lovely hotel room, I was torn between my SJSU family and my actual family. How lucky I am to have both!

Saturday March 28

Mike was having real trouble with the heat; no matter how much you hear it described, being in a really hot dry climate like that is something you really aren't prepared for until you've done it. So when we all got up, we decided we'd go to Badwater in both cars, so Mike could see the most famous place in Death Valley, and then Doug, Kitty and I would split off and hike Willow Canyon. And go to the right place this time!
And here we are at the Badwater sign! This time I knew where the Willow/Sidewinder canyon parking road was, we found it right away. And we took the right trail! I'm surging ahead, of course, and Doug and Kitty are behind me. Photo op!
And as soon as you get into the wash, there is indeed an actual trail... and there are the bluffs that Jim and I ended up on top of on Wednesday. The ubiquitous Death Valley grasshopper. And the trail is unshaded, and it's about 10:30 am, and it's hot. Very hot.
Here comes Doug behind me; you might notice that Kitty is no longer with him. She did about half a mile of this hot dry wash, then turned back for the truck. I gave her the keys and there was plenty of water and food in there, and stuff to read. She said she'd be fine, and not to worry about her...so we didn't. Much. And these are some kind of phacelia.
So we're walking up this wash. It's hot and dry, very little shade. Around 11 am. More desert five-spot...and I stopped in the shade and took a pic looking back down the wash.
Up ahead, it suddenly gets narrower, and splits into two canyons...the amazingly accurate guide book (The same one that was two miles off on where the parking lot was) says nothing of this...but one of the canyons has a stick marker, so we go with that one. The canyon gets narrower, dives into the rock walls...and there's WATER. A tiny trickling stream and waterfall. There are no words to describe the wonder of suddenly finding this tiny gem of water and sound in the hot dry canyon we just walked up. It was amazing.
And a second, higher falls up the canyon. With a tiny pool big enough for Doug to cool his hands in. A stream... that sometimes is above and sometimes below the rocky canyon floor.
I had somehow gotten sunblock on my camera lense, which is why a few of these look foggy; I cleaned it off with my shirt as soon as I figured it out, but it is what it is. The canyon was cool and beautiful, and the stream was AMAZING.
Several views as we walked up the canyon, which got narrower and deeper and shadier.
And found this beautiful little double ribbon falls. Our amazingly accurate guidebook says it's seasonal; it had rained three weeks before this trip (which is why the wildflowers were so great); most of the year this is dry.
We took a bunch of pics of ourselves with it. And notice how crowded it is? we were the only ones on this trail the whole time. This is also where I realized that I had gotten sunblock on my lens and cleaned it off, so the pictures leaving are better than the ones coming in.
The canyon on the way out...Mr. Man has again dressed to match the colors of the canyon...
A lovely Sagewing Checkerspot butterfly landed on a bush across the canyon...and you can actually see that my solar collector is charging!
We actually hated to say goodbye to that little stream...it was a long, hot hike out of the canyon, at noon.
As we got back to the truck, I noticed this pile of rocks...Jim and I missed them Wednesday, but someone put them there to mark the Willow Canyon trail. When Kitty turned back, I gave her my car keys- there was a cooler of cold drinks and snacks, and she got the chairs out of the back of my truck and got comfy in the shade. On the way back she saw another Desert Five-Spot. She also saw a chuckwalla, but her camera was out of battery power by then. Back at the motel, I think this is another Great Basin Whiptail.
Ah, Showers and clean clothes, cold drinks and books. We're at Furnace Creek, trying to find the barbecue buffet that Diana was told would be there tonight, which is her birthday. It evidently didn't exist, so we went back to the motel and had a delicious dinner out of our ice chests... But at least there was a real birthday cake! She asked for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and the folks at the Stovepipe Wells restaurant made a huge delicious one! we ate it every night we were there. Yum!
The beetle was outside, the lacewing inside our motel room that night. Just interesting.
What I Learned on Saturday: There is water in Death Valley. Even where it looks like there can't possibly be any. Amazing how welcome a tiny stream is in the middle of the afternoon.

Sunday March 29

We got up early on Sunday; Doug, Kitty and I were taking the Farrabee's jeep that we had picked up the day before down to the Racetrack in the morning. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there, so we got up at 7 and were on the road by 7:30. Kitty did pretty well, considering that she was still jet-lagged from flying from Connecticut two days before! And the dawn was beautiful. Here I am at the last stop for real restrooms, the Grapevine ranger's station, posing with what became known as the Little Jeep That Could.
And there goes the road! There were many beuatiful flowers on the way, including these cacti; we stopped a lot for pictures. And we were the only car on the road going down to the Racetrack, which was also nice.
The Little Jeep That Could. The last jeep I got from Farrabee's was new and fancy; when we picked this up, it was small and beat up. I was dubious, but she really proved herself. I loved this jeep, and was so happy to drive her around! More flowers- Apricot Mallow, a cholla with the sun gleaming in its spines, and a huge bush of Wild Canterbury Bells.
Two more pics of the Wild Canterbury Bells, more cactus, and the section of Racetrack Road that's just right for lots of Joshua Trees to grow there.

The thing about Racetrack Road is, it's not a bad road; the rangers grade it every year. It's not steep, or full of rocks or anything...but whenever it gets graded, the sharp side of the rocks gets turned up, and if you don't take it carefully, or if your tires aren't good, they'll blow. Many of us have done this. And if you have to get towed out, the truck has to come from Tonopah and charges (and I am not exaggerating about this) TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS to pull you out of here. It's cheaper to drive out on your rims...and now you know why I was so thrilled with the Little Jeep That Could

Teakettle Junction is a well-known landmark; it's changed over the years, and now people leave teakettles with messages on them, but it's a fun photo op. And there is Racetrack Playa, and we're here! Here is a pic of one of my favorite things, the drainage pattern. It just looks cool.
The Racetrack is one of the most famous places in Death Valley, and someone finally figured out what makes the rocks move...the longer article is here, but basically, when water does collect on the playa, then freezes, it freezes around the rocks; when the sheet of ice breaks up and the floes move, they move the rocks around and that's what makes the tracks.
The pictures of the racetrack above are mine, these three to the left are Kitty's.
The last couple of years, whenever someone mentioned the Racetrack, I would say, yes, and if we're doing that, I'd like to do the Ubehebe Lead Mine as well, it's on the way...and finally, we were doing it. Here we go!
This was really hard to pin down! It's Rabbit Thorn or Box Thorn. Another lovely little cactus. The Little Jeep That Could Part of the mine...
More mine stuff... Prickly poppies! this is my pic... and this is Kitty's. Cottontop cactus
Mine car rails The hillside above the mine, with an abandoned truck halfway up... and a closeup of it. How did it get there? And here is the rock fence, the trail is supposed to be above it...it was not easy to find.
I'm pretty sure these are some kind of gilia. So we started up the trail; it was steep, Kitty turned back after this and returned to the Jeep. This is where we were going... More cactus, there was a lot of it in here.
A really pretty shiny rock. And then the trail turned a corner...and it went straight up a dry streambed, with lots of loose steep rock, and no clear indication of where it was going. We clawed our way up it a bit, then said forget it and went back down to where Kitty was waiting for us. Doug strides cheerfully down the trail, back to the jeep and water and snacks. At the cutoff that joins onto the Racetrack Road.
Ubehebe Crater
Doug is chillin'.

So we went back to the motel, got back around 2 or so. We took showers and hung out a while, then Mike was feeling better and it was later in the afternoon, so not so hot. Want to see something close by, not hard to get to but really pretty? I asked, and he was up for it, so we went to Mosaic Canyon, right next to the motel.

And on the left is Stovepipe Wells as seen from the parking area at Mosaic Canyon...that tiny white line.

When we got back, Doug was comfortably ensconced, reading and enjoying the a/c.

I talked to Kitty. Would you like to try a pretty hike that's not too hard? I said, and described Zabriskie-to-Golden Canyon. 2 1/2 miles, I said, mostly downhill, not scary, not hard, and we'll end up in Golden Canyon in the moonlight. We'll take flashlights, and the moon is 3/4 and pretty bright. She agreed, and off we went! We got to the trailhead just before 7 pm, and asked Diana and Doug to pick us up at 8:30 at the Golden Canyon parking lot.
The NPS had just finished (literally, it reopened two weeks before we got there) taking out the old walkway and rock wall at Zabriskie Point that were falling apart, and putting new ones in. They are very nice, and the new walkway is much better-smoother and less steep. We are arriving near sunset, so I was taking this picture into the sun. The 'badlands' And off we go! Even the badlands are really pretty. It's sunset-ish, warm and lovely, and we are excited about hiking!
Desert Gold Interesting shapes in the hills... and more beautiful badlands with the sun setting behind them.
Kitty hiking, interesting lines in the mud hills, and beautiful sunset clouds.
This was a pretty cool time to take this hike, with the shadows and the sunset. Kitty is bravely crossing the face of Manly Beacon.
And the moon came up while we were hiking, and the sunset was beautiful.
And we finished the hike in the dark, with the moonlight and the flashlight I had brought; this is a picture of our moonshadow...that's how bright the moon was. We carefully climbed down the one sharp drop at the end, and as we reached the parking lot, Diana and Doug drove up in her Honda to pick us up.
What I Learned on Sunday: Even when the book says there's a trail, there isn't always a trail.

Monday March 30

Kitty and I got up at dawn and went to the Mesquite Dunes to see the sun come up.
 
My awesome sister gave me a neck massage and made it feel all better! I was stiff from driving the Jeep the previous day...and what was I going to do today? You guessed it!
This was the second day we had reserved the Little Jeep That Could. We all talked about what we might want to do this day; I wanted to drive along Westside Road (across the valley from Badwater Road) and go up some of the canyons. Mike left that morning, and nobody else wanted to spend a day in the heat driving on bad roads, so I told them where I was going, filled up the tank, and off I went!
Here's the info on Westside Road. First stop: Warm Spring Canyon. This is where Jim went on Friday when he spent the day with Dan and Ann and Sherrie and Gary. Not a bad road...this was the best canyon road I took all day.
There were mines all through the Panamints, and there is too much stuff left for the NPS to mark every one of them, so all these canyon roads have this sign. Just in case you didn't know. And now I'm in the canyon proper. Warm Spring Canyon has a lot of roads branching off the main road; I knew there was a spring, but not where it was. I decided to go up the main road til I got to the (many) forks off it, since I didn't want to spend all my time in one canyon. This is the first mine I passed by, then came back to; I didn't go far enough to get to the actual spring, but that'll be an adventure for another day.

I parked the Jeep and hiked all over both sides of the road. Mines, rocks, a quarry, a very cool beetle, it was really fun crawling all over this stuff! Then I hiked up a seriously steep 4x4 road that went by a bunch of mines; I couldn't see where the road went, and didn't want to get stuck somewhere I couldn't turn around...plus getting out and walking felt great. I went up to the big tank and looked around...

So I was walking by this pipe...and I heard a noise. I tapped one end with my foot...nothing. Then I walked toward the other end and saw movement...interesting! I stood about 6 feet from the dark end of the pipe (because I didn't know what was in there) and got my camera ready and waited quietly for a few minutes...and first I saw this guy's face, then he tasted the air (I was downwind) then he came out and plopped himself down.

Dis my pipe, he said, you git your own. What a great chuckwalla!

Next was Galena Canyon, but the road was so horrible that it would literally have taken all the rest of the day to get there and back; after a mile (that took half an hour) I turned around and went back. I had passed this up for Galena Canyon, but the road to this mine was short, only two miles and I could see all of it. It was still pretty bad, but not as long. Here's a view from the mine across the valley.
I spent an hour or so walking all around the mine and looking at the equipment and shacks and mineshafts...it was great! Then I had lunch and went back to Westside Road to the thing I was most excited about doing...
Johnson Canyon! I had heard about this canyon forever, and seen some pictures from it. According to the map, the road goes 10 miles to a parking/trailhead, then there is a trail to Hungry Bill's Ranch. The beginning of the road isn't bad; then it went steeply down a hill (and it's way steeper than it looks in this picture) and the last picture is what most of it was like, rocky streambed. There were several times I had to stop and get out and look to see where the road was actually going; it would go up a bank or curve, and the tracks weren't obvious. There was another time in the middle of the streambed where the road wound between big rocks, and I had to get out and make sure my jeep could make it between them. I'm sure it was beginning-level 4-wheeling, but it seemed terrifying and exciting to me; I had a sore spot on my hand at the end of the day from gripping the steering wheel so hard, and it was SO MUCH FUN!
A prickly poppy. And I made it! I was so happy to see these cars, letting me know I was indeed in the right place; the last part of the road had some guesswork about which way to go, and I wasn't entirely sure about it. I got my stuff and started hiking; I ran into these guys about 1/2 mile along. They were the only people I saw all day, by the way, until I got back onto the main road in the evening. Maybe another Wild Canturbury Bell? This is what the beginning of the trail was like. A nice trail, pretty well marked, not hard at all. A good change from driving.
More of the trail. Apricot mallow. Maybe cocoons or spiderwebs? There was nothing moving in/around them.
I have a ladybug! No idea what these are, the picture isn't quite clear enough. But these are Desert Paintbrush flowers! Then the trail started to go up into the rock canyons...
And then I heard it...notice how much green there is in the canyon? there's a year round stream there, a pretty sizeable one. Wow! it was 105 in the valley that day, and pretty hot coming into the canyon in the jeep...and then hiking...and then a beautiful running stream. It was like I was suddenly in a whole different world!
And here is where I was about to cross the stream on rocks, when I balanced, looking down...and there was a FROG. And a DAMSELFLY. In looking up reptiles of Death Valley, I had seen a picture of this frog, and wondered where it was wet enough for them to live...Johnson Canyon, that's where. It was amazing. Also amazing was trying to balance on the rock holding my hiking pole, a bottle of water and use my camera without dropping any of the three...! The frog is a Pacific Treefrog, btw, it's not native, was introduced and is in all these canyons.
This is one of the rock fences from Hungry Bill's Ranch; Hungry Bill was a Timbisha Shoshone who moved into the ranch after Panamint City went bust and the original owner left. The trail continues on beyond this; I went a little farther, but I think from the trail guides that you can actually walk across the Panamints (crossing at over 9000 ft) to Panamint City and Surprise Canyon on the other side. Hungry Bill's ranch was where I wanted to go, and I turned back after I passed it.
And back I went. The yellow flowers are a Honey Mesquite tree, they were beautiful in the sunshine. The road doesn't look that bad on the way out, even the tight part with the big rocks was way easier to get through going back.
And I'm on Westside Road! It's smooth sailing, literally; there's so much sand on the road it feels like driving on whipped cream in places. I have time to stop and see whatever I want to, including historical markers. The Amargosa Range is beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight. What's left of the Eagle Borax Works.
Shorty Harris' grave site. He was one of the best knows prospectors/colorful local characters in the Death Valley pantheon. More gorgeous views of the multicolored Amargosas. I just kept stopping on the road and taking more pictures.
And more. And more. And...oh, now we're in the Mesquite Dunes, which were also beautiful.
One last shot of the Mesquite Dunes, and I'm back. Doug had remembered to leave my truck at Farrabee's, so it was easy to return the Little Jeep that Could. Mr. Farrabee was there, and I told him how much fun I had had in it, which made him smile...then I started to walk over to my own truck, Boudika. So that's yours, he said, it just showed up here and we wondered whose it was...!

I got back and had a lovely shower, wolfed down some dinner (I had drunk a lot of bubbly and water, but it was so hot I didn't eat much) and we all swapped stories. A nice evening was had by all.

One of the things I did not eat that day was this package of peanut M&Ms, which, when I took it out of my backpack, felt...gooshy. So I put it in the small fridge that was in the room, and later we took it out..and it was a solid mass of chocolate and peanuts and bits of colored shell. Tasted great, though.

The picture to the right is one of Kitty's, the rest of the group went to Rhyolite and the Death VAlley Museum, among other places. I liked this pic of the Bottle House.

What I Learned on Monday: I love 4 wheeling and seeing new and interesting stuff, even by myself. Corollary: There are frogs! In Death Valley!

Tuesday March 31

Diana gave Kitty this bookmark to commemorate her intrepidity two nights before...evidently she doesn't hike, although she did fine on the Zabriskie-Golden trail. Diana is working on a shrug for me... This van went by, we loved it. It's a rental company that paints wild things on their vans.
Whoa! Someone forgot to use sunblock when she spent the day in the sun Monday...I had hives under my tattoos, sun poisoning. Pretty cool! Amazing clouds. Okay, I couldn't resist; while we were at Furnace Creek for lunch, Diana used a pay phone to make a call, and I used the one beside it and called *12. I had a lovely chat with a nice woman in Arkansas who does this, then she said a very nice blessing for me and we chatted a bit more before we hung up. I was just wondering if I'd reach an actual person or a recording... After a delicious buffet lunch, we're on the road to Dante's View.
The obligatory group photo Really cool rocks on the trail up the hill; Doug and I went the same way the SJSU group did a week before. Prince's Plume And the view is still amazing.
A nice man at the overlook The view down into the valley we just drove up through. I can't stay away from the overlook, though! wow. Devil's Lettuce
Desert Dandelion The white flowers are Desert Pincushion; I think the yellow ones are Wallace's Wooly Daisy, although there are no leaves to be seen. Maybe a Yellow Saucer? And Mojave Asters, those are easy.
On the left are Desert Dandelions with Gravel Ghost, and on the right are Wallace's Wooly Daisy.
Kitty taking some nice pics of, respectively, Indian Paintbrush, Ironbush, and Desert Rocknettle.
Hills and dunes on the way back to the motel.

I had intended to take it easy and just hang the rest of the day, but by the time we got back, I was Ms. Grumpypants, and I decided to go hiking rather than take it out on everyone else. Doug, bravely, decided to go with me.

We have done the Zabriskie to Golden Canyon hike many, many times, and on the way down there is a place where you go right to go up across Manly Beacon and then down Golden Canyon; if you go left, you end up hiking down Gower Gulch, and there is some kind of connector trail back to the Golden Canyon parking lot, so it makes a loop.

We decided to drive down to the end of Gower Gulch and park there and hike up it, just to see what it looked like. We figured it'd just be mud canyons, but it was something new...

So we drove down past Golden Canyon and followed the trail from it along the hills, til we saw, here, where it disappeared into Gower Gulch; we parked off road and walked toward the entrance. Aaaaand...found ourselves on the wrong side... ...of a BIG DAMN WASH that blocked the canyon entrance. So we walked almost all the way back to the car, across the base of the wash, and back up the other side to the trail, which goes up and over the (now dry) waterfall at the head of the wash, which is the entrance to the canyon.
The trail, the dry waterfall, pretty rocks, the canyon entrance. We started this hike around 4 pm, so the sun was low and everything was pretty colors.
And all those years we hadn't done this canyon because we figured it would be boring? were we ever wrong!
It was GREAT! All kinds of narrows, and polished folded rocks, and things to climb over.
Every place the canyon is wide, and there is a narrows downstream, the water must just SHOOT through there like crazy...it's really cool to hike it as well, and we are happy that there is no water right now.
The rocks are beautiful in the evening, and here we are beyond the narrow parts, in the wide mud washes, coming up to the badlands where it'll join the trail that comes down from Zabriskie Point.
Here there are stakes every now and then, to keep hikers from going the wrong way up the side canyons. The badlands are looking more familiar... And we arrive at the marker where the trail divides to go to Golden Canyon and Zabriskie Point! We've come about 2.5 miles, and it's time to go back. But first...a selfie! On the way back, Doug tells me to stop, and points at something. I quietly move over and try to figure out what he is pointing at...
He is getting exasperated, because I can't see it. A tiny lizard, EXACTLY the same color as the side of the trail! No wonder I couldn't see it! but it's really cute. Thanks, honey! A panorama of one part of the canyon And we are on our way back down in the shadows. It's still over 90 degrees, mind you, it's just shadier and a bit cooler.
An abandoned mine, and we continue down the wash...
Douglas, Douglas, Douglas, and...wait a minute!
This rock (Josie Looking Sexy On) only LOOKS like it has a flat top, in reality it's a knife edge and OUCH. Wow. This was such a beautiful hike. Wheee! How does Doug always manage to wear clothes that perfectly match or complement whatever hike we take? It's an amazing talent.
Back out the dry waterfall, goodbye to Gower Gulch, and we walk back to the truck.
I kept the left one more for the colors; I took it in the car and just couldn't get my camera to focus well. But the right hand one turned out nicely! A beautiful sunset, and we went back and had a lovely dinner with Diana and Kitty.
What I Learned on Tuesday: Sometimes the thing you thought wouldn't be very interesting is EXTREMELY cool.

Wednesday April 1

Diana and Kitty pretend to wave goodbye Diana and I have one more mug shot Diana and Kitty are sad to see us go. And when we get home, my aloe plant is blooming to greet us!
What I Learned At Death Valley in 2015: I thought I might get tired of being there, but even 12 days is not too long...I'm ready to go back soon! Corollary: New family or old, I loved the people I was with in March! Thank you for a wonderful time, everyone!