Ranger Duckie goes to Death Valley part 2

After our visit to Badwater we took the Artists drive.  

The amazing colors here sent Mom to a geology book which said the formation owed its color to the presence of iron

Our next stop was Harmony Borax Works

The borax works only operated from 1884 to 1888 and produced 3 tons of borax daily except during the heat of summer.

Getting the borax out of the valley was no easy feat in those days and required the effort of teams of 20 mules hence the phrase "20 mule team borax"  Glad to see that much of the weight they pulled was water.

One of the reasons Mom wanted to visit here was that she was hoping to photograph star trails and this was said to be a great spot for night photography.  When we arrived at night we encountered two problems.  There were clouds to the north and a ranger was giving a star talk.  We enjoyed the talk but gave up on the photography.  Next time.

Mom has found that you can get decent star trails even in suburban Lincoln.

  We don't know what the artifact on the right is, perhaps a homemade rocked?  The trail fades as it rises so it went up rather than down like a meteor.

  We will continue to seek out dark skies.  The family is considering a trip to Zion in the fall, we'll see what happens.