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.

Ranger Duckie goes to Death Valley: part 1

 Hi! I'm Ranger Duckie.  I'm kind of like a Junior Ranger except I'm a rubber duck.  Mom got me several years ago in Yosemite but she never took me traveling.  Recently she decided I would be good company and, besides, I am very photogenic and like all good rangers I'm adventurous.

It's a long drive from our home in Lincoln, CA and we drove through some much colder territory.  We stopped at the Mono Lake Overlook and looked over a very white scene.  Brr!

Our first stop was at the mesquite sand dunes.

 Later that day we went down to Bad Water.

Everywhere I looked, salt and the geologist say it is one to six feet thick.  That's a lot of salt!  The weather was pleasant, in the 60's when we were there but it can get up to 130 in the summer!  I might melt!

Well, that's it for now, next time Harmony Borax works, the badlands and Golden Canyon.

Death Valley

Last month we took a trip to the desert in the hope of finding some desert wildflowers.  Our first stop was Death Valley.  It was unusually hot for March and there were no wildflowers.  No problem, there was still plenty to see and do and we had a good time.

Oasis Garden

We stayed at Furnace Creek Inn.  In the past we had either camped or stayed at the Furnace Creek Ranch, a motel style lodging.  The Inn proved to be a perfect choice.  During the hot afternoons we could wander the corridors of the hotel for exercise or go down to the oasis garden.

Zabiskie Point

We did our sightseeing in the morning, before it got hot.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

There were plenty of people out exploring the dunes.

Creosote Bush

Did I say there were no wildflowers?  That is not quite true.  The creosote was in full bloom.  

Although we didn't see the critters that made them, there were plenty of tracks out on the dunes.

Old borax wagons were on display at the remains of the borax works.

Salt crystals

No trip to death Valley would be complete without a visit to Bad Water 282 feet below sea level.  Due to recent rains there were water filled potholes in which salt was crystallizing.  Unfortunately, it seems visitors found the potholes irresistible and most of them had been disturbed and the newly formed crystals destroyed. 

At the end of the day we found a spot to watch the sunset and see the stars come out.

On our way to our next stop we finally found our wildflowers.

Find other views of our wonderful world at Our World Tuesday

Shadows on the Dunes

Sand dunes make a great pallet for shadows.

The dune plants cast a shadow if the sun is out.

Tracks in the sand are defined by their shadow.  People passed by here.

But who came by here?  A snake, perhaps, in pursuit of a rabbit?

Here we can see who is making a track, crossing the shadow of ripples in the sand as well as those of other creatures living in this hostel environment.

You can see more shadows at Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted for us by Tracy in Brisbane.

Sky Watch—Death Valley

See more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Scotty’s Castle—My world

No trip to Death Valley would be complete without a visit to Scotty’s Castle.

The castle is well above the valley floor at an elevation of 4000’.  It is still plenty hot in the summer but not as hot as Furnace Creek.

The interior is kept dark, all the curtains pulled to protect the fabrics.  Flash is allowed but I found I liked the effect better if I increased the ISO to 1600 and didn’t use flash.

The “castle” didn’t actually belong to Scotty and he didn’t live there, but he did have a room of his own.  The owners of the “Castle”, Albert and Bessie Johnson, provided him a home elsewhere.  Scotty would come to the Ranch to entertain the Johnson’s visitors with his tall tales.

They enjoyed entertaining and the large dining room shows they could feed quite a few.

There were four or five bedrooms, another indication that they liked to entertain as they had no children.

Above the daybed is displayed a small part of Bessie’s collection of native baskets.  I like the drop down desk.

Beautiful tile work and pottery is found through out.

The music room must have been a favorite with visitors.  Behind this screen was a pipe organ.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of Scotty's Castle.  Tour more places from around the world at My World Tuesday, hosted for us by  Klaus, Sandy, Wren Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Flowers and Shadows in Death Valley

I promised to show you some of the flowers we saw in Death Valley.

First I have a shadow from the Desert Gold.

There was lots of Desert Gold and the bright yellow color could be seen for quite a distance.

The Yellow Cups were not as abundant.



I saw only a few clumps of this pretty little daisey.

There were several purple/pink varieties blooming.

There was quite a bit of the Fivespot blooming at the visitor center, elswhere I saw it but not in bloom.

Above the valley floor we saw some Beaver Tail in bloom and a whate cactus in a place we could not stop. We saw what might have been Claret Cups Cactus but it was not blooming.

You can find more shadows at Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted for us by Tracy.

Watery Death Valley

Yes, there is water in Death Valley.

Salt Creek is one of several seeps and springs in Death Valley.
It is home to one of nine pupfish species and subspecies, each one evolved and adapted to a specific environment. These environments were isolated from one another as the area dried and the pupfish evolved to suit their new environments, some hot, some cooler, some very salty. Will we be as able to adapt and survive as a species if our environment goes through such dramatic changes?
What's Jules looking at?
An example of what happens when the water disappears. The Devil's Golf Course and the salt flats in the Badwater Basin are the result of eons of mineral laden water that flow into Death Valley from the adjacent mountains but have no outlet to the sea. The water evaporates in the arid climate leaving the salts behind resulting in the vast salt flat and these salt formations. Click here for a more detailed explanation.
Find more watery sights and Watery Wednesday, hosted for us by 2sweetnsaxy.

Four Days, Three Seasons—My World

We decided to try again to go to Death Valley before it got too hot. A late season storm caused us to delay our start until mid-day. With no chains for the van we had to wait for chain controls to be lifted in the Sierra.

It was beautiful Spring weather in the Sierra foothills.

As we rose in elevation, things changed. It looked more like Winter. The road was snow free but there were some light flurries still falling.

Bad Water, Death Valley

(yellow arrow points to sea level)

Death Valley had Summer time temperatures. It was definitely shorts weather with high temperatures in the mid nineties!

We got out early to view the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

We waited until late afternoon to go to the Harmony Borax Works.

Mid-day found us hiding under the awning of the Roadtrek. There was a nice breeze so it was fairly comfortable. The dominant flower was the Desert Gold Sunflower and if you stayed in your car that was all you would see. Of course, we didn’t stay in the car and I will show you some of the other flowers in a later post.

You can find more views from around the world at

My World Tuesday

Hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.