Travel Tuesdays: Death Valley

Little Hebe at Ubehebe Crater.

   After we left Death Valley, I was faced with the daunting task of going through over 500 photos to decide what I would use for a blog post. Since I usually only use a handful here, I created a link to a photo album with more here, the Best of Death Valley 2019.

At the salt flats, the lowest pace at -283 feet. With Ines.

  Death Valley was unexpected from the time we entered to the time we left. We sure didn't expect the 16 miles of downhill grade that we needed to take very slowly so we didn't burn up our brakes! And we didn't expect the amazing beauty and variety of this huge place. It will definitely require another visit or two to cover all that we would like to see. Thankfully, we had an experienced person in our group who served as tour guide and took us to many of the must-see places.
   We met up with the Christian Fellowship BOF group, and also saw several from the Boomers BOF group there as well at the Sunset Campground. We arrived more than a week before the 49er Days events and spent the time sight-seeing, interspersed with times for worship and devotions and many potlucks. I stepped up and lead the worship time on my keyboard with Nancy helping out on her guitar. It was lots of fun and a good experience. We weren't able to use any amplification in the National Park where we were, but everyone seemed to be able to hear me OK.

At dawn, I turned around...

  Potlucks are always a challenge, but there were several people who contributed things we could eat and for that we were very thankful. It took a wee bit of planning, but it worked out very well and several people wanted the recipe for the Curtido that I made and shared. (I posted the link for it on the Favorite Recipes page.)

Zabriskie Point just before dawn.

Getting up before dawn is not something I do very often, but it was worth it to watch the sunrise spill color and light, first behind and then hitting the tip of Zabriskie Point. Besides our group of about 10 people, there were probably another 50 or so, cameras in hand from all over the world, waiting for that special moment.
     Mosaic Canyon was another favorite place with amazing rock formations and the conglomerate rock filled with chunks of marble and pebbles right up against huge sections of marble. The forces of nature required to do that boggle the mind! We were instructed to bring spray bottles and extra water for them so we could spray the sections to bring out the colors. It was really fun to watch the colors deepen and I soon had to beg more water from someone! I took so many pictures, but this is my favorite.

Amazing rocks in Mosaic Canyon.

A beautiful pool with rare little fish.

 Another place we went was Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge. It is an unexpected oasis of pools, streams and green. In one of the pools, there are rare, blue Pupfish about 1-1/2" long that dart around here and there. It's a fun thing to see this unique area and this is the only place in the world they are found. Back in the day there were farms here, but much of it has been returned to original habitat, an ongoing process of restoring the land and removing invasive species of plants.
   The Death Valley 49ers are a group who gather yearly to commemorate the wagon trains that first stumbled across Death Valley in 1849 looking for a shortcut the the gold field of the California Gold Rush. Most of them made it out with their lives and little else. Remarkably there were a few families that survived it. Reading about it made me even more thankful for the comfort and conveniences with which we travel and stay in this very arid area. The celebrations included demonstrations of gold panning and blacksmithing, a costume contest of clothing from the 1800s, an Art Show and various vendors. I got to participate in the "Come Paint" area where an artist has a basic outline that he helps you paint by teaching techniques, helping mix colors and showing how it's done and then handing over the brush. More fun than paint by number, for sure! I enjoyed the Cowboy music in the evening, the old kind. There were some really great musicians! One night before the actual opening there was a kind of Talent Show called Coyote Howl and Nancy roped me into singing with her and playing my baritone ukulele (that I inherited from Dad). We sang an old cowboy song from a book she found circa 1940s. It was great fun and Dad would have appreciated me playing his bari-uke in this setting! He would have loved all of this so much. When one of the groups started in with a harmonica, it brought back such a flood of memories of watching Dad in fascination make such beautiful sounds out of something that had me totally stumped! I might have leaked a little bit....

Selfie with the 20 mule team. 

    One of the most fun things was watching the 20 Mule Team pulling replica wagons of those used to haul boron out of the valley in the later 1800s. (See video in photo album, link above) They were followed by people who came in covered wagons pulled by mules, dressed in period clothing. It was fun to talk to them and see their various setups once they pulled into the parking lot. Some of them had taken a week to pull their wagons 100 miles. This is truly reenacting! The mule train went on past, and then returned a couple of hours later and stopped so we could get pictures and even pet them!

The fury of the flames were awe inspiring!

     After 12 days, we took off toward Indio, CA hoping to make good time. But when we came up behind an RV with flames coming up from the towed vehicle, I was unwilling to drive past due to risk of explosions. We parked and had a front row seat to this unfolding drama. All I could do was pray. So shocking to watch this. Thankfully, the lady and her dog got out safely. She had grabbed her purse so she had ID, but her phone and laptop and all her other possessions went up in smoke. It's unclear what started the fire with the CRV she was towing, but there was something causing resistance. She stopped several times trying to figure out what was wrong. Then she saw smoke and by the time she pulled off the road and got out, it was beyond what a fire extinguisher could do. Thankfully she had a friend and fellow RVer that was in the line up of vehicles stopped behind us, so she had help.
    An hour and a half into this, it was still burning. The fire truck had run out of water and it would some time before a water truck could get filled and get to the site. So when a park ranger told us the road would be closed another couple of hours more, we turned and left by Badwater Rd. There were sections of that road that were rough enough that I could only do 20 mph, but we made it out. I don't intend to take that road again unless it's the only way out! It took about 7-1/2 hours of driving to get to our destination, not counting the delay. Maybe it would have been quicker to just wait it out?! Who knows, we're just thankful and counting our many blessings.