Death Valley NP

Before you ask, yes, it was hot. But hey, it was summer time. Death Valley was more than I expected, the most interesting part was the diversity of the park. I thought that it was just a big, hot valley, but not so much. There is actually a lot of diversity to the terrain.

We checked out several different areas including; Zabriskie Point, that reminded us of the Badlands, the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes, and the Artists Palette.

Did you know that mining of ore began in Death Valley began in the early 1800’s? Fuel and water scarcity as well as transportation challenges made this type of mining difficult. However, ‘one of the earliest successful mining operations in Death Valley was the Harmony Borax Works, which was active from 1883 to 1888. This operation was famous not for its ore deposits, but for the Twenty Mule Team wagons used to transport the partially refined borax. A very memorable advertising campaign used the wagons’ image to promote the company’s Boraxo soap.’ ¹

Of course we had to go to the lowest point in North America at 282 Feet below seal level, Badwater Basin.

We also checked out the Furnace Creek golf course. Yes, I said golf course in Death Valley. The course looked like it was in great shape, especially since is is located in the heart of Death Valley. Definitely a winter time activity though.

As we were walking back towards the truck, Cole found a friend, or so we thought. He saw what we initially thought might be a fox. They continued to stare at each other and all of a sudden, the animal barked at Cole! A few minutes later, we were positive that it was a coyote, when he gave his howl to call his coyote friends in!! Look closely at the upper left side of the picture to see the coyote.

Time for us to get out of the heat (hopefully) and head to our next National Park!

1. https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/mining-in-death-valley.htm ↩︎