Thursday, May 15, 2025

The Many Faces of Death Valley National Park

We set an alarm to get up and started early because this is a huge park with no viable lodging on the west side of the park, the side we chose for this trip.  Google Maps said it was 40 miles to the park entrance and 105 miles to the visitor center.  I wish Google or any of the sources I checked would have told me there was a park visitor center at the corner of US395 and CA136 just outside of Lone Pine, where we were staying.  So, I downloaded the park map on the phone just in case we couldn't find one.  

On the way to the park, we drove by Owens Lake again.  We drove past it on the way up, too.  It looked like just another salt lake, but this one has a very interesting history.  Owens Lake used to be a salt lake, similar to but smaller than the Great Salt Lake.  That is, until the Owens River was diverted to fill the LA aquifer in 1913.  The lake finally went completely dry in 1926.  Since then, it has become the largest single source of dust pollution in the US.  And that's not just any dust.  This salt flat contains an alkaline powder dust that carries harmful levels of particulates and chemicals, including such carcinogens as cadmium, nickel, and arsenic among other toxic respiratory particulates.  To try to mitigate this and provide habitat for the birds and other animals that used this previously healthy wetland as either home or as a migration stop, 5% of the water flow was restored in 2006.  To further attempt to mitigate the air pollution, the state is using 3.5 square miles of managed vegetation covers, mostly saltgrass and gravel.  LA is also “shallow flooding” 27 square miles of the salt pan.  They hope this will minimize the alkaline dust storms, but I would think they would want to do more.  There are multiple chemical extraction companies operating on and around the lake, so there isn't really much of a push to fix the issue at this time.  The town of Keeler appears to be a company town dedicated to one of those mining companies.

It was a good thing I downloaded that map because the visitor center was closed that early in the morning, though it was apparently open when we were driving around last night.  And the park entrance was just the sign.  No fee station.  No maps.


Soon after entering the park, we saw Rainbow Canyon and watched it all the way until we finally got to the Father Crowley overlook.  It was beautiful.  I love colorful canyons.  Apparently, this one is used for flight training.  I might have to watch Top Gun again just to see the canyon in action.  They did a lot of filming in the area for that movie.  



Beautiful wildflowers throughout the park.  This one is chicalote, or Mexican prickly poppy.


There is some significant large-item pollution in Rainbow Canyon, maybe a result of military training without policing their trash.

There's a LOT of driving in this park.  We drove through Panamint Springs and saw the different wildflowers that were in bloom.  There hasn't been enough rain for a super bloom, but there were pretty desert flowers.  As we went downhill, the temperature was going up, and the landscape also changed.


Brittlebush




The motel office/grocery store/gas station for the Panamint Springs Resort.  You can rent little tiny homes here for pretty large amounts, but reasonable for being inside the park.


Devil's trumpet


Sand blazing star




We made it to the sand dunes, and I walked out and saw them.  They are amazing!  As far as can be seen.  They are formed from the erosion of the mountains on either side, which gets trapped in this spot and just blows around from dune to dune.  A couple of boys had an inner tube that they were trying to sled down the dunes with.  It wasn't working.  Probably because of the hole in the tube through which their butts dragged the ground.  At one point, they lost control of the tube, which started rolling across the tops of the dunes.  At times, it would start wobbling, but the wind would catch it again, and off it would go.  It finally went down the hill and the kids were able to catch it.





We stopped at the visitor center and got a map and flat penny.  They gave us another pass holder and said to display our pass on the mirror, but with the wind, it kept trying to blow off.  I had planned to go down to Dante's View to see everything from one vantage point and then go down to see the individual things.  It didn't work out that way.  I told Bruce to take the turn to Badwatter, so we did all of those things first.  

The salt on Badwater was kinda powdery.  Probably a mix like that on Lake Owen, but they didn't say anything about other minerals on the signs.  I looked it up, and the composition of the salts in Badwater does not have the toxic components – like arsenic – but does have other minerals – like borax.  We walked out on it.  There are special snails that live in the pools.  

This is the lowest point on the North American continent at 282 feet below sea level.  This is only 132 miles from the highest point in the contiguous US, Mt. Whitney.


There is a little pool that hasn't yet dried up.  There are special types of snails and other creatures that hibernate under these crystals - like the dried lake in White Sands.  Here, they have boardwalks around this part to keep people from walking on it.


The thick part of the salt pans is open for people to walk out on.


We checked the temperature in Badwater before we left.  It was 78 degrees Farenheit


On the way back, we went to what they call the Devils Golf Course.  This is the spot where the salt doesn't settle flat.  


We drove down this graded gravel road, which still is not DIRT!


I took a comparison shot of this landscape from the ground just like I did in Bonnieville.  They're similar, but I think I like the Bonnieville shots better!

Death Valley


Bonnieville


I think I like the Bonnievill shots better even if I play with the temperature and make the sand in Death Valley more bluish (though I didn't have to do that to the Bonnieville pix.  The salt was just a more bluish tint.  I guess it has less dirt in it in Bonnieville.)
This one is Death Valley edited to cooler temperatures

On the way back up to the main drive from Badwater and the Devils Golf Course, we took the loop around Artist Drive to Artist Point.  This area is known for its multiple colors and textures.  This was one of the highlights for me, though definitely don't miss the sand dunes!







I take pictures of lots of signs in parks.  This one tells the different minerals in the mountains and that the color palette changes with the weather, with different minerals coming to the surface, changing the colors, with rain, some winds, and other weather phenomena.  Believe it or not, there is no copper in these hills.  The green color comes from green chlorite.  The red comes from both iron and red hematite.  It's hard to read the sign because they put white lettering on a pale picture, but blown up, it can be read.







I took some shots of Golden Canyon as we drove by and then we headed toward Dante's view with a stop at Zabrinski's Point.  A short, steep walk to the viewpoint with stops along the way.  Some kids were running up and down the path.  They didn't seem to be really getting in anybody's way, but I wish I had half of that stamina!


This picture shows the unique formation of this area.  The lower layers are the silt and sand that have formed into rock, but the top is lava that has been pushed out and deposited.  It's not just the dark lava, but it also includes gypsum and borax.






Finally, we made the drive on down that section to Dante's Point.  It was decent views, and I wouldn't really skip it because of FOMO, but I don't really think the views were worth the drive.




This was the last stop on the list.  We will have to go back because Scotty's Castle and the kilns were closed because of flooding.  (It amazes me that 2.2 inches of rain could cause such devastation, but I guess the ground here is just so hard for rain to penetrate.)  On the way out, we passed by a mining operation inside the fee area of the park


And this gorgeous formation.  We also stopped and I played in the sand dunes a bit.  I tried sledding, but it didn't work well.  I don't know enough about sand sledding to know if they just weren't steep enough or if the sand is a different type that isn't conducive to sledding or some other reason.  But people say they sled in here.  I didn't see anybody be successful and I certainly wasn't.


We stopped to see another friend in Sacramento on the way home and another overnight stop in Roseburg, Oregon.  We had to kill some time before check-in in Roseburg so went to a park.  There were lots of squirrels and geese and Rosebud trees.  I was surprised at the number of acorn woodpeckers!  I even got one in flight!  I should have taken the time to get The Baby out (my camera with the big lens), but the Lumix did an acceptable job!



We finally got back in time for me to get ready to go halibut fishing with some friends and to get started on Chrissy's wedding dress!