Dan's Departure Day - February 20, 2009

Here is one happy grandson! He has driven 6.5 miles of refuge roads from the office to the highway. Hardly anyone gets a chance to drive the dually and now he knows he is truly loved.

Time has gone quickly - too quickly. Five days were spent "touring" followed by three days working on the refuge as a volunteer. Dan was biologist for a day working with the endangered pupfish at the School Springs restoration. He also repaired the drip irrigation in front of the office and drove one of the Rangers to fill mapboxes at the entrances and to trim brush around signs.

Today is the final day with departure from Las Vegas at 4pm. We spent the day seeing some of the glitz and glamour of the city. Too bad that the sidewalk shows don't begin until late in the day. Treasure Island Casino boasts two pirate ships where pirates shoot at each other and the ships list and almost sink. The smoke and pyrotechniques are awesome.

Across the street is the Venetian complete with gondola rides.

It seems the day would have been better spent going anywhere but Las Vegas. Dan, being a country boy, takes after his grandparents and was unimpressed and even a bit disdainful. Thus the end of the trip was not the best but it was educational. Hopefully we will get a chance next year to make up for it....

Day #5 of Dan's visit - February 16, 2009

Hardly a welcoming sky. This photo should have been taken another day.Badwater in Death Valley is a necessary destination.

The sign high on the rocks behind Dan reads SEA LEVEL. Badwater is 282' below sea level. Without the sign it would be difficult to imagine 282 vertical feet.

"Do I have to get out in the rain?"

Is this dismal or what?

This location is referred to as Devil's Golf Course - a combination of salt crystals and dirt. On a sunny, warm day the crystals can sometimes be heard to crack as they grow. The Panamint Range can barely be seen in the distance.The salt formations are taller where Dan is standing, nearly up to his knees, and the Panamints are now nearly invisible.

No sense in wasting the rest of the day even if the weather is miserable. Sidewinder Canyon is a recommended hike. Finding the first spring flowers made it all worthwhile. Neither of the Mohave Desert wildflower books that I have help me identify a few of these early finds.

Research will determine what these brown pom-pom-like things are on the creosote bush. They are on only a few bushes. They are also covered with flower buds.An interesting window

This was not Sidewinder Canyon after all but the formations and textures, nooks, crannies and windows are wonderful just the same. Wonder what we missed just one canyon over......

Too good a spot not to pose even if it is raining.

The day ended as it began - gray, wet and uninviting - not at all the welcoming Nevada that we have come to know.

Days 3 and 4 with Dan (February 14 and 15, 2009)

Day 3 was a "boy day". Vic and Dan started at Rhyolite, another boom and bust mining town. Gold was discovered in 1905 and, what began as a two-man camp, within two weeks grew to 1,200 men. In only three months there were 2,500 residents. "By then it had 50 saloons, 35 gambling tables, cribs for prostitution, 19 lodging houses, 16 restaurants, half-a-dozen barbers, a public bath house and a weekly newspaper, the Rhyolite Herald."

In 1907 4,000 people lived in Rhyolite and there were concrete sidewalks, electric lights, water mains, telephone and telegraph lines, daily and weekly newspapers, a monthly magazine, police and fire departments, a hospital, a school, opera house, stock exchange and two churches. At its peak it was estimated that the Bullfrog District had a population of 6,000 to 8,000.

In 1910 the mine operated at a loss and closed in March, 1911. The 1920 census reported a population of 14.

In 1906 miner Tom Kelly built the bottle house with 50,000 discarded beer and liquor bottles. The house has appeared in many movies. The fence is a recent addition to keep folks from further vandalizing the structure. What a shame that a few ruin it for the majority who care.

The most prominent structure in Rhyolite today is the ruins of the three-story bank building. Completed in 1908 it cost more than $90,000 and claimed imported stained-glass windows, Italian marble stairs among other luxuries.

From Rhyolite the boys headed to the Chloride Cliffs area where Dan did the rest of the off-road driving for the day.

The view into Death Valley......

Day #4. Bat Mountain is on the turn to Death Valley. See the bat in flight?

The Lila C Mine and a chance to explore and "junk". The best part - Dan found a log cabin syrup tin dating between 1905 and 1912 - and guess who didn't think to get a photo of him with his find?

We could feel the hot air escaping through this vent.

More pretty stripes and variety of colors.....

We thought Dan would like to see and explore the Chinese Railroad workers camp. Must be his good luck ran out with the finding of the syrup tin.

Magnificent colors! The elevation was high and the wind blew. With the overcast sky it made for a chilly afternoon.

The Mohave Redhead or Cottontop Cactus once again. This time it is not snow but the "cotton" for which it was named.

Dan's Day 2

We got off to a cloudy start this morning. "The Old Man of the Mountain" is in profile gazing skyward as we leave the refuge.

Upon reaching Death Valley the sky was blue once again.

Devil's Cornfield is on the edge of sand dunes and on our route to Mosaic Canyon.

The plants are arrow weed. The stalks were used as arrow shafts by native Americans.

Heading into Mosaic Canyon Forge on, intrepid tourist. And check out those rock walls.

Explorer pointing the way......

Only a goat or an agile 17 year old .....

Goat boy made it to the top safely and back down the same route. It was important to see what was up there.

Pondering.....

It's always nice when someone offers to take a photo of you together. We returned the favor.

The exit and view of the valley to the north.

The emcee introduces "alluvial fan". The clouds moved into the valley at noon.

The first spring flowers for 2009 - Desert Gold

Ubehebe Crater - depending on what one reads it is 500, 600 or 800 feet to the bottom. and steep, steep trail to see "Little Hebe"

Little Hebe and cold grandson. We had planned to walk around the perimeter of the crater but the combination of high wind and 45-degree temperature caused us to rethink that plan. It was just too miserable and as we could see everything from here....

The return path from Little Hebe and an inside wall of Ubehebe.

Scotty's Castle at a cost of $1 million in the 1930s.

And one last stop for today - the geoglyph.