More Zabriskie Point

We are back and ready to hike the 2.5 mile loop trail that goes down, around the base of the viewpoint and through Gower Gulch before climbing back up to the beginning. I'm not sure what the elevation change is but know that it's serious for someone who has done nothing but sit all winter. Hope I make it.Here we are in the wash at the base. Folks at the top look mighty small.

We took a wrong turn and missed Gower Gulch. This is a dead end for me although lots of hikers think nothing of heading right up this slot in the canyon. In dry conditions I MAY have considered it but not with the recent rains and water running right where our feet needed to go.

Storm waters flowing through that slot come through with such force that this cut was formed. This is why one is advised never to be in a canyon when rain is in the forecast. And this, in a place that is the dryest in the Western Hemisphere, with 1-2" of annual precipitation.

Of course, this year is different with the El Nino weather system. The Furnace Creek Visitor Center has registered 3.09" of rain since the first of 2010! This promises to be an incredible wildflower season. I can hardly wait!

Vic decides to take the shortcut while I decide to retrace our steps.

On my return I find a college class enjoying a project.

After spotting this well-used path, I decide I'll try it as a shortcut. Shorter, yes, but a killer. Up......

and up and up.

The ravens love soaring here.

Specie Spring and Steve Pass area

Mine shacks were not built for the long haul. Prospectors were far more concerned with digging ore than building anything lasting. Here is the exception to the rule. More striped mountains

Interesting rock formations and colors everywhere

The willows at Specie Springs are just beginning to bloom.

And our views go on forever - or nearly.

Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie Point has to be one of the more magical places in Death Valley National Park. The colors and forms are like nowhere else. The snow covered peaks are in the Panamint Range on the west side of the park. At the base of those mountains are salt flats which comprise "the valley". They are below sea level, as much as 282 ft. below at Badwater Basin which is about the area that can barely be seen.

Manley Beacon is the pointed rock to the right. Here Badwater can better be seen.

An even better shot of Manley Beacon.

Before the end of the month and our departure I'd like to return and hike the 2.5 mile loop trail that begins here.

Train Search

We headed out with the Pahrump Valley 4-Wheelers to find an abandoned train near Baker, CA. Apparently these are the remains train wreck which occured 75 years ago. Because the location was relatively remote and the cars were badly damaged, it was covered with sand and left. The recent report is that weather conditions through recent years have begun to uncover those cars. In fact so much is uncovered that one can enter some of them. We decided that this should not go unseen by us. Unfortunately the directions that were given were not detailed enough and we did not find it. BUT that's just a good excuse to go back and look again another day. It was a beautiful day to be out and about.

Baker is known for its high summer temperatures and it's remarkably tall thermometer. It records temps into the 130s F.

This is the first that many of us have seen this "unusual" desert plant - unusual to our group, if not others. I'd like to see them when they come back to life as spring continues.

For miles and miles one sees these three parallel powerlines. They transmit power from Hoover Dam to California. Cheech showing off his latest apparel - one well-dressed dog.

The greening of the desert. This El Nino winter is going to bring a spectacular spring bloom!

Prevailing winds have blown the sand up the side of the mountain.

Here and There

West of the refuge boundary are a few sand dunes of not great height. They do, however, get some interesting wind patterns and tracks. These tracks may be from a beetle pushing its find or......... Looking east toward the refuge and further to the snow-capped Spring Mountains about 30 miles distant. Sunday we drove Potato Ridge, a place that we particularly like. This is a side wash with a bit more challenge than our Jeep is equipped to handle. What fun to find two Jeeps giving it their all. We watched, took photos and had a great time. Once in a great while a winch became a necessary tool.

A mining area we had to explore another day.

This dry yucca bloom at the mine is probably a leftover from last year. Just the flower portion is nearly 4 ft. high!

Ephedra or Mormon Tea

I like the way they weather proofed this cabin - using can lids to block the knotholes.

The Crusty Bunny Cabin - wonder who

gave it this name and why

A few more shots taken in Death Valley

Again on our West Road - snow on the higher elevations in the Funeral Range and a dust devil beginning to form in the foreground.