Happy Birthday Janine!!
First stop today is an abandoned Borax
factory. For a brief period (1882-1888) the plant ran to refine Borax
found on the nearby salt flats as it was cost prohibitive to send the
raw product. Borax will not crystallize above a certain temperature, so
they could not run the factory during the summers. The famous '20
mule teams' would transport the heavy carts with the produce out of
the valley. More than 10% of their cargo was drinking water for their
journey!
At the Visitor Center we learn that
Death Valley is so dry because the air coming from the Pacific has to
go over three mountain ranges to get here. Each mountain range
squeezes more and more moisture out of the air resulting in an
average annual rainfall of less that 5 cm.
Regular summer temperature here is 49C
with night cooling down to about 35C. Death Valley holds the world
record for hottest air temperature of 57C!! Fortunately, today it is
a pleasant 25C.
Despite all this, Death Valley is
teaming with life thanks to the springs and snow covered mountains.
The name was given by latecomers to the 1849 gold rush. To get around
the snow covered Sierra Nevada, a party veered south and stumbled
into the desert. They lost animals, wagons and each other and
sometimes their lives. As the survivors were led out of the valley by
rescuers, one of them turned back and said:”Goodbye, Death Valley.”
The Native Americans however had already long before figured out how
to live there and they call it Timbisha after the red pigment found
in the rocks.
Next stop is the lowest point in the
USA. Badwater basin is 85.5 meters below sea level. It's a mostly dry lake
bed of salt crystals.
Early explorers couldn't get their
mules to drink from this water and hence marked it on the map as 'Bad
Water'. The name stuck. The water is not poisonous, just salty and is
home to aquatic plants and insects and a unique species of snail.
High up on the surrounding cliff
Martijn spots the sign for where sea level is.
Next up is Devil's Golf Course. Only
the devil would play golf here. Crystallized salt formations create a
forbidding landscape.
After that, more inspiring views over
'Artists Palette'. The name says it all really. The colors are
created by different minerals and metals in the rocks.
We do some more sightseeing and leave
the park after dark. Since we are so close now, we decide to make a
move for Las Vegas.
Today: 191km - 4h19m
Total: 25,433km - 496h17m
