Death Valley Wildflowers

Death Valley National Park:   It was so damn hot and the wind totally died! Our RV became a tidy little oven all night (generator hours are 7am to 7 pm). Our star gazing was enjoyable for a while, but it became so windy, we came inside and went to bed and as soon as we did, the wind died. Our entire coach is covered in a thick coating of dust. I hate to think what our lungs must be inhaling.

This morning we woke and brought in all the awnings over all the windows - we were afraid the wind would take them away. Before we left for the day (after DT ran up to the Borax Works for his little exercise) I even put the satellite dish down. It was a hurricane in Death Valley National Park!

The morning was spent taking photos of flowers. We had a fabulous day in Death Valley National Park. Death Valley is nearly FOUR MILLION square acres - more than twice the size of Delaware! We drove over 150 miles and went from 215 feet BELOW sea level to 6,600 feet ABOVE! We went from 95 degrees to snow! What did YOU do today??? Sit down, get a cup of coffee (or a cocktail) because I am going to post a world-record number of photos. I am posting with no electricity, in the middle of no where, so enjoy the scenery tonight, Dear Readers!

Beaver Tail Cactus blossom


Beaver Tail Cactus in bloom,
with the Grapevine Mountain in the background


This plant is called Dodder - it is a parasitic plant - taking over a sagebrush


Dodder closeup
 

An entire rocky hill, filled with purple wildflowers


DT in the desert


Desert Gold with hills in the distance


Desert Gold

 
Dangerous roads at 23 Skiddo

We drove up to 23 Skiddo - an abandoned gold mining town. This is the terrible road we had to take (in the HONDA) to reach the town! Sheer drop offs and we only saw one other car all afternoon. At the "end of the road" we walked behind the fence to find an abandoned mine/mill. They pumped water from Panamint Spring, 27 miles away, to use in a sluice. In 1907, 23 Skiddo was a town of 700 with a newspaper and a telegraph. The town name was later changed to Skiddo, as the post office would not approve the "23" in the town name.

Here is a fascinating old abandoned mine shaft.
The cold air coming from the mine was very refreshing!


Don’t take a wrong turn on these dangerous roads!

Our next stop was to the Wild Rose Charcoal kilns. (Yes, that is snow on the hills at 6,600 ft.) The kilns were constructed in 1879 and were only used for three years. It took two weeks for the Wild Rose Charcoal Kiln workers to turn the local pine trees into charcoal - which was used to fuel the local gold mines.

Wild Rose Charcoal Kilns


Wild Rose Charcoal kiln

Then we had to drive back to our RV and take the plunge from 6,600 feet to -200 feet in our Little Honda! The water bottles we were drinking from completely collapsed from the change in air pressure! On the way back to the campground, we stopped to snap this fabulous photo of the sand dunes in Death Valley.

Death Valley Sand Dunes

We arrived to Our Intrigue at near dark. Our (picnic) table cloth was wrapped around a cactus and our doormat was laying in a sand dune! Everything is covered in dirt! We will enjoy a quiet evening - the wind is dying-down and will have more adventures tomorrow. Luckily we have grilled chicken left-over from last night. DT is making a gourmet Chicken Caesar salad as I type this!

RV Park: Furnace Creek Campground