Death Valley National Park

The next couple of days were spent exploring Death Valley, a strange and magnificent National Park.  The park contains 3.4 million acres of land and sits in the rain shadow of the Sierras which results in less than 2” of rain per year.  It is distinguished by having North America’s highest temperature and the lowest point.   The highs average 116F and the Valley sits at 272 feet below sea level.

The following are a few of the sites we visited:

20 Mule Team Canyon - Silver was discovered in the area and brought with it prospectors hoping to strike it rich.  It was soon discovered that talc and borate were more profitable than all of the minerals put together.  The famous, 20 mule team wagons transported the minerals 165 miles to the railroad at Mojave and from there distributed it to the surrounding communities.  Thus, our current “20 Mule Team Borax” product was born.  Borax has a wide variety of uses: It is a component of many detergents, cosmetics, fire retardants and an anti-fungal compound for fiberglass.

Zabriskie Point (pictured above) – This view looks out at the mudstone hills which are carved by occasional, but intense rains. A small hill leads to the summit.  This is a good photo stop especially at sunrise and sunset when the colors of the hills come alive.

Rhyolite is the largest ghost town in Death Valley.  At its peak in the early 1900’s the population was nearly 10,000 people.  In less than a decade, when the gold ran out, a ghost town was born.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes contain 150 foot sand dunes formed from rock erosion coming down from the surrounding mountains.  As you walk, look for the tracks of reptiles and the “S” pattern of the sidewinder rattlesnakes.

Remember when traveling in Death Valley to have plenty of water and gas.  The temperature during the summer months can be 120F with the ground temperature 40% higher than the air temperature.  A record high of 201F was recorded here.

Despite the hot and dry environment in this National Park there are plenty of wildlife species that have adapted: Desert Bighorn Sheep, Kit Fox, Bobcat, Mule Deer, Desert Iguana and Kangaroo Rat all live here.

Lights, Camera, Action!



No, it’s not a Hollywood movie but the lights of Las Vegas, which are always on, the cameras, which watch your every move and action on the black jack tables, roulette wheel and slot machines.

This was the beginning of a visit to the desert and eventually to Yosemite National Park, exploring Nevada and California in the winter from the desert to the mountain peaks.

After a night of watching human wildlife we were on our way to the City of Henderson where we birded for the morning.

The Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve is on the eastern edge of the Pacific Migratory Flyway which makes it ideal for migratory bird species.  There are many easy paths around the nine ponds that make up the preserve.

The following is the list of species observed in December 2011, in about 2 hours for a total of 31 species plus the 1 exotic: Brewer’s Blackbird, Budgerigar, Bufflehead, American Coot, Ruddy Duck, Purple Gallinule, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Great-tailed Grackle, Eared Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Ring-billed Gull, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Green Heron, Anna’s Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Mallard, Common Moorhen, Black-crowned Night-heron,  Say’s and Black Phoebe, American Pipit, Gambel’s Quail, Virginia Rail, Northern Shoveler, Sora, White-crowned Sparrow, Green-winged Teal, Verdin, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Marsh Wren.