On the road through the Mohave Desert |
Cinder Cone in the Mojave Preserve. |
The Kelso Depot was a good halfway point to stop for lunch and to stretch our legs. Rascal looks forward to these breaks as much as we do. The depot is where the old Salt Lake Line of the Union Pacific Railroad had a stop. The depot building is home to the Mojave Preserve Visitor Center.
There is a lot history in this small stop in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The depot and clubhouse building was built in the 1920's with adobe walls, red roofs and high ceilings in Spanish Mission style. The lavish architecture was intended to attract passengers who liked traveling the Santa Fe Railroad known for its tourist friendly Harvey Houses.
This was a busy place during WWII years. Three shifts worked round the clock freighting iron ore from the Vulcan Mine located just south of Kelso to the steel mill in Fontana California.
General George S. Patton's troops travelled through the station on their way to Desert Training prior to deployment in North Africa. The Mojave was the closest environment to the conditions they would endure in combat.
At wars end the mine closed and diesel engines required few workers to maintain them. The railroad town of nearly 2000 became a ghost town. The depot and old Post Office buildings were preserved through local efforts before becoming part of the National park system.
We found ourselves driving part of old Route 66 as we passed Baker and continued our journey.
There were no vacancies at the campgrounds in Death Valley National Park so we had made plans to stay a short distance away in Amargosa Valley Nevada.
The RV park was interesting, located right across the street from the Area 51 Alien Center which is a combination diner, Gift Shop and Bordello. The camp host also worked at the diner and encouraged us to try the breakfast menu. The omelets were as good as he promised.
Death Valley National Park has been on our list of must see places since we started this journey 3 years ago. I don't know whether it is from growing up watching 20 Mule Team Borax commercials during episodes of Death Valley Days or a desire to see desert sand dunes but we were happy to have arrived.
We spent 3 days touring the park.
The first day we decided to explore the southern corner of Death Valley National Park. This is a huge site covering 5262 square miles on the border of California ans Nevada, 91% of which is designated wilderness.
The Badlands of Death Valley from Zabriskie Point |
I was disappointed to learn at the Visitor Center that the wilderness areas were off limits to us, even with the Jeep. Minimum recommendations for visiting remote backcountry areas are 10 ply tires with 2 mounted spares. The sharp volcanic rock surface of Death Valley is deadly to the sidewalls of tires and the service fee for a tow or rescue is $2000. We sadly decided to leave seeing the magical moving rocks of the Racetrack for another visit.
We consoled ourselves with a picnic lunch and headed for Badwater Basin, the lowest place in North America at 282 feet below sea level.
Badwater Basin is an incredible sight. I walked a mile out to the end of the salt flat trail and it seemed to go on forever beyond me and I didn't feel any closer to the mountains that ring the valley.
We felt tremendous respect for those early explorers that survived this desolate place. I can't imagine trying to navigate over the sharp volcanic rock on foot or horseback. The sharp irregular lava stone is too big to provide stable footing but is not large enough to use as stepping stones. Walking on it in worn leather shoes and moccasins must have been like wading in broken glass. By the way that glass would have been covered in a crust of salt making the inevitable injuries even more painful.
The rough lava rocks of the salt flats. |
A distant view of the salt flat |
Artist's Palette |
Day 2 found us heading to the Nevada portion of the National Park.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is designated a Wetland of International Importance. It is a desert oasis with 7 natural springs and numerous seeps. This unique environment is home to several threatened and endangered species.
Crystal Spring |
The tiny sliver of Devil's Hole visible through the mesh. |
The rock shelf of Devil's Hole only gets direct sunlight for a couple of hours a day. Our timing was right but even with binoculars we weren't able to spot any of the elusive swimmers.
We completed our tour with a short hike on the Point of Rocks Boardwalk. I love how the boardwalks at Ash Meadows let you the fragile ecosystem with minimal impact to the environment. We were able to see another spring and also get close to the rocks where there are caves to explore and desert bighorn sheep to spot in the peaks.
With one more day to enjoy the park, and restricted from wilderness areas we decided to start our tour with a visit to Rhyolite Ghost Town near Beatty Nevada. Quartz with gold inclusions was discovered in the these hills in 1904. It didn't take long for miners to arrive and for camps to be established. By 1906 the town of Rhyolite was thriving. The downtown included a school, a 3 story bank, a stock exchange, a hotel and a number of retail establishments. The Opera House held weekly musical events and shows. Baseball, Tennis and Basketball were played. There were dances and parties and even a symphony all paid for in gold from the 2000 mining claims in the nearby hills.
The bank Panic of 1907 had a big impact on Rhyolite. Mines started to close, the banks failed and newspapers went out of business. People dwindled away. The largest mining operation and only employer left in town, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine closed in 1911 and by 1916 Rhyolite was completely abandoned.
Rhyolite Ghost Town |
Boarded over gold mine. |
Wall of the Bottle House |
Sand Dunes |
Fred and the borax wagon |
Wild burro on the road home. |
When you visit be aware that Scotty's Castle is closed due to flash flood damage and is not anticipated to be open this year. The road to Dante's View is under construction and will not be open until the end of May this year.
Death Valley National Park
328 Greenland Blvd
Death Valley, CA
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
610 E Spring Meadows Rd
Amargosa Valley, NV
Rhyolite Ghost Town
Beatty, NV
Excellent write up, Bonnie! So much to see and do in Death Valley. Love the bottle house!
ReplyDeleteThe bottle house was fascinating. There are some in Prince Wdward Island and one near Carrabelle Florida too. I haven’t found one yet that was open so you could see inside. It must be like a giant stained glass window.
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