Death Valley

I've been to Death Valley twice. The first time was in 1994. That is where I met Corey, now my husband! We went again to celebrate our 5th anniversary in 1999. Our wedding was also in 1999!   Death Valley Days    I took a Sierra Club bus trip to Death Valley. It was a marvelous little trip. I was asked to write an article about the trip for the group newsletter. I'm including it as a part of my travel section. On Friday morning, under the able leadership of Harry and Jack, and the very competent driving of Bob the Bus Driver, about 42 adventurous travelers embarked on a weekend of exploration of the beautiful wonders of mysterious Death Valley. When some people hear the words "desert" and "Death Valley", pictures of hot, dusty, flat sand come to mind. We discovered that Death Valley is not just a desert. We were treated to magnificent sights all the way from the depths of Ubehebe Crater to the sweeping expanse of mountains viewed from Zabriske Point and the colorful mountains known as Artist's Palette. Traveling through Barstow, Bishop, and the little town of Shoshone, we were greeted with a different backdrop of scenery all along the way. At Artist's Palette, we marveled at the beautiful colors of red, green and yellow splashed over the creamy butterscotch color of the mountains. The many colors coming from iron salts, decomposing mica, and manganese. We traveled to the treacherous Devil's Golf Course made from evaporated salt brine and water bearing gravels. The earth's forces push these layers up to the surface and the wind sculpts the treacherous little columns and holes making Devil's Golf Course a whole course of "rough"! At Bad Water we couldn't believe we were actually 279 fee below sea level; and not very far away we would soon be able to see the highest peak, Mt. WHitney, all within a few miles of each other! The Saturday morning hike through Golden Canyon was pleasant and challenging. We had to walk single file much of the way down through the steep folds of the dried, clayed gullies. Some of the hikers took a side trip up to a cave and explored it to its interior depth of about forty feet where it ended abruptly inside the mountain. We had a wonderful "all the trimmings" turkey dinner Saturday night in Stateline before our trip to the Amargosa Opera House where we attended a wonderful performance by ballerina, Marta Beckett. She moved from New York City in 1967 and opened her own stage out in the middle of the desert wilderness. She has been performing there for 25 years. She is also an extraordinary artist. She painted the walls and ceiling of the Opera House with amusing scenes from various eras and countries showing people at a night out at the opera. Sunday morning we woke up in Beatty, NV to rain and one of the most beautiful sights yet! Snow covered the ground and the surrounding mountains. The clear, chilly crispness of the morning desert air was very invigorating. We were surprised at what appeared to be an invisible dividing line separating snow and desert. We visited sites like Dante's View, and Zabriske's Point, with an overall breathtaking view of the valley and the many layers of mountains surrounding it. We were all awed at the blue-blue of the sky and the vast distances we could see so easily. We toured the Death Valley Museum, Stove Pipe Wells, Red Rock Canyon and Furnace Creek. We stopped in a mining ghost town. Rhyolite, NV is not only the site of abandoned, crumbling buildings of the town that had been started in 1907 and abandoned in 1911, but Rhyolite is also the home to some very amazing sculpture. One piece, called Desert Flower, was put together from chrome pieces and bumpers of old cars; there was also a ghostly figure with a bicycle, and a rendition of the Last Supper. All in the middle of desert wilderness! We visited Scotty's Castle, which was really built and owned by Albert Johnson, millionaire, of Chicago. Scotty (Walter Scott, better known as "Death Valley Scotty") was actually just a con-man. Mr. Johnson was impressed with how his ill health was so greatly improved out in the desert air, that he didn't mind that Scotty hadn't built a gold mine with all the money he had been sending him! As it turned out, millionaire Johnson was Scotty's gold mine! The congenial group of travelers enjoyed the hikes and walks, the fascinating scenery, and the "oases" we discovered and explored out in the wide, lonesome expanse of desert known as Death Valley. A note: The best time to visit Death Valley is probably around January and February. The temperature is only about 80 degrees (F) or so. The summers can reach well over 110 degrees (F). Please send comments to Elizabeth © 1999, 2000 Speedcat.com Updated October 9, 2000