LJ Cleaning up from Breakfast
Our plans for the day were to stay in the main part of Death Valley and see some of the classic sights. We headed south toward the lowest place in the US and took the West Side Road. This road provides a more remote view of the Devils Golf Course and stays away from the main sightseeing locations.
Devils Golf Course
West Side Road introduced us to the traditional Death Valley standard of washboard and dust. Our first stop was to check out the salt flats that make up the Devils Golf Course. The crystallized salts make a jagged surface that would be very hard to cross on foot. There is also a section the road crosses where the salt forms a flat surface.
Salt Flats
We continued on with our drive with stops at Eagle Borax Springs and Shorty’s grave. The springs are a surprise with large fields of reeds that must support a diverse wild life. For some variety we took a side road to the old mine site in Galena Canyon. The drive to the mine does not require 4wd but is a rock slow climb up one of the alluvial fans.
Old Mine Structure
The alluvial fans of Death Valley a a definitive part of the landscape. The fans reach out into the valley from each side forming what looks like nice smooth slopes up to the base of the mountains. Once driving on them we could see how they are made up of dirt and gravel mixed with LOTS of rocks.
The mine was an old Talc mine that was shut down in the 60’s when the park service made mining in the parks illegal. Leaving the mine we caught site of two feral burros. They are very cute little animals. We later learned that the park service has work very hard to eliminate the burros from the park.
Once back on West Side road we continued south to were it swung back east to connect with the paved road. We took this heading back towards Furnace Creek.
Stopping at Badwater Basin took us to the lowest place in the US. A stop at a Natural Bridge was an interesting hike and the drive through Artists Palate offered a view of multi colored bands of rock and a cool winding paved road.
Natural Bridge
With it getting late we decided to use the developed camping at Furnace creek for the night. It was easy to find a site in the Sunset Campground though it seemed as if we were setting up camp in a subdivision. Our meal was an easy reheat of frozen chili and then off to bed.
Additional Death Valley Photos
Death Valley Day 3 Google KML File