Go to IndexALBUM 3) DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Saturday, 26 December 2009 ~ Harmony Borax Works, Mesquite Flat Dunes, Hells Gate ~

a) Sat, 26 Dec - Waking Up With the Failed Christmas Terror Attack (Attempted Bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253).JPG
b) In Our Comfy Cabin (Nr. 217) Watching The News Unfolding Itself (Which Would Take and Last Quite Some Days Btw).JPG
c) Furnace Creek Ranch -  Detailed Map.jpg
d) The Lane of the 200's - Checking Out a Bit After Noon (As Usual, We Are the Last Ones ;-).JPG
e) Early Afternoon, Back at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center & Museum.JPG
f) Today We Are Going To Dig Into the History Of Death Valley, It's People.JPG
g) History - The Ancestors Of The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe.JPG
h) The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe Received Federal Recognition in 1983. But the Tribe Did Not Receive A Land Base Until ...jpg
i) Nov 1, 2000 - Timbisha Homeland Act Transferred More Than 7,700 Acres Of Land In California+Nevada To The Tribe.JPG
j) The Lost '49ers, Emigrants (Gold Rush) Coming Into the Valley in 1849 (Their Experience Caused It's Morbid Name).JPG
k) Mining Booms. Most Profitable+Longest-Sustained Was Borax Mining - The Famous 20-Mule-Team Wagons (Transport).JPG
l) Today Exploring North Of Furnace Creek Area - 1st Stop Just a Few Miles Up The Road.JPG
m) Harmony Borax Works Ruins - A Short Footpath With Interpretive Signs.JPG
n) The Twenty Mule Teams Are Long Gone, The Last Remaining Wagons Kept as An Artifact.JPG
o) David Decides He Wants To Take Some Pictures With His New Camera Afterall  ~ Back To The Car Again ;-).JPG
p) After Borax Was Found Near Furnace Creek Ranch (Then Called Greenland) in 1881.JPG
q) William T. Coleman Built the Harmony Plant and Began to Process Borax Ore in Late 1883 or Early 1884.JPG
r) Borax ~ The White Gold Of The Desert.JPG
s) Harmony Borax Works Was One Of Death Valley's First Borax Operations (1883-1888).JPG
t) Hier ben ik!.JPG
u) Got My Camera Now ;-).JPG
v) Workers Refined Borax By Seperating The Mineral From Unwanted Mud+Salts.JPG
w) A Simple But Time-Consuming Process.JPG
x) Borax Will Not Crystallize At Temperatures Above 120 Degrees, So The Plant Stopped Operating During Summer.JPG
y) To Keep The Crystallizing Vats Cool The Rest Of The Year ....JPG
z) Workers Wrapped Them With Water-Soaked Felt Padding (Visible In The Photograph).JPG
za) For More Than A Century The Twenty Mule Team Has Been The Symbol of the Borax Industry.JPG
zb) On Product Labels, In History Books, And On Television (Picture Taken In Furnace Creek Visitor Center).JPG
zc) The Status Is Well-Earned; Mule Teams Were Getting The Product To Market.JPG
zd) Although The Teams Only Ran for Six Years (1883 to 1889) ....JPG
ze) ... They Have Made An Enduring Impression Of The Old West.JPG
zf) For Centuries Humans Have Exploited Borax For Many Important Uses.JPG
zg) Chinese Laborers Scraped the Borax Off The Salt Flats and Carried It By Wagon To The Refinery.JPG
zh) They Received $1.30 per Day, Less Lodging+The Cost of Food They Bought at the Company Store.JPG
zi) Ruins of the Shelters In The Distance.JPG
zj) Chinese Workers Slept and Ate Here (Other Exployees Lived at what is now Furnace Creek Ranch).JPG
zk) The Financial Problems of Owner William T. Coleman and Borax Discoveries in Other Parts of California ....JPG
zl) ... Forced the Harmony Operation to Close in 1888, After Five Years in Operation.JPG
zm) Back to the Car ... Moving On.JPG
zn) Btw, All Along We've Been Admiring the Nice Quietness of Death Valley (Aswell the Snowy Mountains - Zoomed In).JPG
zo) After No. 8  to No. 10 - Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.jpg
zp) Driving Further Up North on the 190.JPG
zq) Taking Us West Through The Park.JPG
zr) A Halt Along The Way (Notice the Alluvial Fan Spreading Like an Apron at the Mouth of Canyon-Current Erosion).JPG
zs) Enjoying The Quietness and Taking Some Pictures.JPG
zt) Before Exploring Further the Dunes, Driving A Bit Further Into Stovepipe Wells Village.JPG
zu) We Are at Sea Level Elevation Now.JPG
zv) The Stovepipe Wells Village Concession Offers Resort Accommodations+Limited RV Park.JPG
zw) We Had a Pee-Break+Warming Up In the 2 SouvenirStores (i.e. Watching the News-Failed Christmas Terror Attack).JPG
zx) Have A Closer Look At that Mountain (Panamint Range)-The Various Bands of Sediments Have Been Thrust Upward....JPG
zy) ... and Twisted Into An Almost Vertical Direction (The Extraordinary Geologic Forces That Have Shaped the Region).JPG
zz) Mesquite Sand Dunes.JPG
zza) Bit Chilly Here ;-).JPG
zzb) For Dunes To Exist There Must Be A Source Of Sand, Prevailing Winds To Move The Sand .....JPG
zzc) And A Place For The Sand To Collect.JPG
zzd) Well, Quite Some Space Here! ;-).JPG
zze) The Eroded Canyons and Washes Provide Plenty of Sand ...JPG
zzf) ... The Wind Seems to Always Blow (Especially in the Springtime) .....JPG
zzg) But There Are Only a Few Areas in the Park Where the Sand is Trapped By Geographic Features Such As Mountains.JPG
zzh) Mesquite Flat Dunes - These Dunes Are The Best Known and Easiest to Visit in the National Park.JPG
zzi) Although The Highest Dune Rises Only About 100 feet, the Dunes Actually Cover a Vast Area.JPG
zzj) I am Going To Get My Own Camera - Mine Is Much Better! ... ;-).JPG
zzk) To Continue The Geology Lecture ~ PolygonCracked Clay Of An Ancient Lakebed Forms the Floor.JPG
zzl) Mesquite Trees Have Created Large Hammocks That Provide Stable Habitats For Wildlife.JPG
zzm) David Back With His New Camera.JPG
zzn) Yes, Indeed ~ Much Better Picture.JPG
zzo) See, That's How You Suppose To Take Pictures ... David Says ;-).JPG
zzp) It's An Upgraded Point and Shoot Camera, You See.JPG
zzq) With A Lot Of Extra Features Which Takes Quite Some Expertise ...JPG
zzr) ... and Practise ;-).JPG
zzs) We Both Have Good Camera's ;-) But The SunRays are Missing (And Those Dunes Too Crowded With People).JPG
zzt) Moving On, Traveling Direction North-East - On Our Way to Beatty (Our Next Hotel Stop).JPG
zzu) Leaving the Sand-Dunes Behind Us.JPG
zzv) and Driving the DayLight Pass (374) Towards Amargosa Range.JPG
zzw) Hells Gate (Elevation 2263) - Scenery Stop.JPG
zzx) Catching Sunset Settling in Over the Valley.JPG
zzy) While in Awe and Taking In the Serenity Of Mother Nature, Reminiscing About The Formation of the Death Valley.JPG
zzz) The Earliers Rocks Are Dating From 2 Billion Yrs Ago (Precambrian Era) - Sections of the Black+Panamint Mountains.JPG
zzza) During the Paleozoic Era (300 to 500 Mill Yrs Ago), Seas Covered the Region, Leaving Layers of Marine Sediment ...JPG
zzzb) .. and The Fossils of Many Types of Marine Animals.JPG
zzzc) The Present Landscape was Shaped Between 5-35 Million Yrs Ago, During the Cenozoic Era (65.5 Mill-Present).JPG
zzzd) After Faults Formed in the Earth's Crust, Exceptional Folding+Volcanic Action Uplifted the Mountain Ranges ....JPG
zzze) ... and Lowered the Valley Floor, Creating a Graben.JPG
zzzf) The Present Floor is Dropping on One Side and is Actually 8,000 to 10,000 Feet Above Its Bedrock Base.JPG
zzzg) Intervening Space is Filled By the Massive Amount of Debris Eroded From the Surrounding Mountains Over Time.JPG
zzzh) During Ice Ages, Death Valley Was Periodically Filled By Large Lakes.JPG
zzzi) Their Waves Carved Terraces on the Bordering Rocks-Their Evaporation Left Alternating Layers of Mud Salt Deposits.JPG
That Now Cover the Basin's Floor (Lake Manly was the Largest+Last in a Series of Such Lakes-Filled all of Death Valley).JPG
zzzk) The Last SunRays Disappearing On the Western Horizon.JPG
zzzl) Okay, I Think I Got the Sunset Fully Covered Now ;-).JPG
zzzm) Early Evening Arrival in Beatty (Closest Town to Death Valley Natl Park - Population Approximately 1100 Residents).JPG
zzzn) Staying at The Atomic Inn (AKA Phoenix Inn) -  A Cozy DELUXE Room (Just Remodeld ;-).JPG
zzzo) Ready To Explore This Small Town - Out On Our Mssion To Find Some (Healthy) Food To Eat.JPG
zzzp) Actually We Kinda Have to Hurry - Not Many Restaurant Choices Here And They Close Early.JPG
zzzq) Well, We Just Got In Time To Order a Take-Out at The Ensenade Grill (Mexican Food) - Bean Burrito's (Vegetarian).JPG
zzzr) Fortunately We Are Creative+Sufficient Enough To Fix A Nutrition Meal Afteralll - Bon Appetit! ;-).JPG
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