Death Valley, CA – An Exotic Landscape

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Death Valley, California

November 7-19, 2007 - After leaving Valley of Fire, we spent some time near Las Vegas visiting friends, staying at Boulder Beach

on Lake Mead.  The lake was 85 feet low when we visited in 2004, and now, three years later, was 105 feet low.  A campground

and boat launch had closed a few months earlier because they were now nowhere near the lake anymore, and we heard that the

turbines in the dam would soon be above the water level.  Scary stuff.  At least Lake Mead still had her pretty colors in the

sunshine.

We hiked along the rails-to-trails path that

goes from Boulder Beach on Lake Mead to

Hoover Dam.  It passes through some old

train tunnels and comes right out at the

visitors center for the Dam.  There is a

wonderful statue commemorating the

daring and hard physical labor it took to

blast the rock and pour the concrete to

build the dam.

From Las Vegas we made our way to

Death Valley.  We arrived on Veterans Day

and found the road through the park

lined with flag waving veterens

celebrating the days of the 49ers, the

intrepid souls who traversed Death

Valley in pursuit of gold in 1849.  The

campground was full, so we were

guided back up the mountain to an

open boondocking area by the side

of the road.

This was our first introduction to true boondocking -- where you set up camp

on public land and stay a while.  There were many other rigs in the area, and

as we got to know our neighbors we discovered they were part of the

Escapees Boondockers club and were gathered there for a few days.

Eventually most of the Escapees left, but we stayed with another rig

and enjoyed long lazy days and silent nights.

It felt so good to relax after our whirlwind tour of the northwest.  We

stayed almost two weeks, making music with our neighbors and

exploring the area.

Death Valley is the hottest place in the country on many summer

days, but in November the weather was perfect.

We learned that the 49ers took two routes to the gold mines in

northern California.  One group went around Death Valley, but the

other group trudged through the middle of it.  They barely survived.

Borax is mined in Death Valley and has been since the late

1800's.  It was hauled out by mule team, and to this day Borax

has an image of the mule team on the container.

We took the Artist's Drive which is

a thin ribbon of road that winds

among brightly colored hills.  The

light danced on across the cliffs.

Back at the visitors center we

found the perfect gift for a young

child.  If only we could all be

children for a little while once

again.

From Death Valley we wandered east and

south through Laughlin, Nevada and then

down along the Colorado River to Lake Havasu,

Arizona and finally settled in Quartzsite, Arizona.