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Category: Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park Salt Creek

Bird tracks on sand Death Valley National Park CaliforniaAfter our first full day in Death Valley National Park we didn’t beat the early birds but did try to get an early start and headed to the .5 mile (.8 km) roundtrip boardwalk to Salt Creek.
Salt Creek trail Death Valley National Park CaliforniaSalt Creek Trail
There actually is a stream of sorts running through parts of Death Valley at over 200 feet (60 meters) below sea level. Salt Creek originates from brackish springs and marshes and the water becomes increasingly salty as it flows downstream. It meanders out onto the valley floor and eventually evaporates into the desert air leaving vast salt flats behind. Even this water, sometimes more saline than seawater, offers an oasis to plants and animals.
Pickleweed Salt Creek trail Death Valley National Park CaliforniaPickleweed
Pickleweed stores absorbed salt in special cells in their succulent stems. When too much salt builds up in a stem segment, the plant replaces it with fresh growth. It goes dormant over the winter when possible rains can increase the creek’s flow and reduce the salinity.
Salt Creek Death Valley National Park CaliforniaSalt Creek
Insects are drawn into the area and eaten by the Killdeer, which are in turn eaten by Coyotes or even Sidewinders. Yet the most adapted survivors in this harsh environment are the rare and endemic Salt Creek Pupfish.
Interpretive sign for Salt Creek Pupfish Death Valley National Park CaliforniaMore than 10,000 years ago pupfish lived in streams that fed freshwater Lake Manly which filled the bottom of Death Valley. As the climate became more arid the lakes dried up leaving the pupfish stranded in permanent waterholes scattered across the desert. They can withstand temperatures from near freezing to 111 F (43.88 C).
Salt Creek Death Valley National Park CaliforniaI didn’t see any pupfish.
View from Salt Creek trail Death Valley National Park CaliforniaView West from trail
Fossil evidence reveals life long before the pupfish or its Ice Age lake. The tracks of camels, primitive horses, lion-sized cats and mastodons left in the silty lake bottom have now been uplifted and eroded into these badlands.
View from Salt Creek trail Death Valley National Park CaliforniaView East from trail
As we learned at Harmony Borax Works, the ancient salt deposits would later be mined and used by blacksmiths, potters, dairy farmers, housewives, meat packers and even morticians. 
California, Death Valley National Park, National Parks and Monuments , 34 Comments

Death Valley National Park Aguereberry Camp and Eureka Mine

Jeremy and Aguereberry Camp Death Valley National Park CaliforniaJeremy and Aguereberry Camp
After we’d explored the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns and started back Emigrant Canyon Road we ventured onto a side road of two gravel miles to explore Aguereberry Camp and Eureka Mine.
Aguereberry Camp Death Valley National Park CaliforniaAguereberry Camp
Shorty Harris and Pete Aguereberry discovered gold in Providence Ridge in 1905.  During a short lived gold boom the tent town of Harrisburg sprung up on the neighboring flats, all gone now except the surrounding hills still bear the scars of dozens of mines.  Aguereberry worked the Eureka Mine claim for 40 years until his death in 1945.
Aguereberry Camp Death Valley National Park CaliforniaWe peaked inside the vandalized buildings not trusting to walk on the dry rotted floor boards to see the remains of Aguereberry’s home now filled with pack rat nests.
Buick Roadmaster Aguereberry Camp Death Valley National Park CaliforniaBuick Roadmaster, maybe 1940s
I just love to find an old abandoned car or house and ponder its story.  I figure this Roadmaster belonged to the banker from Skidoo (one of only two profitable gold mining towns in Death Valley) and his wife drove it the 10 dusty miles to visit Aguereberry who she…
Piece of Skidoo pipeline Death Valley National Park CaliforniaWater pipe
Skidoo had everything including telephone and stage services but water had to be piped 23 miles from Telescope Peak.  And thus the popular slang expression “twenty-three skidoo,” which meant scram or get lost. (SIC I know, and some won’t get it, but….)
Jeremy heading uphill to Eureka mine Death Valley National Park CaliforniaJeremy going up to the mine
As we wandered towards the old car we noticed the rusty evidence of the mine operation on the hillside.
Mine entrance Eureka mine Death Valley National Park CaliforniaMine entrance
I let Jeremy go first to clear the spider webs but neither of us planned to go far without flashlights into this well posted potentially dangerous yet totally exciting hole into the earth.
Looking out of mine entrance Eureka mine Death Valley National Park CaliforniaLooking out mine entrance
There was some old rusty stuff inside and on the hillside a large airshaft covered with heavy metal mesh to keep people from falling in.
Mill ruin Eureka mine Death Valley National Park CaliforniaMill ruin
We continued to explore around the top of Providence Ridge until directly above Aguereberry Camp, where I took the second image, then returned to the car and headed back to our camp planning the next day’s journey in Death Valley National Park.
Waxing moon Death Valley National Park CaliforniaWaxing moon and last evening light
California, Death Valley National Park, National Parks and Monuments , , 21 Comments

Kangaroo Rat in Death Valley

Every night after sundown a little visitor came around our Death Valley camp. Not pesky like a ground squirrel or chipmunk looking for handouts. It didn’t hang around long and try as I might, I could not get a photo of this adorable and amazing creature the Kangaroo Rat. But Jeremy did.
Kangaroo Rat under car Death Valley National Park CaliforniaTrying to hide
These chubby mouse-sized rodents have long back legs and toes enabling them to hop like a kangaroo. Instead of a pouch on their bellies for babies, the Kangaroo rat has very large cheek pouches that it fills with food then empties by turning them inside out.
Kangaroo Rat Death Valley National Park CaliforniaStrike a pose
Kangaroo rats can live their entire lives without drinking a drop of liquid. All of the water they need to survive in this arid land can be metabolized within their bodies from the dry seeds they eat. They avoid the intense heat of the day in underground burrows and may even plug the entrance with dirt to keep out heat and intruders. Kangaroo rats reclaim water vapor from their own breath by special membranes in their nasal passages.
California, Death Valley National Park, National Parks and Monuments 26 Comments

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