Vernal Equinox

In my time zone, the Spring Equinox occurs at 3:24 PM on March 20th.  On this date in the past 2 years, I drove out to the Parowan Gap to view the sun setting through the gap.  Not so this year!  It has been cold and muddy, and as I write this, it is starting to rain.  This will continue for most of the next week.  So I will just have to settle for my usual bowl burning in between the rain drops.  Above is a photo from last year’s Vernal Equinox. 

As a side note, I went snow shoeing this morning, perhaps for the last time this season.  Sunday mornings are the best as there are very few people there.  Unfortunately, the space for parking is getting squeezed as the snow piles up, and the lot is getting pretty muddy. Here is a photo from the top of the snow pack where the snowshoe trail starts.  Looks like my car is in a hole!

Here it is from another angle.  Note the roofed structure further back.

It is the outhouse!

Supposedly it has been serviced, but how to get to it is the question.  Happy Equinox everyone!  

Zabriskie Point

 

On our final hiking day, we drove up to Zabriskie Point on the east side of Death Valley. 

Manly Beacon is the pointy hill that is featured on many publicity photographs and tourist items here.

From there, we started a top to bottom hike down the Gower Gulch trail and through the badlands.  It was basically easy, but with a few steep places where we assisted each other going down.

At the end of this trail, the path skirts around a very steep and deep canyon carved by water runoff.  Great care was taken there so as not to fall over the edge! 

After lunch, we visited the remains of the Harmony Borax Works where the borax that was mined in the valley was processed and then loaded onto the containers that were pulled by the 20 Mule Team for the arduous journey to the rail head in Mojave California.  As a kid, I certainly remember 20 Mule Team Borax as a laundry additive.  BTW—there were actually 18 mules and 2 horses that pulled the containers. 

So that’s it for the trip.  The next day we were taken back to Las Vegas, and I drove on to Cedar City, where it was pouring rain when I arrived!  It was so nice to get out of the winter weather and into a dry and sunny location for a week. 

Sand Dunes

I just love sand dunes!  Dunes that I have visited in the US are Warren Dunes (Michigan), Silver Lake Dunes (Michigan), Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park (Utah), Great Sand Dunes National park (Colorado), and White Sands National Park (New Mexico).  Each one is different, and holds a different mystique.  The nice thing about hiking sand dunes is that you can go anywhere you like, as there are no designated trails.  The blowing sands regularly erase any trace of footprints.

This is the second time I have visited the Mesquite Sand Dunes of Death Valley.  Because of a change in our schedule, we were allowed ample time to explore.

 

When we were done with that “sandy” experience, our bus driver took us along a one way only narrow and twisting road to view the Artist’s Palette area of colorful rock formations.  We found out later that our bus was longer than the limit for that road! Kudos to our driver.

After a delicious gourmet lunch at the Inn at Death Valley, we hiked Golden Canyon.  It has that name because of the yellow color of the rocks that seem to glow in the late afternoon sunshine. 

The Crater

(Due to a snafu with Mail Chimp, yesterday’s post did not get e-mailed out. Here is the link to yesterday's post entitled Salt Flats.)

This morning our group hiked around the edge of the Ubehebe Crater.  This crater was formed several thousand years ago when molten rock encountered underground water.  The resulting explosion created the main crater, several smaller craters,  and an extensive lava field in the surrounding area.

 

 

In the afternoon, we hiked Mosaic Canyon, which is probably the most geologically artistic and unique canyon in the park.