Death Valley National Park in California, March 2018

Blog Resurrection ...

I haven't updated this Blog in seven years, and we have been to so many NEW places in these past years that it seems prudent to do so now.

We have been to Death Valley numerous times, but we always come back to do something new, as we did in March 2018. So while previous posts show us at the most popular attractions, like the Furnace Creek, the Devil's Golf Course, Scotty's Castle and Badwater, here I focus on some other hiking in the park. Besides what is detailed below, we also drove Hole-in-the-Wall Road and hiked Slit Canyon, took the Keane Wonder Mine Tour, and drove West Side Road to an abandoned talc mine and Warm Springs Camp (4x4 recommended).

	A nine-mile (14.5 km) one-way paved road allows you to drive through colourful, eroded hills of mud and stone of Artist's Drive. It's the most popular drive in the park, but well worth your time. There are several spots along the way to park and soak in the views.
	The first three miles of this hike are, well, rather boring crossing the foothills to get to the mouth of Fall Canyon, and then you still have to hike up the sand and gravel wash to get to the 25-foot dryfall. You can bypass the dryfall by backtracking about 50 feet and climbing the steep rock wall to access the narrows above it, which I highly recommend.
	In the 1880s, borax was mined out of Death Valley. The photo of the "20-Mule Team" and the name is still shown on the box of laundry brightener/freshener today. In the mid-1880s, the Harmony Borax Works employed 40 men and produced three tons of borax per day.
	Marble Canyon and Cottonwood Canyon can be hiked as a lengthy overnight backpack loop trip, but we don't do that at our age! We drove as far as we could on Marble Canyon Road and then hiked a few miles into the canyon. Along the way, we picked up another hiker whose car couldn't make it to the end of the sandy road. She turned out to be a volunteer in the park, and we hiked with her on a couple of occasions.
	The sand dunes at Mesquite Flats are mostly crescent dunes, but there are also linear and star shaped dunes. They are the most dramatic at sunset. There are other sand dunes in the park, but these are the most easily accessible being near the Stovepipe Wells Village.
	While part of the hike is up an open wash, Mosaic Canyon becomes a great, narrow canyon with lots of easy rock scrambling. Kids love this canyon hike.
	Sidewinder Canyon is mostly a small, mudstone maze. Some of the passages are very narrow and dark, but interesting. The trail is not well signed, and cell signal is very spotty or non-existent, so downloading maps for off-line use is highly recommended (all over the park).
	On the east side of the park, just off Highway 375 is the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. A few buildings still remain, including the bottle house - yes, a house made out of empty bottles. Pictured here is the old train station.
	At the Rhyolite town site is also the Goldwell Open Air Museum. This sculpture depicts "The Last Supper".