Desert Destination: Death Valley

Welcome to Death Valley National Park, at over 3 million acres, it's the largest national park in the lower 48 states. It's a place full of colorful geology, unexplained phenomenon, extreme variations, and wonderful surprises.

On today's trip, I'm going to take you from the southeast end of the park, near Shoshone, along the road that traverses the eastern side of the park up to Scotty's Castle.

Spring is a great time to visit Death Valley. Not only are the temperatures reasonable, but desert plants brighten the landscape. Some of the best places to see flowers are right next to the roads. Just park and wander around, and the diversity of life becomes apparent.

One of my favorite plants, the creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) was in bloom. 

The bright yellow flowers flashed as the branches waved in the wind. 

Spring is a popular time to visit Death Valley, and in fact there were thousands of people staying at Furnace Creek, the park headquarters area. But because Death Valley is so huge, people are spread out in the rest of the park, and it often felt like I had it all to myself.

It was easy to pull off the highway and snap photos of whatever caught my attention, like some more wildflowers and the beginning of a salt flat.

The salt makes it hard for vegetation to live, but nevertheless, some plants and animals have adapted to it. One of the reasons there is so much salt in the bottom of Death Valley is that it used to have a huge lake in it, Lake Manly. When the water evaporated, the salt was left behind. The lake fluctuated at different levels, so there were many opportunities for salt to be deposited.

As I headed north, I noticed some people walking out on a big salt flat. I rounded a curve and saw a parking area. This wasn't just any salt flat, it was...

...Badwater! The lowest spot in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. A boardwalk stretched out from the parking lot onto the salt flat. 

I was there late in the day, but I could just imagine the heat of a July sun at noon. It would probably be over 120 degrees Fahrenheit, about hot enough to start drying a person into jerky.

These holes intrigued me. I'm not sure what caused them, but it makes me wonder if there are parts of Badwater that might suddenly sink and swallow me up.

Off the beaten path, the salt deposits rise up and provide interesting relief.

At Devil's Golf Course, the salt formations are even higher. They look delicate, but most are very hard and crunchy. Footing is difficult, and a fall would hurt.

Since it was late in the day, for a short while I was the only one out there, and it felt both neat and creepy at the same time.

I decided to take a detour off the highway to go on Artist Drive. The mountains are particularly colorful in this area. With the sun mostly behind Telescope Peak and the other mountains on the other side of the valley, I didn't have the full effect of the artist's palette, but it was still spectacular. The road is one way because of some tight turns and constricted canyons. Maybe next time I can do it on bicycle.

The next day I got a really early start and continued further north to Salt Creek. This is a little creek on the valley bottom. Despite the high salt, high temperatures, and scarce vegetation, this creek manages to be home to tiny pupfish, along with aquatic insects, birds, and more. 

A sand dune with pickleweed is right near the trail. The pickleweed is succulent, with squishy flesh that stores water.

To protect the creek, the trail is on a boardwalk which goes next to and sometimes over the creek.

Further north I found more good places to stop and enjoy the wildflowers.

It was a very windy day, so I decided to skip the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells. In the distance of this photo you can see the sand blowing off the dunes. If you want to experience a sand storm, one way to get a similar feeling is go to sand dunes on a windy day. I'm not sure why you would want to experience a sand storm, but just in case...

There is just so much to see in Death Valley that at times it becomes visually overwhelming. One thing I like to focus on are the alluvial fans, the land flowing out of the canyons in a fan-like pattern. Water eroded the rock away further upstream, redepositing it. As I look at the alluvial fan, my eye always moves up to the mouth of the canyon and I wonder what is up there. Death Valley must have hundreds of alluvial fans, so it makes my imagination go wild.

Another stop to admire some beautiful phacelia. Flowers bloom at the lower elevations from about February to the end of March, and then they start blooming at higher elevations. Telescope Peak is over 11,000 feet high, so there are even flowers blooming in the middle of summer in Death Valley.

A couple more alluvial fans coming down from mountains on the other side of the valley, with creosote bushes in the foreground.

Towards the north end of Death Valley, the main road curves to the east and goes to Scotty's Castle. 
The area is an oasis, and it's fun to wander the grounds and feel a little more humidity. A hummingbird was hanging out near the small waterfall between these palm trees.

Continuing up Grapevine Canyon, the road eventually leaves the park. I like the back of the park entrance sign, which said "Thanks for Experiencing Your National Park. Please Visit Again." 

I think I will. Thanks, Death Valley.

Some Mojave Plants

The Mojave Desert has some really neat plants, and when I recently visited to help with a deer capture, I couldn't help but stop and admire some of the plant inhabitants. One of our deer capture sites was on Cima Dome, which reportedly has the largest and densest Joshua tree forest in the world. The Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) are amazing.

This Joshua tree still has its large seed pods from last year. The Joshua tree "leaves" are very sharp. It's not a tree you would want to run into! (Of course, there probably aren't many trees you want to run into.)

Here's a large cactus nearby. It's in the genus Opuntia, but I'm not certain of the species, so if anyone knows please leave a comment. Surrounding it are a lot of bushes, most without leaves because it's winter. I was continually surprised in Mojave National Preserve by the amount of ground cover--there were more bushes and grasses than in many spots in the Great Basin Desert.

This cholla cactus (Opuntia sp.) is easily identifiable to genus due to its upright, branching form. But there are more than 20 species found in North America, so getting it down to species can take a little more time. After a cholla cactus dies, it leaves behind an interesting skeleton with a pattern of lots of little holes.

Here's an overview of the plant communities up on Cima Dome. Cima Dome, by the way, is a huge granitic pluton that has pushed up out of the earth and then eroded away in a very symmetrical manner, leaving a gentle rise in the land. It's marked on a lot of maps, but unless you know what you're looking for, it's easy to overlook. 

In the middle of the preserve are some burned Joshua trees. A 70,000-acre wildfire changed the landscape several years ago.

At our second deer capture site a well was raising water for this trough. To see what animals use it, a wildlife camera was installed on the pole. Whenever something passes in front of the infrared beam, the camera snaps a picture. 

At lower elevations, creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata) were everywhere. They have a wonderful smell, especially after a desert rain.

Many of the roads in Mojave National Preserve are gravel, but wide. The distances are long, but the views along the way are spectacular.

This crazy-looking Joshua tree was right next to the road. I always like the Joshua trees that twist a lot!

At our third site we found a lot of Fremont's barberry (Mahonia fremontii), a plant with holly-like leaves but with sharp points. The bushes grew big and round and it hurt to walk next to them. 
An easy distinguishable plant is the desert trumpet (Eriogonum inflatum). The stems have the bulbous growths just below the joints. 

This yucca is another spiky plant out in the Mojave. The spikes help protect it from being grazed and thus are a way for it to ensure its survival and reproduction.

This Joshua tree fell over but was able to keep growing--just from a different angle.

Seeing all these different plants makes me excited for my next trip into the Mojave!

Capturing Deer in Mojave National Preserve Part II

Yesterday we went through the steps of what a deer capture entails. Today we'll fill in some more of the details. Although I didn't get to ride in the helicopter in the air, they let me get in to pose for a photo. I can imagine that being the gunner would be a very interesting job--but also a cold one. Most mornings when we started, the temperatures were below freezing, and a cold wind blew all day.

After the nets are deployed, they are collected and brought back and have to be repacked. The first step is to lie them flat and get all the sticks and cactus spines out of them.

Then they are held in a special way so they can be packed into the little orange box, which fits the net gun.

The final step is to put some masking tape over the top. Then the net is reloaded and ready to go.

We captured deer at three locations, and our second location was next to an outcropping of granite rocks. While I was waiting for a deer, I scampered around the rocks and managed to get this fun picture of the helicopter flying out in the distance.

Here's a view of the helicopter bringing  in a deer next to the outcropping. The rocks provided a bit of a windbreak, and they soaked up the sun so we could find a few warm spots next to them. Although the Mojave Desert is warmer than the Great Basin Desert, it can still be quite chilly in winter!

This is a view of the processing area from up on the rocks. The tarp that's stretched out is where we took the deer.

At the second and third locations, we were able to release the deer from the processing sites. This was probably the most dangerous part of the operation for us on the processing teams, because the deer could be unpredictable. For the release, three people held the deer, one at the head, and two on the body. The feet were unhobbled, the blindfold removed, and on the count of three, the deer was released.

As the people moved back, the deer bolted upright.

This particular deer was very energetic, and after bouncing up, bounced back down.

But then she found her balance and was running off.
She ran until she was out of sight. The video shows a release from our third site, which was in a Joshua tree forest.