Germar's Monthly Updater

Four-National-Parks-Tour Day 5 On our second day in Death Valley, we got up early to watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point. It provides a great view on a maze of rippling yellow mudstone hills that were part of a lake bed several million years ago. The shark-tooth-shaped mountain in the middle is Manley Beacon. We hiked to the base of this hill later in the morning. After breakfast, we drove to Devil's Golf Course, a bizarrely textured salt pan. Pressure exerted by growing salt crystals thrust the ground upward erratically, and the landscape is further shaped by wind and water. This is stuff you don't want to fall onto! After a hike through Golden Canyon, we drove up to Dante's View, located 5755 feet above Badwater. The vantage point provides a perfect view of the entire, colorful valley. Salt pans alternate with striped rock formations and wide plains. And in between, there are even some flowers: Death Valley was a venue for many mining adventures during the last century. The most important product was Borax which is needed for glass fabrication. After our return to the valley, we visited the former Harmony Borax Works. Wagons like the ones below were used to transport Borax out of Death Valley. They were hauled by 20 mules and had a total weight of 36 tons. We continued west, passed "Devil's Cornfield" ... ... and a raven ... ... and finally reached the Sand Dunes, lit by the evening sun. We had a stroll while the sun was setting, enjoying the ever-changing play of shapes, light and shadow. From here, we drove farther west, left Death Valley, and stayed over night in Panamint Springs.

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