Tuesday, April 16, 2013

THE Trip, THE Encore' :: Zabriskie Point and Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley

Copyright 2013, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

March 13, 2013

South of the Visitors Center at Furnace Creek you will find Zabriskie Point.  I noticed it on our arrival in Death Valley, but, towing Tana does not make for good opportunities for sightseeing (parking is ALWAYS an issue), so, we made note of it and today was the day.  Here is the view from the road as you pull off:


Bland??  HAHA, Looks that way from here, but, climb that hill a bit, and not even the panoramic setting can catch the beauty!  This is looking in a southerly direction.


Named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. The company's twenty-mule teams were used to transport borax to market.

As we climb higher and look west:


Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range, it is exceptional due to it's erosional landscape.  Really, it is exceptional no matter what the reason!  (Try clicking on the photo, it may show up larger.)


You can see we did go up some in elevation, here is Man already heading down, it is still a bit to the parking lot!  Not a bad view in this direction either, is it??


Down the road a piece, on our way to Dante's Peak, is a winding 2.7 mile, unpaved, one-way loop drive called  Twenty Mule Team Canyon.


You do not need a 4-wheel drive to traverse this desolate road, but, they do limit the length of the vehicles to under 25 feet.  Jolly is 22 feet.  Jolly was long enough, thank you, some of those turns were interesting, as in, whew, close quarters!


This road was not exceptional in color, mostly this beige sandy color.  There were some interesting land forms, but, for most part, this was all about the road, the tight turns, the hills, up, and down and all around - -  Man was having a grand time, I do believe I heard a "yeeee haaa" or two from the driver's seat - -

Next we drive Dante's Point.  The "high" point of the day.




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