March 13, 2013
OK, both Man and I will admit it, by the time we got to Golden Canyon, we were T*I*R*E*D. Very tired. It had been a long day and it had been a bit over 90 degrees F. We had been to Dante's Peak, and Badwater Basin, learned about borax and driven two different but awesome drives, the 20 Mule Team and Artist Drive. We still had a LONG drive back to camp, so we approached Golden Canyon with little energy or interest, and only slightly more determination to at least stop and see what it was all about.
First tho, I wanted to share this land form that took my breath away, just before we reached the canyon. Take a look, and then try to breath!
So, we found the turn off, to Golden Canyon:
Let's have a bit of photographic back story first, shall we? Sure, it's your blog Carol, go for it! OK, lets!
On the drive to Scotty's Castle there was a display about water and the power and the changes it makes in the landscape. And, as usual, the photo does not show the depth, I still need that 3D camera!
Of course, I did the zoom with Sony Too:
Now, back to Golden Canyon. We decided to walk into the canyon, just a little, being all tuckered out and all.
Man holding the canyon walls up, or something:
He climbed into this crevice/land form, the shadows were deep, or was he hiding? Canyon walls were tall, what, let's guess at 25 to 30 feet??
What have we here?
A closer look, from a different angle. I see blacktop pavement on top of natural land forms. Do you?
And, up the canyon a bit more, you can see more pavement on top of natural land forms, with what is obviously some very serious water damage/wash out.
Not knowing the real back story on this pavement and such, I am going to hazard a guess. At some point they had paved the walking surface of the canyon for tourists and hikers. There was a rain storm, somewhere high in the mountains, or water from melting snow. It came pouring down this canyon and washed out most of the walking surface.
No, never under estimate the power of water.
We actually went into the canyon about as far as that guy at the top of the photo. However, the long day convinced us it was time to call it quits before we got hurt. Being tired and hiking in that kind of terrain not the best idea.
So, we climbed back into Jolly, drove many miles back to Furnace Creek, filled up the fuel tank AGAIN and drove back to Stovepipe Wells and Tana and rest. Our last evening in the valley produced a lovely sunset. I took oodles of photos of course, and then, I decided to try something different, a panoramic sunset. I think I like it.
We have packed lots into 2.5 days in Death Valley, we must leave, there is no room at the inn, all the full hookup campsites are rented, therefore, it is time to move on. We missed seeing some things, there were any number of hiking trails we could have investigated, IF we had more time. We do feel we learned the essence of the park. Our imaginations have run wild with the vastness, the stark and almost colorless beauty, the reality of what life here in the summer must be like.
We won't be forgetting Death Valley and it's magic and mystery anytime soon.
And, I have just realized that Death Valley may be the only National Park Man and I will ever camp in. Many of the parks do not have campsites large enough for Tana and Jolly, many do not have electrical hookups and even tho we do enjoy boondocking with our MOC friends at Quartzsite, we rarely have weather that is favorable for that and the fur kids health. It is either too hot or too cold to leave the fur kids in Tana for hours on end with out benefit of heat or air conditioning. Yes, Death Valley is a special place.
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1 comment:
Wow. Wow. Wow. What else is there to say?
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