Day 520: The Amazing Trona Pinnacles

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Ben

This morning we hitched up and filled up at the Furnace Creek gas station before leaving Death Valley. We’ve been on the road so long that this doesn’t even qualify as a tight fit:

So long, Death Valley! I was sad to leave, but I’m sure we will be back someday:

We drove north and west to cross Townes Pass, then drove south through the Panamint Valley to the company town of Trona, California, named after the mineral mined there. From there, we drove south on a dirt road to the Trona Pinnacles National Natural Landmark.

The pinnacles are tufa spires formed here when this basin was the floor of a 600 foot deep lake. Hot springs beneath the lake floor squirted calcite-rich water up into the cooler lake water, which cooled the spring water and precipitated out calcium carbonate around the spring vents. Over time, these precipitates accumulated and built up around the vents to heights of over 140 feet tall.

As the Sierra Nevada mountains continued to rise, less and less rain clouds were able to make it over the mountains from the ocean. The climate in the valley became increasingly dry, and the lake dried up, leaving the previously submerged lake floor and its tufa spires exposed:

We picked a flat spot next to one of the tufa spires to call home:

There are hundreds of spires here:

Dozens of movies have been filmed here. We are parked on the left side of the spire that is brushing McCoy’s shoulder in this scene from Star Trek 5:

Getting ready for Shabbos at the pinnacles:

Sunset was amazing:

Good Shabbos from the Trona Pinnacles:

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 519: Death Valley Visit 2, Day 10

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Ben

Trish went out for a two hour ride this morning:

After she returned, the four of us and Bubbie drove through 20 Mule Team Canyon:

On the way back, we drove up to the aptly named Hole in the Wall:

As we were returning to Furnace Creek Ranch, we spotted a coyote. Maybe he’s looking for the roadrunner I met yesterday:

I tried to fly towards evening, but I let go of the As too early on the first two launch attempts, and pulled too much brake on the last attempt. At that point I was tired, so we packed it in.

We went to an excellent ranger program tonight about the pioneer, mining, and tourism histories of Death Valley. Afterwards, there was a volunteer set up with a telescope, which was pointed at Comet Lovejoy.

Day 518: Death Valley Visit 2, Day 9

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Ben

I decided to fly this morning. Here I’m power testing the motor:

And away!

It’s interesting how different the valley looks from 1,000 feet up:

Furnace Creek Ranch is left of center in this photo:

Coming in to land:

There’s another PPG pilot here, flying a quad buggy instead of foot launch. This is the only aircraft being stored at the airport today:

Packed up and ready to head back to the RV:

Here’s my flight path:

This afternoon we drove up to the Greenwater Valley. The goal was to visit three town sites from the days of Death Valley mining from 1900 to 1910. Our first stop was the town site of Furnace. Nothing remains of the settlement, so we hiked up to look at an old mine:

The mine has been capped to prevent foolish tourists from being hurt:

The concrete pad is probably the base for the winch used to pull mine cars up the shaft:

Not much copper was found here, but traces of other green minerals like malachite can be found on rocks here:

Another capped mine:

This piece of rusting metal is all that remains of Furnace:

Another mine:

Next we visited the town site of Kunze, where several stone building still stand, at least partially:

This house now has an unintentional skylight:

The artifacts and furniture here are probably about 110 years old:

Lots of old broken glass around here:

Trish found an old spoon:

The town can dump?

Another mine:

This mine opening was large, and stones thrown in took a good 6 seconds to hit bottom, so the shaft must be pretty deep:

Our last stop was the town site of Greenwater. Nothing remains except a modern sculpture made from antique debris collected here:

We had a great time learning about this aspect of Death Valley’s history!

Day 517: Death Valley Visit 2, Day 8

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Ben

Today Trish and the Kids went hiking with Bubbie and Zayde up Gower Gulch and back down through Golden Canyon:

Manly Beacon:

Traversing the shoulder of Manly Beacon:

Manly Beacon from the Golden Canyon side:

Meanwhile, I joined a couple other cyclists from a nearby campsite to ride up to Dante’s View. Two miles from the top, a chain link pin came loose, caught in the idler pulley cage, and pulled the rear derailleur up and into the wheel. that brought me to a stop rather suddenly:

I removed the derailleur from the frame, and used my chain tool to remove enough links to turn my bike into a one speed. I was able to continue the ascent, but I was in the hardest gear on the rear cassette, so it was tough going. I did have to get off and walk a couple segments:

I did eventually reach the top. The ride was 32 miles with over 6,000 feet of vertical. Great views of Death Valley from the top:

Looking back down at the final ascent:

Unfortunately my phone died before capturing the last 900 feet of ascent, but you get the idea:

Day 516: Death Valley Visit 2, Day 7

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Ben

Although my parents went home with David and Leisl and the kids yesterday morning, they kept the hotel room even though they didn’t come back until the middle of the day. The kids had never slept in a hotel room, so Trish and the kids spent the night in the hotel room. It’s funny that for them it was an exotic travel experience. B was so excited she took pictures:

This morning a roadrunner came by to say hello:

Once my parents arrived back in Death Valley, we hiked up to the gazebo above the Death Valley Inn:

Viewed from here, it’s obvious that Furnace Creek Ranch is a man-made oasis in the middle of a vast desert valley:

The gazebo has seen better days:

I went up for a flight near sunset. As a kid I used to bike out to the airport and watch the planes takeoff and land. I was excited to finally be using the airport as a pilot: