Monday, November 23, 2015

Death Valley Days, 5

Our excellent Sunday continued with a drive up into the Stovepipe Wells part of the Valley and then a short hike in Mosaic Canyon.
Near the fair community of Stovepipe Wells, some small dunes
















In Mosaic Canyon, you can see the stratum whereby it gets its
name

















Beneath the mosaic layer is another, almost marble-like layer,
very smooth--a light, light, brown, of course

















A narrow but not deep canyon
















More marble, and a big step
















Interesting layers
















Looking back to the valley on our return
















"Nevermore!"
















Postscript: most nights here we stayed at the Sunset NPS
campground, just across the highway from Furnace Creek and
it manifold amenities; it is gigantic but minimalist, that is,
a place for hundreds of rigs to park, with toilet blocks but not
much else; $6/night for us Elders; the ranger said come winter
all of DVNP's campgrounds will be full (some require
reservations, some don't), including the huge over-flow lots





















Postscript continued: one night we stayed at the much nicer
Texas Springs campground, just up the hill from Sunset; far
more scenic, with such amenities as fire rings and picnic
tables; $7/night; many tents-only sites and no-generator zones,
which is fine with us; anyhow, the point of all this is the
observation that, if El Nino plays out at worst (for us) and
there is insufficient snow in the Inland Northwest, then we'll
be looking for a warm place in the sun in February and March,
and a return to DVNP just might be in the cards...

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