Death Valley and Southern Nevada
March 4-9, 2010

Description

The NPS website for Death Valley is here, Red Rock Canyon NCA info is here, and Valley of Fire State Park info is here.

Photos from last year's trip to Death Valley are here.

Photos

	Medium Large	Lake Mead, after crossing over into Nevada
	Medium Large	Red Rock Canyon NCA, where I camped, is just west of Vegas, so there's a fair amount of light pollution. Here you can see the Luxor's light beam shooting up into the sky and lighting up a passing cloud. (5 sec exposure)
	Medium Large	Looking away from Vegas, the sky wasn't too bad, and you could still see Orion and other constellations pretty well. The cliffs to the lower left are lit up by the lights of Vegas. (15 sec exposure)
	Medium Large	My campsite
	Medium Large	Panorama of Red Rock Canyon
	Medium Large	Looking for handouts in the parking lot...
	Medium Large	The Calico Hills
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	Medium Large	Heading onto the Calico Tanks Trail
	Medium Large	Same rock, different colors
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	Medium Large	Petroglyph
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	Medium Large	Rock climbers
	Medium Large	Pool near the top of the trail
	Medium Large	View of Las Vegas from the top
	Medium Large	Looking back at the sandstone hills
	Medium Large	Another panorama of the Red Rock Canyon area
	Medium Large	The Furnace Creek Ranch, where I stayed in Death Valley || || \/
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	Medium Large	The Death Valley Borax Museum
	Medium Large	Carts and mule trains used to haul borax out of the Valley back in the mining days || || \/
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	Medium Large	Shots and panoramas from Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. It's often mostly dry, but there was a fair amount of water there due to recent rains. || || \/
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	Medium Large	Spring-fed pool near the edge of the basin, home of the Badwater Snail, among other critters
	Medium Large	You can see the "Sea Level" sign ~250 feet or so above the road
	Medium Large	Panorama looking north
	Medium Large	Pictures from a hike through Desolation Canyon, a few miles south of Furnace Creek || || \/
	Medium Large	Not too many plants here...
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	Medium Large	The canyon rocks are mostly fine lake sediments, and you can see some veins of gypsum running through them in places
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	Medium Large	Another close-up shot of the rocks for geology nerds...
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	Medium Large	Storm around the Furnace Creek area || || \/
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	Medium Large	Shots from a hike through Golden Canyon, to Zabriskie Point, and back through Gower Gulch. A PDF from the Park Service about the hike is here. || || \/
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	Medium Large	Similar rocks to Desolation Canyon, which is only a few miles away
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	Medium Large	The Zabriskie Point lookout
	Medium Large	A few shots from the lookout || || \/
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	Medium Large	Starting the trip back via Gower Gulch || || \/
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	Medium Large	This (and numerous similar-looking features along the hike) seems to be capped with a layer of basalt, although according to my guidebook it's basaltic gravel sediments rather than a flow or intrusion.
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	Medium Large	There were a lot of little borax mines along the hike, although I don't think that any in this particular part of Death Valley ended up being that productive
	Medium Large	The rock here is a denser conglomerate, rather than the softer stuff along the rest of the hike
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	Medium Large	Waterfall that empties from Gower Gulch into Furnace Creek
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	Medium Large	Shots from Zabriskie Point || || \/
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	Medium Large	Shots from Dante's View. The tallest mountain is Telescope Peak, over 11,000 feet above the valley floor. || || \/
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	Medium Large	Old mining operation on the way back from Dante's View
	Medium Large	Driving through 20 Mule Team Canyon
	Medium Large	The Furnace Creek Inn and Resort, significantly more expensive than the Ranch where I was staying
	Medium Large	The Furnace Creek Ranch area
	Medium Large	The Harmony Borax Works || || \/
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	Medium Large	The Mesquite Flats sand dunes from a distance
	Medium Large	Devil's Cornfield
	Medium Large	Shots from the dunes || || \/
	Medium Large	There were a lot of these interdune playas
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	Medium Large	My campsite at Valley of Fire State Park, northeast of Vegas. Unfortunately, the weather was not all that good for this part of the trip.
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	Medium Large	Petrified logs || || \/
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	Medium Large	Cabins built by the CCC
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	Medium Large	Weird parasitic plant living in this mostly dead tree
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	Medium Large	Petroglyphs high up on this rock (Atlatl Rock) || || \/
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	Medium Large	A small natural arch || || \/
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	Medium Large	Markings on a little cave wall below the arch
	Medium Large	The Hoover Dam, after crossing back into Arizona || || \/
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