Tag: Death Valley

I have visited Death Valley several times when living in California. It’s a beautiful park, particularly in springtime when the blooms are going crazy. However, I like the desolation of the summer.

From Wikipedia:

Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is one of the hottest places in the world along with deserts in the Middle East.

Death Valley’s Badwater Basin is the point of the lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. This point is 84.6 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. On the afternoon of July 10, 1913, the United States Weather Bureau recorded a high temperature of 134 °F at Furnace Creek in Death Valley. This temperature stands as the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth.

Oasis in the desert

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge in southwestern Nevada directly east of Death Valley. Ash Meadows is a haven for rare plants and animals. Dotted among miles of sandy brush, you will be surprised to see intensely blue ponds of water. These ponds harbor ancient species of fish such as the rare Amargosa pupfish and form the last remaining oasis in the Mojave Desert.

The view is amazing as you come away from the desert to see this surprising, scintillating blue in the middle of an expansive ashy nothingness. I love the teal and orange color scheme.

The intense blue pool:
Teal and orange pool in Ash Meadows

The expansive, ashy nothingness:
The scruffy, alien-looking landscape of most of Ash Meadows

Rhyolite, Death Valley

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

On the northeastern edge of Death Valley is an abandoned ore mining town called Rhyolite. The weathered old ruins, some still standing, are breathtakingly beautiful. Rhyolite was a thriving town at the beginning of the last century. It declined as soon as the ore was depleted. At its peak, the town hosted several thousand residents. Now it’s a ghost town with rusting cars and crumbling, abandoned buildings.

I like the structure of this crumbling building. Rhyolite is a study in the sad beauty of decay. Decrepit buildings crumble and wilt against the stark desert background. Man-made structures weather like the nearby ashy bushes that struggle in the arid climate. The environment is harsh for urban and plant growth alike. It’s a perfect setting for photography. I went a little nuts taking photos.

I am glad the crumbling buildings haven’t been dismantled. Dusty and weathered, they are perfect accompaniments to the dry desert environment and are reminders of our fragile existence. Without a constant influx of resources and water, a town becomes a dry husk. These buildings are an elegant reminder of mortality. The ruins complement the harshness of the Death Valley environment perfectly.

Posted in response to the photo challenges Structure and Weathered. Read more travel stories here.

Rhyolite, Death Valley, crumbling ruins

Aguereberry Point, Death Valley

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

Aguereberry Point, Death Valley selfie!

Aguereberry Point, Death Valley

The road to Aguereberry Point (elevation 6433 feet) is really scary. However the view from the top is great. It’s also proof that Death Valley isn’t always hot. In February it was wicked cold! There was snow, even. Snow. In Death Valley! Look at me. With a scarf! Freezing my butt off, for the selfie! Down at the floor of the valley it was as hot as you expected, and there were wildflowers all over.

Aguereberry Point, Death Valley