DVNP: Salt Creek and Harmony Borax Works

Our next stop was the Salt Creek Interpretive Trail.  It is hard to believe that a creek could exist in Death Valley.  Even more incredible is that there is a species called Pupfish that live in the creek, that is only found in Death Valley.  Unfortunately, they can only be seen in February/March, so there were none to be found.

The boardwalk was a nice change of pace from walking on dirt/sand/rock.

At the end, the kids were counting the planks, just like I used to count the planks on the Seal Beach pier.

Our final stop was Harmony Borax Works, the site of the old borax processing plant.  By this time, the kids were really running out of steam, but it didn’t take long to look at the old equipment.

DVNP: Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes & Mosaic Canyon

The overnight temperature was probably in the 50’s—not too bad at all.  Everyone had a good night’s sleep except for me.  I guess I am the light sleeper of the family.  At least I was able to sleep better the second night.  For breakfast we had quesadillas and fruit.  We were able to leave the campsite by 7:30 a.m.

Our first stop was the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.  This was the kids’ favorite part of the trip. 

There are no trails, so the book I read said to just keep looking back so you can keep track of where the parking lot is. 

It was like a huge sandbox!  The kids ended up walking in their socks because they kept on complaining about sand in their shoes.

Hiking in sand is pretty difficult, and n tired himself out early, so we weren’t able to go too far. 

Our next stop was my favorite, Mosaic Canyon.

This was a short hike, about 1.0 mile roundtrip.

n found this rock that he thought was shaped like a mitten and carried it with him along the hike.

DVNP: Furnace Creek Campground, Badwater Basin, Artist’s Palette & Golden Canyon

Maybe it was because my expectations were not that high, but the Furnace Creek Campground wins for “Most Pleasant Surprise”.  We reserved campsite #108.  This whole row of campsites had plenty of shady trees; it felt like each campsite had its own mini forest!

Checking out the campsite.

Taking a break while Daddy set up the tent.

Our tent was also the perfect distance from the restroom—approx. 100 ft.--score!

Inside shot, for those who may be curious.  After setting up camp, we did some exploring.

Our first stop was Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America.

The white sign says “Sea Level”.  Our camera was not powerful enough to take a non-blurry shot. 

D really wanted to taste the salt, but thankfully, he resisted. 

We witnessed a boy scout leader yell at his troop for going off of the marked path despite this sign:

Our next destination was Artist’s Palette, which is a one-way scenic drive.  It was a bit longer than I thought.  At one point I actually wondered if we had taken a wrong turn.  Being that it was one-way, there was no turning back. 

Note the green color—I believe that is why the Artist’s Palette received its name.

Our final stop was to hike Golden Canyon.  It was a 2.0 mile hike, which we began at 3:50 and finished at 4:45.  The mountains blocked the sun earlier than I thought, but we could still see fine.  The diminishing light actually made everything more picturesque and “golden”, if you will.

Love how you can see the moon in this picture!

By the time we arrived at the turnaround point, the kids (especially n), were done.  We decided against the additional .25 mi to see Red Cathedral, but we could see it in the distance.

The kids thought this rock looked like a frog/turtle.

Heading back.

We ended up cooking dinner in the dark and ate dinner in the dark.  Hence, no pictures of our hot dogs and chili.