Wednesday, February 26, 2014, Snow on Charleston Peak, Pahrump, NV


The rain ended and as the clouds cleared the mountains were transformed. The panorama setting was the only way to capture the Spring Mountain range to the east of our site at Wine Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, NV


Mount Charleston (officially named Charleston Peak) was beautiful with a fresh layer of snow. I certainly prefer to enjoy the view from below where temperatures are in the 70's. The rain/snow probably was not enough to make up for the drought they have had in the area, but every little bit counts.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014, Pahrump Valley Winery Tour, Pahrump, NV


After our morning waffles in the clubhouse, we decided to tour the Pahrump Valley Winery. Since it is adjacent to Wine Ridge RV Resort (in Pahrump, NV) it was only about 20 steps from the clubhouse. Before the tour started there was some wine tasting. They allowed us to choose as many as seven wines to taste and then they started pouring. When Joani and I compared lists there was only one wine, Cinsaut Rose, in common, (I prefer dry and Joani prefers sweet). It was so good we bought two bottles.

Our host for the tour was loaded with interesting details about the wine business. For example, in Nevada, you cannot start a winery in a county with more than 100,000 residents (of course after a winery is in place if the county grows the winery can stay, but then no more can be started.) The Pahrump Valley Winery uses red grapes from three locations in Nevada totaling 10 acres (the entire state only grows 40 acres of grapes). White grapes do not tolerate heat well, so the winery buys grapes from California for the white wines they make. 



The winery has certainly earned a lot of medals for their efforts. Their medal room made me nervous - all I could think was "what would happen in an earthquake?"  When I looked closer I found the bottles were secured to the wall with velcro. The picture below probably shows less than half of their 375 awards. The amazing thing is that they received their first award in 2005!


Next, it was off to the wine "factory." The machine below is named "Lucy." It separates the grapes from the vines and stems before they are crushed. I studied the thing, but I could not see how it would work. Maybe if I could just see it in action.


All of the winery's operations take place in this small room. They even fill, cork and label the bottles here. They process 10,000 bottles a year - not a lot if you could level it out over the year. Since they can't do that, they get really busy for a short time each year.




Later in the afternoon, it started raining. We had to think a while to remember the last time we saw rain. It must have been when we were in northern California near the end of September! No complaints from us - it was a nice change. It did rain enough and the winds were strong enough we pulled the slides in so the awnings flapping would not worry Sam so much.

Sunday, February 23, 2014, Dante's View, Golden Canyon Trail, Mosaic Canyon and Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes inDeath Valley National Park, CA


Our second trip into Death Valley National Park, CA, was just a bit warmer, but still extremely pleasant! The air was still and clear which meant the sun was brighter. Bright sun is not the best for bringing out the subtle color in the park and it shows in the pictures, although I think we still captured some of the natural beauty of Death Valley. We started with Dante's View. It was a paved spur off of the main road, 13 miles each way. The road was nicely paved, but the last quarter mile was the steepest climb our little Honda Fit has ever encountered. A sign told us it was a 15% grade, but I think it was more. The combination of the grade and sharp switchbacks had us in 1st gear for the climb. The view from the top, however, made the drive worthwhile.  

The view of the valley from atop Dante's View.

Dogs are not allowed on the trails or we would have Sam with us - he loves hiking! Obviously, not everyone leaves their pets at home. This one was quite well behaved and I suspect really wanted nothing more than to get back into the car, but her mom got her new sneakers and she was going to use them!

The booties are beyond cute!!!

As I already said, the view was spectacular! We hiked out more than a quarter mile from the parking lot so when the crowd thinned out we sat for a while to take it all in.


The white below is solid halite salt. The crust of salt is 40-80 inches thick.

We spotted the area we had previously visited, Badwater, 282 feet below sea level. In the extreme telephoto shot below, we could just see people walking along the salt.

Looking down at Badwater you can see a few tiny specks on the white. That would be people walking on the salt bed.

Our first real hike in the park was along the Golden Canyon Trail. In the official park photo, you can see the color at its best - our pictures may not be up to National Geographic standards but we enjoyed the scenery immensely.


Our high noon sun didn't bring out the red in Red Cathedral.

David's camera captured the color much better than mine.

Red Cathedral is composed of red colored oxidized cliffs.

We climbed a hill for a better viewpoint.  I made it back down first.


Getting closer...

The last 1/4 mile was a bit of a climb.

Plenty of evidence of previous hikers.


The end of the trail!


Standing back it looked like this, but...

...up close the minerals between the layers of rock became evident.

The mountain looks like it is covered in multi-colored frosting.


David adds a bit of scale.

On the map, it looked like a short drive to our next destination - Mosaic Canyon, but through the wasteland, it seemed to take a long time to cover the 30 miles. Mosaic Canyon is best known for its marble formations. With the sun glinting off of the marble it almost looked wet or polished.

Mosaic Canyon is named such due to the rocks formation above.

This munchkin was having a ball sliding on the smooth marble.

The marble walls have been worn smooth by the power of water.

It only rains an average of 2 inches a year in this valley.

It was really surprising how the varied rock sediment layers laid on top of each other. Often times it looked like one rock type had "oozed" over the top of another.






I noticed a couple of other photographers with tripods and nice cameras. Then I noticed a few more and, finally after about five folks in a row with tripods, I asked one of them if they were part of a photography class. In fact, they were - probably 20 of them altogether. They certainly had some great subject material in this canyon! 

A photography class was capturing the beauty.


In the canyon, it felt like dusk, but the sun was still shining bright in the valley.


From Mosaic Canyon, we backtracked to the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. I think the dunes are what most people imagine when they think of the desert. I have no idea why these few acres of the park are so different from all the rest - maybe we will have to delve into a bit of geology after all to find the answer.

Next stop, the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, (just above the center of the photo), seen from Mosaic Canyon's parking area.

From four miles away it is hard to believe that some of the dunes are 200 feet high.

We could hike along the peaks of the dunes, but they were still at least a mile away.

The sun is setting fast. Further exploration will have to be another day.


We seriously thought about waiting a few more hours to see the stars from this premier dark sky location, but we were worn out and just wanted to get home to some dinner. We also knew Sam would be happier to have us back sooner rather than later. Next time we will have to camp in the park so we can enjoy the desert after dark.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014, Death Valley National Park, CA


Today we made our first trip into Death Valley National Park, CA, only an hour from our site at Wine Ridge RV Resort in Pahrump, NV. We were overwhelmed with the beauty of this park. Obviously, it is not the place to be in the heat of the summer and I cannot imagine trying to cross this forbidding place on foot or even horseback. Fortunately for us, it was slightly overcast with temperatures in the mid-seventies and we are in a car on nicely paved roads. Since we didn't have to worry about just surviving, we could enjoy the beauty of the widely varied landscape.

Hottest, Driest, and Lowest National Park


The first stop was a very short hike, but steep climb up a paved walkway. One of the few hikes that allowed Sam.

Looking off to the left from Zabriskie Point.

Looking off to the right from Zabriskie Point.


It seemed like most of the rock was sedimentary, but there was some volcanic rock as well. Joani commented she would like to study some geology to better understand what we were seeing, but I don't think we want any "gravel monkeys" in the family (if I may use Sheldon Cooper's term for the geologists.)



Looking straight ahead across the valley from Zabriskie Point. We had no idea the best was yet to come!



"Bring your compass, because it's weird to have to eat your friends"
My favorite Tshirt at the visitor's center.


Be sure to top off your gas tank in Pahrump, you do not want to be in need of gas in Death Valley!

The Racetrack can only be reached on a rough gravel road (26 miles) and the rangers cautioned against taking our car out there. The extremely sharp rocks cause a lot of flat tires and I didn't think it was worth the risk to see some rocks that move when no one is looking.



We are going to stick to the paved roads. We were told we should have two spare tires if we planned to venture off-road.

Telescope Peak at 11,000+ feet elevation was visible from a lot of the valley floor and provided a nice point of reference to keep us oriented.

Snow covered Telescope Peak is 11,043 feet above sea level.




At Badwater, we were at the lowest place in North America - 282 feet below sea level. Just how far that is was graphically demonstrated with a sea level marker high on the cliff above the parking area.

I placed the arrow to help find the sign that says "Sea Level."

The boardwalk was covered with an eighth-inch layer of powdery salt.

Sodium Chloride, better known as table salt, makes up the majority of salts on Badwater Basin. Other evaporative minerals found here include calcite, gypsum, and borax.


A placard read, "It was so hot that swallows in full flight fell to the earth dead and when I went out to read the thermometer with a wet Turkish towel on my head, it was dry before I returned." Oscar Denton, caretaker of what is now the Furnace Creek Ranch on the record hot day of 134 degrees F in July 1913.

There was some water (not much) in Badwater Basin.

In our opinion, Artist Drive is not to be missed! This nicely paved, one-way drive takes you through some of the most colorful landscape in the park.

All of the hills in Death Valley are amazing, but Artist Drive takes you through hills that are beyond belief.

Just to the right and above the middle of the picture, a sunbeam broke through the clouds and is illuminating a spot on the hill.

We were told that the colors seem to change with the direction and intensity of the sun.

A placard tells us "The greens and blues are chlorites; the pinks and purples are manganese oxides; and the reds and oranges are iron oxides."

Our pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the landscape. We would need to be there at sunrise or sunset without the cloud cover to really capture the colors. We will probably take this drive every time we visit the park.






We will hike into the hills the next time we visit. The person in the foreground gives a sense of scale to the hills - I think we can wear ourselves out in this one area hiking.

We had Sam with us, so hiking was out of the question. A return visit or two is a must.


It looked like the hill was bleeding! What a sight!

On the way home, we were treated with a nice view of snow covered Charleston Peak at 11,916 feet.