After two wonderful weeks at Seaside, Oregon we headed northeast and crossed over Columbia River into Washington state. We settled into a private campground in the town of Woodland. We loved our campsite with a front row view of the Columbia River. During our week-long stay we really enjoyed watching the ships, boats and tugs sailing between Portland and the Pacific Ocean.
This boat is being towed by four togs.
This is an auto carrier that was coming from San Francisco to Portland
This Navy ship is on the way to Fleet Week at Portland
Unfortunately the day after our arrival Bill came down with a very bad stomach virus so several days there were spent recovering.
Mount Hood in Oregon
Later in the week we took a drive along the Historic Columbia River Highway where we passed back into Oregon and visited two waterfalls.
First up was the popular Multnomah Falls, which at 620 feet is the tallest waterfall in Oregon.
We last visited here in 2014. We had hoped to hike to the bridge you see in the picture. We were very disappointed to learn the trail to the bridge has been closed due to severe damage from wildfires last year. The wildfires that did millions of dollars in damage was caused by a child playing with firecrackers. We asked a couple people when the trail and bridge would be reopened. One person said a couple weeks and another said a few years!
From there we drove to Latourell Falls. We hiked up a short but very steep trail to a view of this lovely 250 foot waterfall.
Mount Adams in Washington
On the way home we stopped at The Crown Point Vista House with a fabulous view 733 feet above the Columbia River. The Vista House is a museum of the Columbia River area and a memorial to Oregon pioneers.
After four days of heavy clouds and cool temperatures, we left Pacific City and headed further north up the coast to Seaside, Oregon (pop 6,500). Seaside first welcomed vacationers in 1850 and is Oregon’s oldest ocean resort community.
We arrived at our campground for a fourteen day stay and finally saw sun in the afternoon! We have found that it is usually cloudy in the mornings and clears up by noon.
Seaside is a charming beach community. Can you find Bill in this picture?
Seaside has a promenade nicknamed “The Prom”, a 1.8 mile concrete walking path that parallels the Pacific Ocean. There is a statue there of Lewis and Clark and Lewis’ dog Seaman. This area of Oregon was the final destination of Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery after their 1804-1806 westward journey. They wintered at nearby Fort Clatsop and during that time several of the men came to Seaside to build a salt cairn to boil water from the ocean and remove salt which they used to flavor and preserve meat.
One day we drove north to nearby Warrenton to get together with an amateur radio group for brunch. It is always nice to meet other amateur radio enthusiasts around the country and learn firsthand about their community. If you want to know the best places to eat, shop or visit, just ask a local. On the way home we stopped by Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. Fort Stevens was named for Territorial Governor Stevens, constructed during the Civil War and remained active until shortly after World War II. The Fort guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from Confederate gunboats during the Civil War and included eight concrete gun batteries. The post later was Oregon’s only coastal defense fort during the Spanish-American War and both World Wars.
The fort is the only military fort in the United States since the War of 1812 to be fired upon by an enemy during time of war when it was attacked by a Japanese submarine on June 21, 1942.
We enjoyed taking the self guided walking tour of the Fort and found several geocaches as well as nice views of the Columbia River. On the other side of the park was the Pacific Ocean with the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. This shipwreck was a ship which ran ashore in 1906 and is one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the “Graveyard of the Pacific”.
A geocache led us to this historical marker, the site of a Japanese shell explosion that was one of seventeen fired in June, 1942.
On Memorial Day we spent the day exploring Cannon Beach south of Seaside. The picturesque town is named after a cannon that washed up on the beach in 1846. As expected on a holiday the beach was crowded.
We especially enjoyed seeing the famous Haystack Rock and “Terrible Tilly”, the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.
Built in 1881 because ships needed guidance to get around Tillamook Head, the lighthouse is located a mile offshore. The conditions there were so physically and mentally grueling that light keepers were assigned shorter rotations than other light keepers. After 77 years the lighthouse lights were turned off for good and today it is not open to the public. It looks rather lonely out there by itself.
While in Seaside we had our teeth cleaned. We were very pleased with the dentist and his friendly staff. Our dentist was very thorough in his exam and drove a pickup truck with a surfboard in the back! Fun!
One of our main reasons for visiting Seaside was so Bill could attend the largest amateur radio convention in the northwest. It was conveniently located right in Seaside at the Seaside Convention Center.
Seaside may be small but they have learned how to take full advantage of their beautiful location. In the days before the convention Bill volunteered to help with pre-convention set up. He really enjoyed attending seminars and talking with other radio enthusiasts.
He had already met members of the local Seaside amateur radio club and twice met them for breakfast at a local restaurant. Friday evening we attended their spaghetti dinner fundraiser. Bill won a big box of salt water taffy which was great since we had talked about buying some at one of the beachside shops. Since we had just had our teeth cleaned we each ate a couple pieces and gave the rest away!
We had a great two weeks in Seaside and the days flew by. The weather was for the most part sunny but still very cool with lows in the upper forties and daytime highs in the upper fifties to low sixties. Such is the late spring weather along the Oregon coast.
We left Salem and headed west toward the Oregon coast on narrow, winding two lane roads for most of the two hour drive. We drove through the Siuslaw National Forest including 5 one lane bridges.
We arrived at our campground in Pacific City (pop 1,035) and found a nice site for a four night stay. We couldn’t see or hear the waves but we were within walking distance of the beach and the campground provided a nice walking trail to the beach.
We saw signs throughout the campground warning of bear activity but never saw any, just several adorable bunnies.
They must be used to people because they were totally unafraid of us taking pictures but we respected the fact they were not pets and didn’t get too close.
With the hope that the weather would improve the next day we stayed home for the first day and I did laundry. The better weather advertised by the Weather Channel never materialized and as you can see by the pictures the weather was cloudy, windy and chilly during our entire stay with heavy cloud and fog cover. With only two days left to explore, we had to ignore the weather, bundle up and set off exploring this part of the Oregon coast.
We had a long list of things to see so we headed north up the coast. Sometimes the road took us right along the coast and sometimes we were more inland. Not to whine, sometimes we would stop at an ocean overlook and I would just imagine how beautiful this would look on a bright, sunny day.
We did lots of hiking and geocaching both days. We loved seeing the huge rocks in the ocean, so typical of the Pacific Coast. We especially liked the rocks with windows and arches eroded from the waves and wind.
You can see that even though the population in these coastal cities is small, they appear congested as people want to build houses close to the water. Who wouldn’t with those amazing views!
We drove past the Tillamook Cheese Factory where they give tours to more than 1.3 million people a year but didn’t take the time to stop. We did purchase some Tillamook ice cream at the local Safeway which was really really good.
Highlights of our two drives were:
The Octopus Tree which measures 46 feet in diameter and has no central trunk. Instead the limbs extend horizontally from the base as much as 16 feet before turning upward. It is 105 feet tall and is estimated to be 250 to 300 years old. The cause for the octopus shape is still being debated. Was it caused by natural forces or by Native Americans. What do you think?
This Big Spruce, a Sitka spruce, was designated the state champion in 2008 for being the largest of the species in Oregon. It is 144 feet tall, 48 feet in circumference, fifteen and a half feet in diameter and is estimated to be an amazing 750 to 800 years old!
The Cape Meares Lighthouse which was lit in 1890 and at 38 feet is the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. The light beam is an alternating red and white light as it turns which distinguishes it from other lighthouses.
While at the lighthouse we saw a mother whale and her calf playing in the water for quite awhile, a real highlight for us! The above picture is an animated collage of the two whales.
Munson Falls, which at 319 feet is the highest on the Oregon coast.
Over the two days we loved our hikes through the forest with the tree limbs covered in moss giving the area a very eerie feeling.
As we drove along the Three Capes Scenic Loop we found geocaches overlooking the ocean along with views of kayakers on waterways where sand spits separated the ocean from the bays.
Of particular note is the Tillamook Bay, an “estuary of national significance”, one of only twenty in the country. Five rivers flow into the bay which then mixes with the salty waters of the Pacific.
Bill was happy to find a geocache at the entrance to a Boy Scout Camp called Camp Meriwether and Camp Clark.
Another geocache took us to the marker for Captain Robert Gray, the first American to circumnavigate the globe.
The area is known for fresh delicious seafood and Bill had a delicious halibut lunch at a small food truck along the water.
As you can see cars are allowed to drive on the beach. At one county park we found the dunes crowded with ATV vehicles.
Despite the weather we enjoyed our time along the section of the Oregon coast.
Next stop: Seaside, Oregon for hopefully sunny weather
After leaving Grants Pass our initial plan was to spend four nights in Eugene and three nights in Salem. The day before our departure we decided to skip Eugene and go straight to Salem, the state capital. It made for a longer than usual travel day but the idea of spending nine nights in one spot without having to move really appealed to us. One of the great things about not having reservations is the ability to change plans at the last minute which we have done several times already this year.
We pulled into the Salem Elks Lodge and were directed into a long full hookup site. Really nice. Along with sightseeing, the long stay gave us a chance to get labwork done, order several things we needed through Amazon, make some dental appointments and do some planning, cleaning and maintenance on the RV. Somehow we managed to get a chip in the RV windshield so one day we had Safelite come out and repair the chip.
On Friday we drove three miles to the Oregon state capitol building to continue our goal of visiting all the state capitol buildings in the country. We were given a tour by an excellent tour guide. The building was constructed from 1936-1938 and is the third capitol building after the first two were both destroyed by fire. It is an example of Modernistic architecture and looks very different from most state capitol which are usually modeled after the U. S. capitol. Only four other states have Art Deco state capitols – – Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska and North Dakota. The base is granite and on top is the 23 foot bronze statue gilded in gold leaf of a pioneer.
The pioneer faces north and looks west.
Inside the capitol building is a dome with 33 stars painted on the ceiling to recognize that Oregon was the 33rd state admitted to the Union in 1859 after first becoming a territory in 1848.
The paintings and sculptures in the capitol focused on Euro-European settlement.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with Party at Celilo Falls on their way to the Pacific, 1805
We visited the Senate and House Galleries where around the top of both rooms are the names of 158 people significant to the history of Oregon including Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacajawea, Washington Irving, John Quincy Adams, and James Polk.
In 1843 the people of Oregon territory drew a line in the dirt and the frontiersmen stepped on one side or the other. One side was to remain British and the other to become part of the United States. We know which side won and the concept of a government with open democratic voting began in Oregon.
The Oregon state seal has 33 stars, an eagle with an olive branch and arrows symbolizing peace through strength. Two ships, one American arriving and one British ship leaving symbolize Oregon becoming part of the United States. Oregon’s economy is symbolized with timber, grain, pickax and plow. The covered wagon symbolizes pioneers on the Oregon Trail and the mountains and elk represent Oregon’s natural environment. The state seal is somewhat in the shape of a heart because it became a state on February 14, 1859. One of the trees growing on the capitol grounds came from a seedling which went to the moon and back!
We found time to do some geocaching, including finding some very unusual ones!
The trees, bushes and flowers in Oregon are just beautiful this time of year.
We passed several fields of red clover as well as Christmas tree farms.
Toward the end of our stay in Salem we drove thirty miles east to Silver Falls State Park, the largest state park in Oregon. It became a state park in 1935 and we enjoyed the trails thanks to the work of 200 CCC workers and skilled workers of the Works Projects Administration. We spent the day hiking to several beautiful waterfalls, enjoying the lush environment which included moss covered trees. Two trails even took us behind the waterfalls for a unique view. We hope to return someday for more hiking.
We visited the South Falls first at 177 feet tall.
The Upper North falls is 65 feet.
We had time for only one more of the ten waterfalls – North Falls at 136 feet.
Next up we head west to spend some time along the Oregon coast.
Below is a link to a waterfall video we made, enjoy the sound of the falling water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5VRzbF8iA4
After saying farewell to beautiful Mount Shasta, we headed north towards Oregon.
We passed over Siskiyou Summit which at 4,310 feet is the highest point on Interstate 5 in the United States. Immediately everything was greener and just gorgeous.
We arrived in Grants Pass, Oregon, population 34,500. Located along the Rogue River, the town was named after General Ulysses S. Grant.
The town’s motto is “It’s The Climate”, a reference to this region’s Goldilocks climate: not too hot, not too cold but just right.
I loved the huge lilac bushes around town as well as the gorgeous white and pink dogwood trees which reminded me of my home state of Virginia. The dogwood is Virginia’s state tree and state flower so Grants Pass reminded me so much of home.
While in Grants Pass for three nights we did a lot of geocaching around the town, including one found at the site of the town mascot, a caveman.
One day we drove to Valley of the Rogue State Park for some hiking and geocaching.
This Mural was found in the city of Rogue River
This bridge crosses the Rogue River where a ferry once ran.
Next stop: Salem, Oregon
We left Nicolaus and made the drive north to Paradise, CA. We were excited to visit Paradise because we were going to visit Sara, a former coworker of mine from my teaching days in Charlottesville, VA. Sara and I last saw each other twelve years ago.
The Elks Lodge was almost full and was a nice place to stay with full hookup sites. After settling in we met Sara and her family to attend Sara’s daughter’s violin recital. Lucy played ten pieces she had memorized. She is so talented and it was amazing for someone her age to memorize so many pieces.
The next day we went on a hike on Table Mountain in nearby Oroville. It was a great day that included waterfalls, beautiful wildflowers and even some kite flying!
We finished the day at Sara’s house where her husband Ross showed us his excellent barbecuing skills! One of the many wonderful thing about this lifestyle is being able to catch up with dear friends around the country. Thank you so much Sara, Ross, John, Lucy, Oliver and Franki! We can’t wait to see you again down the road!
Our next stop as we continued north was Weed, CA. After almost three months in California, this was our last stop before crossing over into Oregon. As we traveled north we were excited to see Mount Shasta in the distance.
We were last in Weed in the fall of 2014. A week after we left, a catastrophic wildfire burned hundreds of acres and destroyed more than 150 structures including 140 homes, two churches, the library and community center. But most important, no lives were lost. It has been a long recovery for the town and we were told many people took the insurance money and left instead of rebuilding.
We settled into our campsite with an amazing view of Mount Shasta, elevation 14,179 feet.
Last time we were here was in September and most of the snow on Mount Shasta had melted. This time was very different. Mount Shasta has seven named glaciers.
One day we drove up Mount Shasta but discovered the upper road was still blocked by snow. We still managed to go up almost 7,000 feet. Last time we were here we were able to drive all the way up to the Alpine Lodge.
We stopped throughout the day to find many geocaches. One geocache took us to the headwaters of the Sacramento River. A really neat and unexpected place which reminded us of the headwaters of the Mississippi River we visited last summer at Itasca State Park in Minnesota.
At one point on a beautiful pedestrian bridge a man stopped to ask Bill if he needed any help since Bill appeared to be searching for something lost. Bill decided to take the opportunity to introduce him to geocaching. He thought it was pretty cool.
Leaving the Hollister area we drove to the town of Lodi for a stay at the Elks Lodge. Lodi is a major wine producing region with more than 80 wineries located in the area. The town has nicknamed itself the “Zinfandel Capital of the World”. We enjoyed doing some geocaching and found the people to be very friendly.
Beside the road was this exchange library where we found a geocache hide
Next up was the town of Nicolaus about thirty miles from Sacramento, the capital of California. Even though we drove on major highways, the roads were really rough in some places. California really needs to spend some money repairing their roads!
On Saturday we drove into Sacramento to visit the state capitol building. It is our quest to visit every capitol building in the country. I will start with the bad comments first. You may have heard on the news that California has an alarming number of homeless people living on the streets. That fact was very evident in Sacramento. I am not usually frightened by this, but in Sacramento wherever we were there seemed to be several people arguing loudly, cursing, and in one instance approached me for money. It is common to see people wandering the streets with suitcases or carts with all their belongings or sleeping along the roads and in parks. In and around the city, bathrooms in restaurants and stores are locked and you must ask to use the facilities. Their situation is very sad, very disturbing and a little frightening.
California has a lovely state capitol building and we took their tour with an exceptional tour guide.
He clearly loves his job. California became the 31st state in 1850 and construction on the capitol building began in 1860 and concluded in 1874. Sacramento was chosen as the capital during the gold rush era because it was located near the highly populated gold rush areas. The capitol is modeled after the U. S. capitol building and has a beautiful 120 foot high rotunda.
A page boy, Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus
We loved the statue of Ronald Reagan and seeing the legislative chambers.
George Washington portrait overlooking the State Senators
We heard an interesting story about the portrait of former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had the portrait commissioned by an artist in Austria, his birth country. The artist chose not to give it an ornate frame or nameplate like the portraits of other past governors and it was hung that way. Not having a nameplate may not be a problem now, but 100 years from now will people recognize the governor without a nameplate?
We went into the gift shop and this bumper sticker caught my eye.
The capitol building is located on a 40 acre park. We always look for the Liberty Bell located at all state capitals.
Next we visited nearby Old Sacramento, a four block area that was the city’s commercial district during the gold rush era and pony express.
The area has cobblestone streets and wooden walkways which give it a feeling of yesteryear. It is very much a tourist area today with restaurants, souvenir shops, carriage rides, paddle boat tours and train rides. We visited the Wells Fargo History Museum.
The Sacramento River is crossed by this yellow bridge
Watch their train here:
We finished the day at Sutter Fort State Historic Park, site of the first European outpost in California.
It was established by Swiss immigrant John Sutter with a land grant from the Mexican government and was known as New Switzerland.
After the discovery of gold the land were taken from Sutter by prospectors. We were surprised to find that the original structures were made by men from Hawaii.
On Monday we made the long drive from Nicolaus to visit Donner Memorial State Park. In order to get there we had to drive over Donner Pass using I-80 and the Lincoln Highway, elevation 7,227.
The snow was beautiful on this bright sunny day.
The state park had a very nice visitors center with displays and a movie about the Donner party, a group of pioneers who set out from Missouri for California in May 1846 in a wagon train.
The trip usually took four to six months, but due to mishaps and bad decisions they found themselves snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the winter of 1846-1947, a record breaking snowy winter.
Of the original 87 pioneers, only 48 survived. It is one of the most famous and tragic tales of pioneer journeys, which included cannibalism to survive.
On the state park grounds is a monument to the Donner party.
Next stop: Paradise, CA to see a former co-worker from my teaching days
We left the Hollister area and traveled toward Yosemite National Park. Along the way we passed through more of the California Central Valley agricultural area with fields of crops, pistachio trees, strawberries, many vineyards, sheep and dairy farms with large cattle pens. After stopping for fuel and supplies and dealing with rough roads and steep, curvy mountain passes we pulled into the Mariposa County Fairgrounds. A long day!
When we last visited Yosemite National Park in September, 2014 we stayed in a campground west of the park which required taking the RV up a very steep curvy road. We chose not to do that again and instead stayed in Mariposa about an hour from Yosemite. Also since the park is at a higher elevation, it is colder in Yosemite with the forecast of snow one night and temperatures in the twenties and thirties.
Our main reason for visiting now was to see the many waterfalls in the park. When we were there the last time, all the waterfalls had dried up from the summer heat and California drought. We were determined to see the waterfalls this time. Ideally it would have been better to wait until May since some of the roads and trails were still closed from the winter snows. But April was the best time for our 2018 travel plans. Another benefit of visiting in April is a lack of tourist traffic and crowds.
It was a little over an hour drive to the park but two road construction delays made the drive longer. It took us all day to drive around the park, stopping often to gaze in awe at the waterfalls and of course take pictures. The recent rains and spring thaws were obvious as we saw high water levels white rapids and gushing waterfalls. Beautiful!
Our favorite waterfall is Yosemite Falls, which has a drop of 2,425 feet and is the tallest waterfall in the United States. The following pictures are taken of the upper and lower Yosemite Falls.
No visit is complete without pictures of El Capitan and Half Dome, both famous Yosemite rock climbing landmarks.
We also watched again the movie about the park at the Visitors Center and took a hike to the amazing grand view of Yosemite Falls. We were able to catch the park shuttle bus back to the car.
Here are several other waterfalls for your enjoyment.
Yosemite is an amazingly beautiful place and I am sure we will return again someday.
After leaving Mariposa we will continue to make our way through northern California on our way to Seattle.
After leaving Death Valley National Park we traveled back to Ridgecrest for three nights. Bill visited the China Lake Museum whose mission is to preserve the history of the Navy’s spectrum of weapons research, development and testing. Formerly located at the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, the museum is being relocated off base to make it more accessible to the public. China Lake was started to develop missiles and also was involved in the Manhattan Project.
After three days in Ridgecrest we headed north to Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area near the tiny town of Taft, California. Along the way we passed field after field of solar panels and occasionally wind turbines.
The terrain changed from a dry rocky landscape to the agricultural California Central Valley. We passed field after field of crops, citrus trees and grapes.
We could see aqueducts helping irrigate the fields as well as political signs from farmers asking for more dams instead of the proposed funding for the high speed rail between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
We had a campsite with a view of the lake and enjoyed a peaceful weekend even though it was Easter weekend and the park was full of families. We enjoyed just relaxing and some walks around the park with beautiful sunsets.
We left Taft and headed to a campground near Hollister, California for a nine night stay. Hollister is one of three towns in California claiming to be the “Earthquake Capital of the World” because it was built directly on the very geologically active Calaveras Fault, a strand of the greater San Andreas Fault. One evening we felt the earth gently shake and later learned it was a 3.0 earthquake. No big deal.
Our main reason for visiting this area was to visit Pinnacles National Park. Formerly a national monument established in 1908, it became a national park in 2013, the 59th national park and our newest national park.
The pinnacles are eroded leftovers of the western half of an extinct volcano that was once part of the San Andreas Fault. The park is divided by the rock formations into an east division and a west division with no road connecting the east and west sections of the park.
The park has numerous unusual talus caves that are home to more than thirteen species of bats. Talus caves are not like the typical limestone underground caves. In fact they are not really caves at all. They are formed when steep, narrow canyons are filled with a jumbled mass of boulders from the cliffs above which happened during the ice age. There is no known evidence of the existence of any Native Americans ever living in the talus caves.
One day we drove to the eastern section of the park which was more easily accessible from our campground. We stopped by the Visitors Center for trail information.
We discovered there are not a lot of hiking trails in the park, and the trails they have are either rated moderate or strenuous. After talking with a ranger we chose the Bear Gulch Cave and Moses Spring Trails after her assurance it was not a difficult trail. The hike started with a fairly uphill walk until we reached the cave.
Upon entering the cave we had to rock hop over a series of rocks to keep our feet from getting really wet. Hmm, don’t remember the ranger mentioning this. As we continued on the cave was so dark we had to use a flashlight and light from our cell phone as we began to climb a series of steep steps cut into the cave walls.
Hmm, don’t remember the ranger mentioning this. To our left we could hear, but not see running water. Illuminating the area the best we could with the flashlight, we could see a series of waterfall.
Our path continued either over rocky terrain or steep steps with occasional very narrow passageways we had to squeeze through. At the end of the cave the exit was so low we had to get down on our knees and crawl out. Hmm, the ranger didn’t mention this!
Once out of the cave we continued on the trail to the reservoir. Once again we climbed steep rocky stairs and at the top emerged into an oasis of water and a few trees.
After resting a while and enjoying the view we went back down the steep stairs.
Luckily the trail back to the parking lot didn’t not take us back through the cave, though we noticed some people choosing that option. Once was definitely enough. On the way back we passed along some high rocky walks where Bill heard growling from above. This made us nervous since the area is known as home to bobcats.
We arrived back at the car hungry for our picnic lunch and a rest.
Another day we visited the west side of the park which required a much longer drive from our campground to access the west entrance.
This side of the park was much quieter and appeared to be less visited. We enjoyed chatting with the friendly park ranger who suggested a brand new trail. This easy one mile loop gave us great views of the pinnacles.
Next up we head to Yosemite National Park to see the many spring waterfalls.
Death Valley National Park has been on our bucket list for a long time. After three days of wind and rain, we woke up to sunny skies as we left Ridgecrest and traveled to Death Valley. It was not far, but not an easy drive as we passed over two mountain passes, with the second pass at an elevation of almost 5,000 feet. It was then quite a drop down to sea level, a real workout on the brakes!
Death Valley National Park is made up of 3,336,000 acres, making it the largest national park in the lower 48 states and one of the biggest expanses of protected warm desert in the world. There are four National Parks in Alaska which are larger.
Death Valley is the lowest point in North America and the hottest, driest weather in the country. It is officially the hottest place on Earth and holds the world record for the hottest air temperature of 134°F. The valley’s steep mountain walls trap the rising hot air and recirculates it down to the basin for further heating. It has the lowest average rainfall of any place in the country with less than two inches per year, with some years no rain at all. Once again the mountains are to blame. The mountains capture moisture from passing storms before it can reach the valley.
Several people have asked us what the weather was like while we were there. This was a great time of year to visit with daily temperatures in the low 70’s with a nice breeze. At night we slept with the windows open.
One day we stopped by the Visitors Center and saw a twenty minute movie about the park. We then drove through the south end of the park, stopping at Zabriskie Point with beautiful views. There are many times in our travels over the past five years where places have surprised us with their beauty and exceeded our expectations. Death Valley was definitely one of those places.
We took a drive down the Twenty Mule Team Canyon Road which was named for the twenty mule teams which pulled wagon loads of borax across the desert. The mule teams pulled loads weighing up to 36 tons. The rear wagon wheels were seven feet high and the entire mule team was more than 100 feet long.
We also drove the Artists Palette Drive with magnificent colors that are impossible to catch with a camera.
We visited the Borax Museum where in 1881 borax was found nearby. The Pacific Coast Borax Company mining was done in the area from the 1880’s until the 1920’s when mining slowed down and the area started to become a popular tourist area. Death Valley became a national monument in 1933 and a national park in 1994.
We hiked a nice trail to Natural Bridge. It seems like almost every park we go to has a natural bridge!
A highlight of the day was visiting Badwater Basin, which at 282 feet below sea level is the lowest elevation in North America. Up on the mountainside was a sign showing sea level.
As we drove around the park we would see signs showing sea level and various places below sea level.
Badwater Basin is made up of salt flats. Sodium chloride, or table salt, makes up the majority of the salt at Saltwater Basin.
Another day we continued exploring by visiting the Harmony Borax Works, the site of one of Death Valley’s first borax operations from 1883-1888. While searches for gold yielded little success, borax became known as the “White Gold of the Desert “ and was the valley’s most profitable mineral. Borates, or salt minerals, were deposited in the ancient lake beds where water dissolved the borates and carried them to the floor of Death Valley. Here they recrystallized as borax which was used by blacksmith, potters, dairy farmers, housewives, meat packers and morticians. Many Chinese laborers were recruited from San Francisco to scrape the borax off the salt flats and carry it to wagons to be sent to the refinery. They were paid $1.30 a day minus the cost of lodging and food. They lived in crude shelters and tents.
Next we walked the beautiful Gold Canyon Trail and enjoyed every second of the hike.
Because we hiked at least two trails in the park we each earned a Death Valley decal.
After lunch we stopped by Salt Creek Interpretive Trail where we walked on the boardwalk through the marshes. Imagine our surprise to find a stream with numerous pupfish. The water originates from brackish springs and marshes more than a mile upstream. The water becomes increasingly salty due to evaporation as it flows downstream. The stream flows alongside the boardwalk in winter and spring and is more salty than seawater. Soon the stream will be dry up until next winter.
The water is too salty for human consumption but manages to sustain life for many plants and animals, including the pupfish. The pupfish have a lifespan of one year or less so they use this time to quickly feed and breed. They are one of the toughest of all fish and are able to survive in salinity several times that of seawater as well as extreme temperatures.
On our last day we drove in the northern section of the park to the amazing Ubehebe Crater which is only about 2,000 years old. The Crater is a half mile across and about 500 feet deep. If it hadn’t been late in the day we would have walked the trail around the rim.
We had a wonderful time in Death Valley and can now mark it off the bucket list. We are currently back at the Elks Lodge in Ridgecrest. Thursday we travel to a recreation area in Taft, CA.
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_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
We settled into a private campground in the town of Woodland. We loved our campsite with a front row view of the Columbia River. During our week-long stay we really enjoyed watching the ships, boats and tugs sailing between Portland and the Pacific Ocean. 
The above picture is an animated collage of the two whales.
