Road Trip to Death Valley

Well, we didn't actually get packed the night before, so the morning got off to a later start than planned. While Ira went to pick up the rental car, I started organizing and packing. The extra time worked in our favor though--it gave us a chance to borrow a cooler, toss in a few ice packs, and fill it with La Croix sparkling water. Game changer! 

No worries about the delay--it's only about a five-hour drive to Death Valley National Park, and we even had time to stop for breakfast pastries. 

I had recently downloaded an app called Too Good to Go, which helps users rescue perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste. That morning, we picked up a grab bag from one of our favorite bakeries, Desserts by Clement. For just $4.99, our mystery bag held three Dubai Chocolate Croissants--normally $9 each. A day old, yes, but absolutely delicious. 

Next stop: Trader Joe's, because they have the best road-trip snacks. We stocked up on our favorites--dried mangoes, peanut butter pretzels, bananas, apples--and thanks to our cooler, we also packed yogurt, berries and granola. We were officially road-trip ready. Death Valley, here we come!

The Ranch at Death Valley

We arrived at The Ranch at Death Valley, our home for the night. With a bit of daylight left, we decided to explore before dinner. 

Our first stop was Harmony Borax Works, Death Valley's first borax refinery, which operated from 1883 to 1888. Borax--the "White Gold of the Desert"--turned out to be the valley's most profitable mineral.

Harmony Borax remains

Harmony Borax Works was built in 1882 by San Francisco businessman William T. Coleman to refine the "cottonball" borax found from the nearby salt flats. Because transportation costs were so high, it was cheaper to refine the borax here rather than haul the raw material--and its waste--165 miles (265 km) to the nearest railroad.

Furnace Creek Badlands a.k.a. The Desert

Furnace Creek Badlands

Borates minerals were deposited in ancient lakebeds that were later uplifted and eroded into the yellow Furnace Creek Badlands. Over time, water dissolved the borates, carried them to the valley floor, and re-crystallized them as borax. Laborers scraped the borax off the salt flats and hauled it by wagon to the refinery--backbreaking work in the desert heat. 

Borax has many uses--by blacksmiths, potters, dairy farmers, housewives, meat packers and even morticians. 

Remnants of the settling tanks and crystalizing vats

Inside the plant, workers refined the mineral by heating it in large boiling tanks, separating the borax from mud and salts. The purified liquid was then drawn into cooling vats, where it crystallized on hanging metal rods--a process that had to be repeated to achieve "concentrated" borax.

Twenty Mule Team

The Iconic Twenty-Mule Team

For over a century, the Twenty Mule Team has symbolized the borax industry--appearing on product labels, in history books, and even on television. The mules earned that fame, hauling massive wagons of borax across 165 miles of blistering desert terrain to reach the railroad. 

Zabriskie Point

Our next stop was Zabriskie Point, where we were greeted by a surprise--a rainbow arching beyond the parking lot.

Rainbow

The badlands below are the product of millions of years of shifting geology and water erosion. Long before Death Valley's basin formed, shimmering lakes filled this region, depositing layers of silt and volcanic ash that became the colorful clay, sandstone, and siltstone of the Furnace Creek Formation. Tectonic movement and periodic desert storms have since sculpted the breathtaking, chaotic landscape visible today.

View to the South from Zabriskie Point

View to the West from Zabriskie Point

Evening at The Ranch

Back at the ranch, I couldn't help but think how much it reminded me of Curry Village at Yosemite--casual and comfortable, with a few dining options, a huge general store, an ice cream shop, a post office and even a small museum.

After browsing the gift shop and picking up a couple of souvenirs, the cashier encouraged us to head out after dark for some stargazing--a must-do in one of the best dark-sky areas in the world.

Dinner was at the Last Kind Words Saloon, a place as full of character as it was good food. Ira had a burger and fries; I went with the Southwest Caesar Salad. Both dishes were tasty, but honestly, the decor was the real attraction--a fascinating mix of Western nostalgia and rustic charm.

Burger and fries

Southwest Caesar Salad

Last Kind Words Saloon

Twenty Mule Train

Moosehead

Stargazing

After dinner, we hopped back in the car and drove out to Harmony Borax Works again--it seemed like the perfect stargazing spot since there were no lights for miles. We were right. It took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust, but eventually we could see enough to follow the path. The sky was ink-black, filled with brilliant stars. Ira's phone managed to capture some surprisingly great night shots--here are just a couple.

Mule Train by night


It was the perfect ending to our first day--just us, the stars, and the silence of the desert.

A dopo!


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