DEATH VALLEY

The road coming down out the mountains winds through these canyons.
There's not a lot of room for error here either, but at least sliding off the road only leads to a slap against a rock wall instead of a tumbling fall to your death.
And we're out. As you can see the wind is blowing about in the valley.
This is called the Devil's Cornfield. It's where they get the corn to make Kellogg's Devil's Cornflakes.
It's another sand dune. This one is more accessible than the one in the Mojave Preserve.
I see dead trees. Well, dead looking anyway.
Stovepipe Wells Village. There has been a settlement of some sort here since 1906.
A long straight road.
Another dirt road to another mining camp.
This one is called Skidoo. Cool name, huh? I didn't go all the way to the end of the road (apparently there isn't much there now anyway) but on the way there was this little building.
And this.
I suppose this is a mine opening but it is straight down instead of vertical like the others I saw.
Or like this one. This is the Eureka Mine. The rails are still there but a bit bent now.
It's also closed off but peeking in offers a view of the rails that are still there. This was a gold mine.
Another dugout structure.
Cashier Mill was used to pulverize the ore and then gold was extracted through chemical processes using mercury and cyanide.
A further drive to the end of the road leads to Aguereberry Point. We are 6433 feet up and all the way down there is sea level or lower.
The Furnace Creek Inn opened in 1927. It is a deluxe hotel in the middle of the desert. It would be a nice place to stay if visiting the park but it's pretty expensive.
On the way out I stopped at Zabriskie Point. The rock formations are kind of funky, like wrinkled up sheets.
Death Valley Junction is little more than an intersection of California State Roads 190 and 127. At least one person lives here. Artist Marta Becket has performed here since the late 1960's.
According to the faded paint on the building, this used to be a garage.
Attached to the Amargosa Opera House is a hotel and cafe. I can't imagine there are many guests.
I had a nice Italian dinner here at Tommasino's in Pahrump.
Thursday morning meant a drive back to Las Vegas to catch my flight home.
And here I am. I got there early to be safe so to kill a little time I drove up the strip.
This is a bit blurry because I wanted to snap a quick photo without being obvious. Yes, there are slot machines in the airport terminal. They are the first things you see getting off the plane and the last you see before getting on. They want you to leave as much of your money there as possible.

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