I'm a Winner!

I did it!  Thirty days of literary abandon.  This November I participated in the National Novel Writing Month challenge.  The goal, starting at 12:01am Nov 1st, write a 50,000 word novel by 11:59pm Nov. 30th.  Here it is the 27th, my novel is submitted, and I come in at 51,037 words.  What a relief.  The novel is far from finished; I've got some pretty serious editing to do.  However, I am mighty proud of myself. 

The Racetrack

I have come to learn that to get to the 'cool' places in the park, I need a vehicle with high clearance, four-wheel drive, and tires that can withstand sharp shards of volcanic rock.  I love my little car, but she definitely doesn't fit those standards.  Don't worry, there are plenty of places she can get me to as well.

 

I was privileged to have a day in the schedule where I got to use a government vehicle with those specifications and spend some time in the back country, and more specifically, the Racetrack.  I have been anxious to get out there since a co-worker at Great Basin told me about the moving rocks.

 

We passed a large swatch of Joshua Trees.  I love these guys, but know not to get too close; they are dangerously sharp!

Teakettle Junction.  Lots of folks leave a teakettle behind.  Law enforcement had recently cleared it off, so the collection was in the building phase.

The Racetrack is a dry lake bed, or playa. (I know playa in Spanish means beach, but they still call this dry lake bed a playa.)  It was vast.  Near the top end of the playa was the Grandstand, this lovely outcropping of rocks in the middle of the playa.  Of course, there was nothing else to do but scramble all over this.

Enjoying the view.  That's me in the bottom left corner.

From the Grandstand, you get a small glimpse of how vast the playa is.

Now, on to the reason we came out here, the moving rocks.  There are rocks that slide and slither their way across the playa.  We know they move because of the trail that is left.  How exactly they move is still unclear.  The theories range from wind pushing the rocks over slick ran-wet or frozen mud to aliens to the dolphins that live in the aquifer under Death Valley.  Regardless, I found them absolutely fascinating.

 

I tried to get the snaking curvature of the path this rock took.

These guys are solid and heavy!

My water bottle next to a rock for some perspective on how big some of these rocks are.

There are some paths that have no rocks.  The rocks move, they don't walk off unless people take them.  Unfortunately, that happens.  I'm pretending to be a rock in the picture below.

Another picture showing the vastness of the playa, and the size of the rocks that are traveling across it.  That's a rock just to my right.

The park is covered by abandoned mines.  We stopped at the Ubehebe Lead Mine that was last in operation during WW1.

 

This poor truck has been waiting a long time for a tow...

Me and Paul at the mine entrance.

Sunset in the desert.

I do feel I need to say there was some stress related to this trip.  However, it was an almost magical experience to visit the Racetrack and see the moving rocks.

Camping, Hiking, TREES!

I feel the need to explain how I got a four day weekend.  If only the weekend activities interest you, skip the next paragraph and start where you see the*. 

I work nine hour days.  This means every other week I have a three day weekend.  The government counts pay periods in two week increments.  During training we had 'normal' weekends, Sat/Sun.  At the end of the second week of training, we had our third day, Fri, off as well.  Since Sunday was the start of the new pay period, we switched to our actual lieu days for the rest of the season then.  Now, not everyone got three days since the new pay period started on Sun and some people work Sun; yet they still got two days.  Since my days off will be Sun/Mon and the second Tues of the pay period, I got a four day weekend, Fri-Mon.

*With the prospect of a four day weekend and wanting to get up to the tallest point in the park before it snowed, five of us decided to camp near the trailhead and get an early start Saturday morning.

We left the dorms Friday afternoon for the Wild Rose campground.  It was up Emigrant Canyon and was quite lovely.  Still, no trees.  Notice the blue pack with the yellow flower.  Kate's most recent procurement and loving it!

We stopped and wandered around the charcoal kilns for a bit in the morning.  I was more interested in the pinion/juniper forest we were in.  Trees!  Oh, how I've missed you!

Having government keys and a friend with a vehicle that could handle the road, we bypassed the trailhead and parked up the access road for one of the park repeaters and cut off about four-five miles from the 14 mile round trip hike.  Having hiked almost three days straight, my legs were ok with this.

Jeanette, who has the same pack I do, and the rest of our group strung out along the trail.

Telescope peak: 11,049ft and our goal. I think it's quite lovely, for a peak.

My goal was to get to the bristlecones.  I was in desperate need of some trees and to see these wonderful pines I'm deeply attached to was heavenly.  I could have sat in the grove and not made it to the peak and been completely content with my hike.  Hooray for the b-cones!

I did make it to the top and we had lunch and enjoyed the view.  From Telescope, we could look west and see Mt. Whitney (it's there amid the dust), the highest point in the lower 48.

We could also look east into Badwater Basin and see the lowest point in the US.  Kind of cool. 

My usual contemplating pose, this time it's the Panamint Range.

Our group at the top: Me, Lauren C., Paul S., Jeanette M., and Drew K.

It was a wonderful, wonderful trip.  It was originally my idea, but it was those I went with who made it possible.  Thanks!

And for those interested in my NaNoWriMo progress, I'm moving write along with my spy novel (pun intended).  As of yesterday the 12^th, I'm at 23,996 words.

Hottest, Driest, Lowest

Greetings from Death Valley National Park!  After a quick visit to Houston and some horseback riding with friends in Nevada, I rolled into the park on the 20^th.  I found the visitor center where a welcome packet was waiting for me, along with directions and keys to my new house.  I found the house, which is a dorm, and unloaded and unpacked in some pretty surprising heat.  The last two weeks I've been in  training.

I do not have internet at the dorms, nor do I have cell service.  A storm took out the my provider's tower a couple weeks ago.  Not having service in Nevada the past two summers, I'm ok with that.  internet, and not getting it, this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me.  Internet is mostly how I keep up with friends and the only way I apply for jobs.

The past two weeks I've been in training.  Up and back to the Castle on the commuter van makes for long days.  We've been able to get out and explore and have had some trips to old mining sights and hikes through canyons.  A group of us are going camping tonight, then hiking the highest peak in the park tomorrow.  I'll try to stay as current as possible with my posts, updates, and pictures.

 

Here's a quick glance at the last two weeks. Enjoy! You'll notice no pictures of Scotty's Castle, where I'll be working. I've decided to dedicate an entire post to the Castle some point soon.

 

 Welcome to the park!

Yup, I work for this company!

Lowest: 282 feet below sea level.  There is a sign on the mountains behind me that tells you where sea level is.

 Salt!

Some of the folks I'll be working with at the Castle this winter: Me, Walter, Eric, Alex, Lacey, Keegan, Jeanette, and Paul (seated).

 

Wandering around one of many abandoned mine sites in the park.  The park is 3.5 million acres.  That's a lot of places to explore.

Messing around with the winch that was used to send buckets of gold down, and empty buckets back up the mountain.  Don't worry, we had to hike it up and it was intense.  No trees, no shade, no cover, and steep. 

 Chris demonstrating his balance and yoga skills.

 Chris, Carrie, and I: more goofing off.

Starting our hike up the canyon.

 Layers.  If you're a geologist, this is definitely a place to explore.

 More views of the canyon.

Quick trip up to Natural Bridge.