February Outings

There's a lot to cover, but don't worry, I've got plenty of pictures to accompany this post.

Earlier in the month, I had some time in the afternoon and decided to play tourist and hiked the Golden Canyon-Gower Gulch loop.  Golden Canyon is a pretty popular tourist stop and I was a bit embarrassed I hadn't hiked it yet.  It was beautiful.  You get up to the top and it's almost like you're looking over the Badlands of the Dakotas instead of Death Valley.

At first, my perception of the park was a barren, desolate place, with a serious tree deficiency.  However, the colors in Death Valley are absolutely spectacular.  It is truly a geologist's dream.

That's me, hiker extraordinaire, loving the intense afternoon sun.  The next day it rained and the temp dropped.  Good timing, I must say.

Last weekend I explored Sidewinder Canyon.  There were some really awesome slot canyons, a beautiful day, and a lot of climbing up dry falls.  It was good to stretch the muscles in a way they hadn't been stretched in a while scrambling up canyon walls and brush up on the three points of contact.  Awesome place.

Up the canyon, looking back towards the valley and the Amargosa Range to the north (the eastern border of the valley named Death).  See what I mean about colors?

This is one of the three main slot canyons.  I could easily reach out and touch both sides of the canyon walls in the picture below.  It got even more narrow and rather dark at times because the sun couldn't reach.  Beautiful!

Narrow!

I wasn't the only one enjoying the slot canyon.  This is a chuckwalla.  He was huge!  I wish I'd had something to give some perspective.  From head to hind feet, definitely a lot bigger than my foot.  So cool to see wildlife in their natural environment.

A very narrow passage.

Last weekend a co-worker, with a jeep, agreed to go explore some of the off-pavement trails in the park.  We stopped at a talc mine.  I'm posing with an old and long forgotten gas pump.

This is not snow but talc from the mine.  It was everywhere and was in sharp contrast to the dark, almost black, hills around us.

Remains of the old mine.

We stopped at the Warm Springs area and there was a huge mine adit! 

Looking through the bars over the entrance, I got a picture of how they shored the ceiling.  I had no desire to get in there and explore.

At the Warm Springs Camp, the original inhabitants built a swimming pool, with a diving board, where the spring water would collect.  It was so far out in the middle of nowhere in a place difficult to access (thanks I.W. for taking me in your jeep!) it seemed so out of place.  Totally cool!

Finally, we made it to our goal, Striped Butte.  It was a large outcropping of rocks in the middle of a large valley between mountains, that had the most beautiful striping on it.  There is so much here at this park that needs exploring.  It was a lovely day with great company!

I've had a few nibbles from parks for this summer.  I'll keep you posted.  Happy four months in Death Valley!

Life Lessons from a Bristlecone

Finally, the post I've been promising for a long time.  I give you, life lessons from a bristlecone.

 

Be Content With Your Natural Beauty

 

Bristlecones are the oldest living trees in the world and most look every day their 4,000 plus years.  Most trees grow only 20-40 ft in height.  Needles are in clusters of five, very dense, and can remain on the branch 30-40 years. (Most conifers drop their needles every year or every three years.) 

When the roots die, sections of trunk and branches above them also die. As dead strips of trunk dry out, the bark sloughs off, revealing the bare wood. Over the centuries, as the roots continue to die, the trunk may be made up only of one or two small strips of living bark connecting the living roots to living limbs.

Let Adversity Make You Stronger

Bristlecones are most often found between 10,000 and 11,000 feet; that's two miles above sea level. At this elevation, it's often winter 9-10 months out of the year. Winds at this elevation can easily reach hurricane force. They survive with shallow soil, high winds, long and cold winters, buried in snow, and a bare minimum of moisture.Bristlecones found at lower elevations and in better growing conditions and longer growing seasons don't live as long as their relatives at the higher elevations.

Go Out On a Limb

There are many survival theories for these trees. The wood is extremely resinous and very dense. The tree is rock solid, helping it to withstand the wind and making it hard to burn. A 10 inch strip of wood with bark can sustain a large crown of needles. 

Many destructive insects can't function at such high elevations. The trees themselves are more widely spread (no dog-hair forests here) which results in less competition for scarce resources. Less vegetation also means fewer fires entering the stand from outside.

Remember Your Roots

Core samples reveal the tree rings and are used as a method of measuring time and past environmental conditions (rainfall, air and soil temps, wind, length of growing season).  Even dead trees are useful. Analysis of living bristlecone and fragments of wood from dead trees has enabled inferences to extend 10,000 years into the past.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

The bristlecone can reproduce successfully by seed despite the rough environment. The Clark's nutcracker (Jay family) makes it home among the britslecones and helps distribute the seeds. If a seed is buried at least 1 inch deep, the chance of surviving dramatically increases.The cones take two seasons to mature. The immature cones are a deep purple color, using this dark coloration to absorb more heat from the sun to mature the cone. 

We can all learn lessons from these marvelous trees!

 

Where would I be without my friends?