2019 other side - part 4, Death Valley: cornfield, sand dunes, a stone cottage, a crater, first resort, tourism, Z point - Travel With Us

Today we drove north out of our campsite toward Stovepipe Wells. First we drove by Devil’s Cornfield. What struck me about this sign is the comment that early promoters attached names to strange and unusual features to capitalize on the mystique of Death Valley (like Devil’s Golf Course). Love how we want to name what we see and have.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

When we turn on our TV in our RV, the screen shots are of beautiful places around the world. A new series of pictures include these Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. How cool.

dunes cover 14 square miles across the widest part of Death Valley;
we could walk wherever we wanted to

I’ve been seeing people wearing black everywhere we’ve gone. Today I got my courage up and asked these folks about it. They were Asian, and I first had to make sure one of them spoke English (one did). He said the black top they wore kept the sun from hitting their skin. Interesting.

Barn is out looking for tracks other than from humans

and he found these tracks leading into nearby bushes

why these sand dunes are here and not everywhere

stone buildings

As we drove along the road, we saw this stone building and another one with bathrooms in it across the road. Since they had these info signs in the turnout, we pulled in to look and read.

Building served as a ranger station; was built by CCC workers
in the 1933s; design and style were from European stonemasons
and became the norm in the national park system.

ranger and song writer—maybe you know his most famous song
(see next picture)

We find such interesting information in such unusual places.

rough road through canyon

We had heard that this narrow one-way road was beautiful but rough to drive. Since our truck is so stiff, we decided to forgo this drive.

Looks easy at the beginning, right? Not so later on from what we heard.

Ubehebe Crater

affected a 6-square-mile area and to depths of 150 feet in some areas;
a half-mile across and about 500 feet deep

This is what the land looks like because of the crater

first resort in area and tourism in the 1900s

As we were in this area and spent some time at Stovepipe Wells, we started learning about how tourism started in Death Valley, a new industry.

Bob Eichbaum sold his business on Catalina Island in 1925,
constructed a 38-mile toll road, and built 20 green-and-white
tent-style bungalows, a restaurant, general store, and filling
station at what is now Stovepipe Wells.

Picture of toll road in corner of sign.
A couple of months after he opened his center, Furnace Creek Inn
opened, starting a rivalry between the two resorts that were
capitalizing on the tourists coming to explore Death Valley.
*We preferred Furnace Creek because of all the trees surrounding it*.

We stopped for a while at Stovepipe Wells and saw this
tank-like RV in the parking lot. It could go off-road anywhere!

Zabriskie Point (What does it have to do with tourism? Keep on reading.)

You may wonder why we include this beautiful view right after we talked about tourism. Great question. It’s because Christian Zabriskie, general manager of Pacific Coast Borax Company led the transition from mining to tourism in the 1900s.

He was a VP and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company.

This area became a national monument in 1933 and finally a national park in 1994 thanks to all the work he and others did to preserve Death Valley for future generations (us).

Here are some beautiful views from this point.

Just the beginning of the beauty. See the salt flats in the distance?

Now for some more information.

Scenery here is the result of often violent action made from water and earthquakes.

Seismic activity and pressure folded the ancient valley’s floor to make up what we’re seeing.

Volcanic activity also influenced this land.

Another grand day in Death Valley, but it’s getting hotter during the day and taking longer to cool off at night. Since we don’t have hookups and can’t run the generator after 9:00 p.m., we’re getting about ready to leave. One more day here, and we’re going to a place that will be cooler!

2019 other side – part 4, Death Valley: cornfield, sand dunes, a stone cottage, a crater, first resort, tourism, Z point

Subscribe to receive notice of new posts

Catagories

Latest Posts

2023 Southeast Swing

2021 Quick Trips

2020 Northern Plains

2020 Covid Travels

2019 Canadian Maritime Provinces

2019 Southwest Swing