02/17/08 Fancy Flowers of Death Valley National Park.

Death Valley National Park is in a hot, dry, unfriendly desert as the name implies, but it does not follow that it is barren. Many plants and animals have become adapted to these harsh conditions, and are able to take advantage of the sporadic thunder storms in numerous microclimates. The winter of 2007–8, was not a particularly wet one, and some areas received practically no precipitation and thus were almost without any signs of plant life. Desert plant seeds can wait for years for a little moisture and then go through their life cycle only to become dormant until they are favored with rain again.
Below you will find pictures of some of the more interesting plants Jean found in the Park this February.

Desert Sunflower, Geraea canescens A. Gray

Phacelia calthifolia Brand.

Yellow Cups,

Camissonia brevipes (A. Gray) Raven

Camissonia claviformis
(Torrey & Frémont) A. Gray

Rock Nettle,
Eucnide urens (A. Gray) C. Parry

Five Spot,
Eremalche rotundifolia
(A. Gray) E. Greene

Langloisia setosissima
(Torr. & A. Gray) E. Greene

Mohavea brevifolia Cov.

Gilia latifolia S. Wats.

Dalea mollissima
(Rydb.) Munz

Eriogonum brachyanthum Cov.

Anulocaulis annulatus (bud)
(Cov.) Standley

Honey Sweet, (seedling)
Tidestromia oblongifolia
(S. Wats.) Standley

Coming up next: a gas saver—two nearby parks—Fremont Peak State Park near Monterey, California and Pinnacles National Monument, a rock climbers paradise.

02/17/08 The Poster Peaks of Death Valley National Park.

Pursuing our usual time table, we left early on the third Sunday of the month of February for Texas Springs Campground, Death Valley National Park, 509 miles to the east. Because of the longer distance than usual, we spent Sunday night at Red Rock Canyon State Park just north of Mojave. The next day, after passing through Trona and the Panamint Valley and stopping along the way for the many floral photo ops, we arrived at Furnace Creek Visitors Center at 4 p.m. We found the desert exceedingly colorful with many flowers wherever rain had fallen.

Death Valley National Park
is the largest national park outside of the state of Alaska.
It is about the size of the state of New Hampshire.

The Devil's Corn Field
punctuates the sand near Stove Pipe Wells.

The colorful peaks gaze down upon the tawny dunes.

Soft sensuous sand dunes invite the explorer.
(Note the white-shirted person on the rear dune.)

Hard-pan cracklings.

It is an easy walk up to the delightful
Zabriskie Point view.

Zabriskie, a mine superintendent,
must have had a Golden Touch.

Where the artists tested their paints and brushes.
On the 20 Mule Team Canyon drive.

Twenty Mule Team Canyon drive
favors the golds and oranges.

Everyone wants to visit
the lowest place in North America.

Even under stormy skies,
Artists Drive, shows off its hues.

One feels overwhelmed by the brilliant-hued cliffs.

Approaching the centerpiece of the drive— The Artist's Pallet.

Eye candy!

The sky tries to match the multi-tinted earth.

We had a few stormy days in Death Valley, but the colors were still impressive and the clouds added a nice touch when we did have blue skies. One thing we noticed was the scarcity of people for scale. The date seemed to be after the winter crowd but before the spring people.

Of course, there is much more to the Park than I have shown here It would have taken two or three weeks to cover Scottys Castle, Ubehebe Crater, Dantes View, Golden and Mosaic Canyons, Wildrose Canyon & the Charcoal Kilns, Furnace Creek Inn & the Harmony Borax Works, and all the flowers of the south end of the Park, not to mention a few ghost towns nearby and the Panamint Valley views.

There is another Death Valley blog on its way though, named Fancy Flowers of Death Valley which as the name suggests shows some of the many flowers Jean found.