Ghosts of the Gold Rush and the breath of death

We have to admit we adjusted well to the place. We were sick, the kids were sick, transmisison died. Perfect considering we were in the area full of ghost towns and near Death Valey. Oh well, we came to States to seize life and do lots of sightseeing, so we tried to do so as hard as we could. Every time there was a short break between car being broken again we tried to go on a trip, hoping that finally we’d see what we came there to see here in the first place: Death Valley.

The first time we didn’t get far passed the entrance and we went back with smoking breaks. Dante’s View, was too much for our car .First few miles the road slowly goes up but at the end there is a steep climb to get at 1669 meters/almost 5500 ft over the sea level. Few miles before the view point there is a parking where you can leave your trailer and the last turn out for A- and C-classes who were reckless enough to get this far.

The second time we picked up the car from the shop too late to drive all the way to the valley, so we went to the ghost town caled Rhyolite, which is just outside Death Valley eastern border.

Rhyolite is a great example of rapid urbanization, de-urbanization and turistization (?). In January 1905 two gold seekers lived there. They came to this area because some gold was found in the area. Finally they also found what they were looking for. The news spread quickly and within 2 weeks (!) population of Rhyolite reached 1200. After another couple of months it doubled. There was a local newspaper published, there were 50 saloons, prostitutes and other entertainments. Next year a rich guy called Schwab got there. He invested lots of money into the mine, he got electricity into town, drilled wells. Rhyolite kept growing, train station was built, there was even a train going on regular basis to Vegas.

In 1907 the town was at its best. It had a population of 7000. It had street lights, pavements, hospital, even the stock market. Mine was working at full capacity. And that's when it all crashed. There was still ore being mined but there were no new discoveries. Prices went down. It worked for few more years and then it was closed in 1911. There was just a few hundred people left in Rhyolite by then. After only few years, as it usually happens in this country, it became touristic destination. And as relation from one of the trips said, the last Rhyolitan died in 1922. Then it was just another ghost town, easy to reach from Vegas as one day trip.

Anything that had any value disappeared quickly. Most of it, like railway infrastructure was taken away by the companies that worked in Rhyolite before. All that is left there today are some ruins, rebuilt train station and a bottle house (does every ghost town have one of those?).

In the 1980s a Belgian artist with Polish last name Szukalski visited the area and thought it reminded him of Middle East. Inspired by this thought he created a piece called Last Supper which looks like from the horror movie, but has a certain charm. He added a few more sculptures later on, and they stand there with this moon-like, or maybe we should say middle eastern, landscape in the background. There are also some closed mine shafts visible here and there. Easy come, easy go...

Last Supper

With the car, we thought, third time lucky. So the next day we gave Death Valley another try. But no, the control light popped up exactly in the same spot as the first time, not too far from Dante’s View, but this time we've decided to see a little bit. So we reached Dante’s View, which gives a great view onto the whole valley. Amazing view, even more beautiful as there are not as many people as in Grand Canyon. And due to the steep route car mechanics in Pahrump probably like it too (in our case they don't like it so much, still it keeps them very busy).

From Dante’s View we went down to Badwater Basin. It's the lowest point in North America. 86 meters / 282 ft below sea level the ground is dry and salty. There are also huge mountains on both sides (the highest one in the park - Telescope Peak - is 15 miles away. There is a small pond, but how unpleasent surprise it must have been for the old time travelers, who were probably getting there half-alive - the water is clear and if you look closely there is some life in it, but it's...salty.

Badwater Basin

We felt a little bit like those travelers and suddenly we didn't feel like sightseeing any more. Control light seemed to shine even brighter, no cell phone coverage became very uncomfortable. Japanese style - taking photos out the window or from the parking lot - we "visited" a few more picturesque places. We walked just to one more view point - Zabriskie Point, where, besides seeing beautiful views, we read the story of the Death Valley.

At the end of 19th century nobody cared about the views. They did care about the borax which was found in the valley. Some people got rich carrying it out to more civilized places on huge carriages pulled by twenty mules and a horse (just in case you're wondering why "Twenty Mule" is a popular street name in California). But when demand went down Borax Company realized it's quite a pretty place, this valley. So, in 1920s, they built a hotel and a restaurant and they started organizing tours. And then all they needed was some lobbying (our theory) and the valley became a national park, so nobody else could build anything and only what was already there could make money on tourists.

Zabriskie Point

It's really hot there. Death Valley has over 200 days per year with temperature over 30C/86F. It's also another hottest place on Earth we got to visit. From 1922 for many years Al- Aziziya in Libya held the record, but then the method of measuring was questioned by the US and Death Valley with its 53C/127 F from 1913 moved to the first place.

Dante's View

We skipped many places, like for example Scotty's Castle many people recommended. We just felt it's not our time, and if we went there again next day we'd probably feel just as insecure. We just wanted to move on to California. At least we have a reason to go back there some day. And Death Valley is definitely worth visiting again, hopefully more thoroughly (and carelessly) this time. And the car? Well, let's give you the end of the story in the next post.

One more note: there is an entrance fee of course, unless you have Annual Pass America the Beautiful.