In the Badlands

Yesterday we overlooked the badlands at Zabriskie Point and today we got to clamber about on them.  We got up at 6 am to avoid the heat and the crowds, and we were just the second party to reach the parking lot.

We soon overtook the earlier birds and had the hike up Gold Canyon to ourselves.

 Next we walked up to the amphitheater of the Red Cathedral

and then scrambled up onto a ledge that overlooked the Valley floor.

From there we hiked up and down the badlands we'd seen from Zabriskie Point.  We could have hiked all the way up to the viewpoint but elected instead to return to our truck via Gower's Gulch.

The whole hike was amazingly devoid of life.  There's apparently only one plant that grows here:

Desert Holly

We neither saw or heard a single bird, no insects, no lizards.

Our hike was done by noon so we drove to the Timbisha Shoshone Reservation just across the highway from our campsite for delicious frybread.

In the afternoon we did some short walks.  First we stopped at the Harmony Borax Works to look at the remains of an old borax refinery, complete with a 20 mule team borax wagon.  When Leo was a kid he sent away for a model of the 20 mule team, and now here was the real thing!

We also checked out the Salt Creek Interpretive boardwalk.

Salt Creek is home to the Salt Creek species of pupfish which can survive in the briny water.  When the lake that once covered Death Valley dried up, a number of species of pupfish evolved, each suited to the particular minerals existing at the various springs.  Many species are endangered , but the Salt Creek pupfish are in good shape.  The creek was full of them!

They look very colourful on the interpretive displays so we were a little disappointed to see they look like any other minnow!

There was lots of vegetation along Salt Creek, mostly pickleweed which has bladders to collect the salt just like seaside plants.

We hoped there would be some birds around with all this life, but no luck in the heat of the afternoon though we saw heron tracks in the mud.

So we visited the pond at the golf course hoping for birdlife, but pretty dead there too.  Eventually we saw a pair of ravens, some house finches, yellow-rumped warblers, a collared dove and a Say's phoebe.