Last Day in Death Valley

Journey to the Centre of the Earth?

Our campsite got quite busy on the weekend, when we had working people and families arrive rather than just the usual retired couples ensconced in their rvs (ourselves included).  Kids were bouncing balls and running around and the evening was full of the voices of people gathered around the fire having a good time (but no drunken rowdiness). The only incident was when someone's pit bull got loose and attacked another dog and the police were called, according to our neighbour.  We missed the excitement, out hiking in some canyon or other).

Our last day in Death Valley was a
nother 2 canyon day. We liked Desolation Canyon because it involved some narrow passages,

Some clambering,

Interesting rock formations,

And then you climb up

And up onto the surrounding badlands until you come out on top with a view of the valley below.

And, yikes,

Not a giant spider but a thorny seedhead!

Later in the day we looked for a canyon our campsite neighbour told us about with an actual flowing waterfall.

But we went in the wrong direction from the parking lot and wound up in Sidewinder Canyon.  There are six side canyons to explore but we only had time for three.

We didn't get far in the first canyon because I refused to scale an 8 ft wall.

The second and third canyons were both slot canyons

and #3 had a natural bridge. 

I managed to squeeze sideways through one section only to find I'd have to wiggle on my belly to go any further.  That was enough for me.

Sidewinder had quite a lot of vegetation

A pretty fringed poppy

and also more birds than we saw anywhere else - rock wrens, Say's phoebe and even 2 raptors.

But after awhile, all these canyons start to look alike.  Time to move on.