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Published: December 12th 2006
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After leaving Las Vegas we headed west to Death Valley for a couple of nights. Was really warm there and that evening we watched the sunset at Badwater - a pool of salty water in the salt flats at the base of Death Valley which is over 200 feet (~45m) below sea level. By this time we had a full moon so was really neat lighting. Later that evening we joined up with one of the ranger-lead programmes offered at the park and looking at the stars over the valley. Was a little difficult because of the full moon but you could still see all the major constellations and the ranger had this awesome laser pointer that he could actually point directly at the stars themselves! Apparently it relied on there being enough dust in the atmosphere to work.
The next morning saw us up bright and early at Zabriskie Point for the sunrise and a bonus of the moon still being up in the sky. Was quite a few photographers out there - seems that getting up at sunrise to photograph things is a popular pastime here! After breakfast we headed around the Artists Pallette scenic drive and a
walk up Golden Canyon. A car commercial was being filmed on the road while we were there so was quite fun watching the film crew and the whole camera setup. Heading north we stopped at the ruins of the old Harmony Borax works (wasn't totally sure what borax was and there was nothing explaining it but we think it is a preservative of some sort) and then at Salt Creek where a walk around the creek reveals many birds including killdeer (looks exactly like our banded dotteral) and a flycatcher, and many salt loving plants. Looked very similar to a coastal salt marsh but in the middle of sanddunes in the desert! Salt Creek is also home to the Death Valley pupfish, an endangered fish that dwindles to a few hundred in summer then repopulates to the thousands with the rainy season. Next stop was the big sanddunes near Stovepipe Wells and after a very hot walk in sand for half an hour we finally found ourselves out in the middle - was a neat experience and lots of fun sliding down the dunes! We spent the night on the edge of the park at Panamint Springs and woke to
our first clouds in a week. That morning we also did a walk up a canyon to the only waterfall in Death Valley which was a nice contrast to the desert.
Heading west again saw us make a brief stop at the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine for some spectacular views of Mt Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states at over 14000 ft. Tectonics has made this a fascinting area with the higest and lowest (Badwater) points within ~100 miles of each other. The Alabama Hills are also famous as a backdrop to many Western films, particularly John Wayne movies.
Heading over the Sierras via Lake Isabella we ended up on a very scenic and dreadfully windy road that took us back into the smog of LA. No wind over the last few days meant that the smog was pretty thick and brown and covered the whole plains from the foothills of the Sierras until the range at the coast. Fortunately the coast itself seemed to be relatively clear. A thick fog bank the next morning wrapped around the shoreline as we visited the elephant seals at Piedros Blancos just north of San Simeon but
we could still see them really well. Was a huge colony! Apparently elephant seals had not been seen on the mainland until 1997 and ever since then they have started breeding here and the numbers are now in their hundreds. The males are huge! They look like beached whales and spend a lot of time aruging with one another (usually about space on the beach). Pups were due to arrive starting from when we were there but we didn't see any so must have been slightly too early.
Our next activity was a tour around
Hearst's Castle, a really fascinating and luxurious castle overlooking the coast. There are 4 tours on offer and the one we did included seeing the 2 swimming pools, a guesthouse, the main dining, theatre and gardens as well as a really interesting film on the life of William Randolph Hearst and the building of the castle.
Further up the coast we entered the Big Sur area and visited the Mc Way Falls - falls that plunge into the sea in a little sheltered cove. Was really beautiful and a relaxing end to the day. Our campsite that night was in Julia Pheiffer Burns State
Park amongst the coastal redwoods - the tallest trees in the world. Was such a huge contrast to the desert and sandstone country we had been travelling through.
The next day we headed up the coast again and arrived in Monterey just as it started to rain and so spent a fair part of the day at the Monterey Aquarium and on Cannery Row. The aquarium was pretty amazing - some of the tanks were so huge and the fish were huge also! Was really well done with heaps of educational things and really amazing setups.
We are now in San Francisco for the week as I have started at the conference (which was really the whole reason for this trip!). There are over 15000 people at the conference - I had no idea Geology was this popular! Dave is doing some sightseeing - we got city passes for the week which allow you to have unlimited rides on the buses, cable cars and street cars as well as entry to 6 city attractions. We are hoping to get out to Alcatraz Island one day and of course visit the Golden Gate Bridge.
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dave
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wow - what a trip
you've certainly packed in the spots to see - that's an awesome itinerary you put together for your time in the states. I hope the conference holds up to the adventure you've been on so far.