braindump

(Now that I have your attention…)

Scotty's Castle

Having seen my quota of sights in the southern part of Death Valley yesterday, today I headed north in the morning. The road north runs over a series of alluvial fans, and as a result, seems more like a rollercoaster than a road in places.

The first destination was Scotty’s Castle, a rather bizarre building with an interesting history which I won’t recount here because I don’t know it; I didn’t have the time to take the tour to find out.

Little rattler

What I will mention is my encounter with a small rattlesnake in the grounds of the “castle”. I was about to take a photo of a cactus in a rock garden, when I suddenly heard a rattling sound from at my feet. I jumped back before I even could think what the noise might be, and saw that I’d almost stepped on the little critter pictured. He continued to rattle as he retreated, and I kept a safer distance as well. Both our evolved responses worked out well for us.

My next stop (after my pulse settled down again) was Ubehebe Crater, which I think is the last volcano on my itinerary. Unlike the lava-gushing Hawaiian volcanoes, this one was a steam blast that ejected rock fragments over the surrounding area.

I then started the fairly long drive out of Death Valley to Bishop, one of a few towns on highway 395, which runs up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Passing through Lone Pine, there was cloud covering Mt Whitney (the highest peak in the continental US). I made it to Bishop just after 5 pm, but was pleased that Mountain Light, the photographic gallery of Galen and Barbara Rowell, was still open. There I bought John Muir’s “The Yosemite”, in an edition with photos by Galen Rowell, which are stunning. More Yosemite tomorrow…