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Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park straddles the Nevada border in the east central part of California. Death Valley's formation began about 3 million years ago when forces within the Earth broke the crust into blocks. Some of these blocks tilted and rotated, creating the alternating mountain and valley pattern. During the ice ages large lakes intermittently occupied the basin; their evaporation left alternating layers of mud and large salt deposits that still are visible.
American Indian peoples have occupied the area during the past 9,000 years, but the valley gained its forbidding name and reputation relatively recently. In the late autumn of 1849 a group of pioneers and gold seekers left Salt Lake City for California following the Old Spanish trail. After two weeks of slow-going, a splinter group decided to take a route across the desert which would cut 500 miles from their journey.
Early on, the man with the map of the route abandoned the travelers, who were left to just head west. After a month of traveling the shortcut, the band again split into groups taking different routes. Each faction escaped the area on its own and met at Ash Meadows, east of Death Valley. More than 3 months after starting on the Old Spanish Trail, their journey ended, and with only one human death occurring in the valley.
Although miners later found precious metals in the area, the discovery of another mineral--borax--initiated the exploitation of the valley. The borax company built the roads over which the famous 20-mule teams drew wagon loads weighing as much as 40 tons.
A place of unexpected contrasts, Death Valley National Park encompasses 3,336,000 acres. The valley itself ranges from less than 10 miles to about 61 miles in width and is about 146 miles long. Elevations range from 282 feet below sea level near Badwater (the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere) to 11,049 feet above sea level at Telescope Peak. One of the hottest regions in the world, the valley experienced a record temperature of 134 F, though summer temperatures in the 110s and 120s are the norm. Although summer thunderstorms sometimes send flash floods tearing down narrow canyons, the average yearly rainfall on the valley floor is less than 2 inches.
Of the more than 900 species of plants found, 19 are unique to the area, including the Desert Bird's Beak, Napkin Ring Buckwheat, and Golden Carpet.
The area also contains a wealth of geological phenomena: large sand dune formations, sculpted rocks, isolated valleys and volcanic craters. The canyon and mountain walls change color with the shifting sunlight.
Mankind's marks on the desert are limited. The park boundaries encompass the route of the Jayhawkers Trail taken from Utah's Great Salt Lake in 1849; the route taken by the Darwin-French party in 1860; the first mine worked in the region; several beehive charcoal kilns; and the ghost town site of Skidoo.
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