Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

One of the days we were in the area of Death Valley National Park we traveled out of the park by way of Beatty, Nevada, and spent most of the day at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada's Amargosa Valley.  The refuge is an oasis in the desert and we hiked to some of the springs, swam in the reservoir, climbed some of the cliffs, saw the pupfish for which the refuge is known, and had a great day with hardly anyone around.

Crystal Spring and Visitors' Center Area

Corkscrew Mesquite

Jackrabbit

Longstreet House and Spring

(Jack Longstreet was an outlaw who lived in the area)

Pupfish

(each spring in the park has its own variety of pupfish)

Crystal Reservoir

Point of Rocks Area

Spring Meadows

Death Valley, Day 5

Our fifth day in Death Valley we spent in Warm Spring Canyon.  We began the day by driving from Ashford Mill the Westside Road and on to the Warm Spring Road.  We stopped often for photos of old mines, wildflowers and scenery and arrived at Warm Spring Camp around noon.  The road was very rough and by the time we arrived at the camp we decided we had gone far enough with our van.  The camp is an old mining camp near the White Point Talc mine, now closed, that even had a swimming pool.  We did not stay in any of the old buildings, though that is allowed, but camped, as we usually do, in our van.  We spent the day doing some laundry and washing in the spring, walking to the mine, which is sealed off, exploring the camp, the surrounding area and its old mining equipment and relaxing.  That night we did some star photography.

Warm Spring Canyon

Wildflowers

Warm Spring Camp

White Point Talc Mine

Warm Spring

Old Mining Equipment

Wildlife

Sunset

Stars