Death Valley — the final part!
Devils Golf course –
This we ended up seeing because of the way it’s named. We were curious to see as to what it was. The Devil’s Golf Course is a large salt pan on the floor of Death Valley, located in the Mojave Desert within Death Valley National Park, in eastern California. Although its exact boundaries are poorly defined, it extends from the vicinity of the Ashford Mill site to the Salt Creek Hills, a distance of about 40 miles. The salt pan is essentially a gigantic, dried up bed of a lake that once covered the valley to a depth of 30 feet. Some 2,000 to 4,000 years ago the lake dried up leaving behind dissolved minerals which, over thousands of years, were sculpted by weathering processes into fantastic shapes. The salt pan is so incredibly serrated that the 1934 National Park Service guidebook to Death Valley National Monument stated that “only the devil could play golf” on its surface. Shortly after, the salt pan came to be known as the Devil’s Golf Course.
Mosaic canyon-
Every point we were stunned to see as to how much the park has to offer. Our next point was the Mosaic Canyon aptly named for the colorful polished rock — or Breccia — lining its narrow slots. An Italian word meaning ‘fragment’, Mosaic Canyon’s Breccia comprises a myriad of rock fragments and types suspended in a naturally occurring cement that partially forms its walls. Millennia of rainfall and floods sculpted this unique geologic amalgam, resulting in an uncommonly colorful and polished finish. The cool, narrow slots of Mosaic Canyon offer a welcome reprieve from Death Valley’s hot open spaces, and an intimate look into its complex geologic past.
Artist’s Palette-
Etched into an alluvial plain flooding out from the Black Mountains, this incredible rainbow of color spans a soft, pastel spectrum ranging from pinks to blues to green known as the Artist’s palette. It was formed when volcanic rocks deep underground interacted with hydrothermal systems to form concentrated mineral deposits. Erosion and chemical weathering revealed and reworked the rocks, and the oxidation of different metals created the subtly striking hillside. Iron-rich hematite produce the reds and pinks, yellows and golds seep from various iron oxides, volcanic ash deposits form the greens and manganese creates the purples
Wow, I can just imagine as to what all we captured in just two days and I wish we has some more time to spend as there tons of other hikes which we could barely do it. May be we will come again to explore some more…..
Till then, adios!! Hope you all enjoyed the journey with me so far. See you all soon with my next adventure!
