Wildflowers And Rainbow Rocks

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How could people give such an awful name to this incredible place? Death Valley - this is where we spent the last days of our spring break. This is the answer: During the California gold rush, a group of pioneers decided, against the warning of their wagon master, to take a shortcut across an unknown desert of the West. Only one group member died in the valley, but as the party exited through Panamint Mountains, one man looked back and said, "Goodbye, Death Valley".

Early spring was a good time to visit Death Valley. It is the hottest and driest place in the United States. A temperature of 134 degrees F, the second-highest ever recorded in the world, was noted in 1913. Only the Sahara Desert in Libya has ever beaten that record - 136 degrees in 1922. The valley gets less than 2 inches (5 cm) of rain per year. Higher elevations are cooler than the low valley: temperatures drop 3 to 5 degrees with every 1,000 vertical feet. The highest peaks receive about 15 inches of rain annually. On average, Death Valley is the hottest place in the world. The hottest month is July, when an average temperature is 116 degrees F.

Surreal was the word which comes in mind when I look at these landscapes.

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While some rocks looked absolutely bare, others hosted plants which successfully adapted to the land of brutal heat.

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Wild flowers were starting to bloom when we were there - end of March, beginning of April. The peak of their bloom was expected to be a couple of weeks later. Nevertheless, I enjoyed those flowers which we saw.

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Most of them were yellow and purple. But, we also saw whitish-pink and red-orange blooms.


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Most of the plants that flower are desert annuals (ephemerals). Colors range from white and yellow to purple, blue, red and bright magenta.

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Some of the valley's plants and wildflowers are: desert star, blazing star, desert gold, mimulus, encelia, poppies, verbena, evening primrose, phacelia, cacti, desert paintbrush, mojave desert rue, lupine, joshua tree, panamint daisies.

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All together, there are over 1,000 plant species in Death Valley National Park, including 13 species of cactus and 23 endemics.

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In the picture below, there is a hint of how the valley could look when its flowers are in full bloom: do you see the ground getting covered by yellow?

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The flowers were not the only colorful thing in the valley.

Artist's Palette enchanted us with its fantastic rocks.

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We saw yellow, sea green, blue and salmon pink mineral deposits while driving on a one-way road which, at times, reminded us of a rollercoaster with its dives and turns.

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North America's lowest point is in Death Valley! It was exciting to be at sea level.

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But wait! In the next picture, do you see a white rectangular spot almost in the middle? That white sign, up there, marks sea level! We were much below it, on the salt flats.

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The Badwater Basin salt pan, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere!

It was cool to walk on the salt toward mountains with white snow peaks!

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One of our favorite places was Mosaic Canyon. It is considered to be a geologic wonder which is famous for its polished rocks.

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In 1837, borax deposits were discovered in the region. They used 20-mule team wagons to haul the processed mineral 165 miles across the desert to the railroad in Mojave.

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Credit: Death Valley. Your Complete Guide To The Parks.

Beautiful pictures of Death Valley wild flowers can be seen here: http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html . This is one of the desertusa.com photos:

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Join Gail at clay and limestone for a Wildflower Wednesday.

My reports about two other sections of our 2010 spring break are here:

Aah... Enchanted Garden In Sin City, Are You Afraid Of Heights?, ...Nowhere Else On Earth

Copyright 2010 TatyanaS