Ranger Lori, who also happens to be married to Ranger Bob, had a ranger walk at 2PM. We met at the campground and drove half the cars to Harmony Borax Works. We caught a ride and left the CRV.
Here is Ranger Lori talking about the hopes and fears of people who came to Death Valley:
The borax works in the afternoon light:
Lori's walk was to give us an idea of how the people who came to Death Valley had hopes and also fears, especially fears about the conditions. This is where the Chinese workers lived that mined the borax for Harmony Borax Works:
We walked out to where they gathered the borax:
Interesting salt formations:
We then walked across the plains back to the campground. This is a ink weed, it smells like dead fish if you crush the berries:
How clay dries:
We mostly learned about the families that were heading to the 1849 California Gold Rush and one party in particular that came through Death Valley.
Old car in the plains:
A desert holly:
Coyote tracks:
When we got back Diane transported some of the people back to Harmony Borax Works for their cars.
We learned about the people who came through Death Valley and something about the plants and animals.