So, another very early morning start, this time to see the sunrise at Dante's View. As yesterday the temperature before dawn was a very pleasant 70F. So a 17 mile drive, starting in the dark but gradually lightening, the sky turning a delicate shade of blue, deepening all the time. As we approached the car park, in the early dawn light we saw several jack rabbits scooting across the road in front of us. Dante's View was a half mile trek from the car park, 700 feet up a rough, steep track. I made it with a few minutes to spare before the sun peeked over the mountains and gradually lit up the landscape all around.
The View is some 5,000 above the valley floor and offers fantastic views. It is said that due to the dry desert air you can see most of the 110 mile long Death Valley. Anyway, after many photographs and as it was getting very warm and I was getting hungry, I descended to meet Ruth in the car park for some breakfast.
We paused at the roadside on the way back to the ranch and disturbed a kangaroo rat, he soon bounded away, cute little creature. On our way to the View we noticed a trail off the main road that looked interesting so we swung onto the 'Twenty Mule Team Wagon Canyon', a very twisting, winding road through incredible scenery in and around some abandoned borax mine workings. Then back to the ranch to,catch up on some sleep.
After some lunch, the temperature having reached 112F, we decided to drive to the other end of the Valley to see a volcanic crater and on the way to see a ghost town, Leadfield. The turn off to Leadfield started well enough, a good road that climbed up through the Amargosa Ranges, via Hell's Gate and Daylight Pass before crossing the state line into Nevada. The road was dead straight down from the Pass and across the Amargosa Desert (just mile after mile of scrub) where we turned off on the Leadfield 'road'. It was an unpaved single track, and to start with ran gently up towards the mountains where the fun began. It twisted, turned, climbed, fell, with some pretty severe corners and sheer drops to the side, a spectacular drive though it has to be said not everyone agreed with that view. Through the first Range we dropped down to Leadville. It only ever had 300 inhabitants and existed for 5 years before being abandoned in 1927. All that remains are a few dilapidated buildings.
On downhill we joined Titus Canyon, a very narrow, very high walled canyon that wound its way down through the mountain range. There were a couple of large Boulder with petroglyphs of unknown origin - the local Indians (oops, Native Americans) say they have no knowledge of them. The Canyon was truly spectacular and with golden coloured rocks and a late afternoon sun, it was a sight to enjoy.
On then to the Ubehebe Crater, an impressive hole in the ground, some 770 feet to the bottom! All around is black dust and rock, reminded us of our trip to Iceland. This was an explosive eruption crater which is why the surrounding countryside is covered in black ash, a very bleak landscape. By now the sun was low in the sky so,we returned to the ranch - took us over an hour despite the good roads.
Laundry duties, a quick swim, dinner then bed. It is so dry here that all the laundry had dried while we were having dinner, it is amazing how dry it is, plus it was over 100F.
