March 14-15, 2016 China Ranch, California

Monday we started our annual March family Death Valley  trip. We started with a night at China Ranch Date Farm outside of Tecopa.

On our way to China Ranch we stopped by a field of desert gold in front of Tecopa Peak. Judy Dillman photograping the golds.

Judy Dillman, Mac and I hiked from Tecopa to China Ranch down the Amargosa River Canyon. The river runs above ground through most of it. It is a lovely canyon with dramatic cliffs.

With a waterfall and many colors of rocks.

Mac walking on the old railbed of the Tonepah to Tidewater railroad. We took a short side trip to the slot canyon.

The canyon is so narrow that Mac can touch both sides at once.  The Amargosa River ouside of the slot canyon.

We stayed in these Teepees in the date orchard at China Ranch.

Jill, Judy’s daughter and my niece gave us a talk on what she actually does at work. She is a post grad Phd in Astrophysics at Harvard. This photo is a visulation  of the universe that was run on 900,000 processors for 6 months that a team she is part of has been working on. The next day Judy, Jill, Gabriella and I hiked back up the Amargosa Canyon to Tecopa. Here we are at a rest stop in the shady spot.

Dramatic cliffs with red mistletoe in the mesquite trees. A spring seeps out of this colorful cliff filling a small stream that runs into the river here.

Willow blooms, rock daisy and phacilia, turtle back and grape leaves, tamarisk blooms, a roadrunner and a curly bullrush.

Yellow flowered bush, seed pod, lesser mohavae, desert trumpet stems, cactus buds, a five spot bloom, cactus bloom and an arch built from stones of a ruin in Modine meadows.

Cactus blooms, crypanthia, discarded dates under one of the palms and a yellow flower. The next three nights of our annual family trip are at Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley. This year we have a group of 15 people. We are celebrating Judy’s and Mac’s birthday (April 1) and Mac’s retirement. This is us at dinner at the Inn our first night.