January 16, 2017 Death Valley, California

Low 70’s, sunny and windy.

We headed up a canyon we had not been to before. Echo Canyon. It has a rough road up through a narrow canyon, then to a gold mine and ghost town. The trail description  says you can take two wheel drive high clearance. We were not sure how far we could go.  Very pretty canyon.

Layers on the canyon wall. Inyo mine ghost down. The mill was taken down, but all the parts of a stamp mill were there.

Plus a few buildings.

This one had stone steps and the remains of a cupola. The sign for Echo Canyon, the narrow gorge cuts through the Bonanza king formation. All over the high walls erosion has carved innumerable caves, spire-framed overhands and hollows, producing an eerie landscape. One of the arches seen and a hollow barrel cactus.

Another building in the ghost town. These hills always look like they are deflated to me.

The afternoon light made the canyon wall shine. There are a couple miles of this very narrow canyon at the beginning of it.  A lot of it was loose gravel that you had to keep going in so you didn’t sink in.

The Needles Eye seen from both sides. It is the biggest ‘window’ in the canyon.

Narrow canyon, wierd strata on the walls.

Historic artifacts at the ghost town dump, brittle bush blooms, and a cool shadow on a rock. The road was pretty rough in spots. I would never have taken the car up it, but John did a great job.

The last rays of sun over the Panamint mountains into the main Death Valley . We stopped at Furnace Creek Inn to have a cocktail and watch the sunset.