December 23-24, 2019 Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California

We woke up to snow on the surrounding peaks. It rained some where we were, but not much, about as much as pictured here on the windshield.  

We moved to Sunset campground at Furnace Creek. No wood gathering! Like there is anything with wood around here. We walked to the ranch to pick up some groceries. Slim pickings, they sell mostly souvenirs. All we found were a couple onions, some butter and milk. everything was over priced.  We ran out of fresh vegetables. It was all decorated for Xmas. See the snow on Telescope Peak behind it. 

They wrapped red and white garland around the lamp posts. It looked out of place with the palm trees.  We stopped at the bar and they had decorated the moose. 

Don't run out of gas in Furnace Creek, it is pretty pricey. The bus at Sunset campground at Furnace Creek with cool clouds in the am.

We hiked Gower Gulch to Golden Canyon.A really pretty hike. This is near the mouth of  Golden Canyon. The parking lot was full. People were parking up and down the road. Golden Canyon is a very popular hike. We skirted around the cliffs to Gower Gulch. Here is John skirting. The clouds were moving in and out, It made it hard to photograph this beautiful canyon. 

Colorful cliffs. John at the mouth of Gower Gulch.  

Looking back at Death Valley from the mouth of Gower Gulch. Colorful rocks in Gower Gulch.

Looking back at cool clouds. It was hard to get good photos of the clouds with no light on the cliffs. 

The north part of the valley had sunshine, but not where we were. Sunset was like pink fingers reaching above the cloud bank.

We were lucky to catch the Xmas parade at the Ranch.The employees were competing. It started with a fire truck with sirens off and on and Santa and Mrs. Claus throwing candy. Then decorated golf carts ending with a little girl on a horse. First place for the golf cart category was the Area 51 UFO, made by the human resources department.. It is the one covered with silver, behind the people in silver. First place in the non golf cart was the young lady on the horse, entered by the stables. Mr and Mrs Claus sat and let people be photographed with them.