Death Valley at its finest, nothing on the ground.

 Scotty's Castle

 Different minerals cause the mountains to be different colors.

 Dried salt that looks like waves and only the Devil can play golf here.

 282 Feet Below Sea Level!

Legend has it that the investors and miners of Rhyolite missed the main vein of gold by a matter of two feet. In 1950 a mining company purchased the mine, discovered the vein, and took out 2 million ounces in 10 years!

Just inside Death Valley is Scotty’s Castle, a castle built on lies. A con man named Scotty talked a Chicago billionaire, Johnson, into believing he had a lucrative gold mine. Johnson came to the desert with Scotty and decided to build a house. He found an underground river, purchased the property and built a mansion that had self-supporting technology and luxurious furnishings, it was way ahead of its time with even a solar water heater. Before the mansion was completed the US Forest Services informed Johnson that he had purchased land that was owned by the US, after 7 years he did get them to sell him the land for $1.00 an acre. By this time Johnson knew there was no mine but valued Scotty’s friendship and allowed him to live in the mansion as if it were his own. The mansion was never completed and is now a part of Death Valley.

It was 114 degrees today when we visited Furnace Creek Golf Course and then Devils Golf Course. Furnace Creek was a nice green course but we did not see anyone playing in this heat. Devils Golf Course was really a huge salt deposit that had dried up and was dangerous to walk on. 

Driving through Death Valley we thought we saw a huge lake. The lake turned out to be dried up whitish/blue borax.The sun beating down on the borax caused heat waves and it looked just like a lake until we were about 5 feet from the edge, a true mirage. The Eagle Borax works was in this area and produced Twenty Mule Team Borax. After the area became a National Park the plant was forced to close but borax is still all over.

Artists Palette is a drive through mountains that display various colors because of the minerals at each level. This is a beautiful area but it is HOT, 116!

Badwater is the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below sea level! At one time it was a huge salt water lake but at an evaporation rate of over 1 oz per minute it dried up and left a huge salt flat that resembles a salt river. There is still a small amount of water and when people dig 6 inches down on the salt river there is water.