The cows revisit the Southwestern U.S.

October 2012

Lunch and Snack hit the road again, heading for Mojave National Preserve in southern California.

"Gosh Snack, it feels nice to be back in the desert again."

"Hmm.... Not sure I like the looks of those clouds."

The cows check out a yucca tree at Hole-in-the-Wall Campground deep within the heart of the Preserve. They considered camping, but the skies had them worried.

"These clouds getting are scary! There's a storm coming and the roads here are spooky!"

With the real fear of being trapped by washed out desert roads, the bovines decided that discretion was the better part of bovine valor and beat a hasty retreat back to civilization, at least for the night.

As the storm moved in, Lunch and Snack hightailed it out of Mojave.

Lunch and Snack head north to visit a familiar location. The view at Zabriski Point going into Death Valley National Park never ceases to amaze!

But storm clouds still lurked on the horizon...

As feared, a major thunderstorm rolled over Tucki Mountain while the cows camped at Stovepipe Wells in the center of the park. It was a wild night!

Lunch and Snack never expected a rainstorm in the desert and stayed huddled in the tent as it blew over.

The storm left a soggy mess of the Stovepipe Wells campground and left half of the national park closed from storm-damaged roads. The landmark Badwater Road to the lowest point in North America was washed out and Badwater Basin was unreachable.

"Gosh Snack, I hope this rainbow means the rain is finally over!"

Even with the south of half of Death Valley closed, the wet bovines decided to see what parts of the park were still open.

"Is this where they take the temperature?"

"Yes, Snack, this is it."

The automated weather station behind the Stovepipe Wells ranger station records some of the hottest temperatures in North America. The station at the nearby Furnace Creek Ranch holds the record for the hottest temperature on Earth ~~ 134 degrees F (56.7 degrees C) in 1913.

At least the Mesquite Flat Dunes near Stovepipe Wells were accessable, despite some water pooled upon the main road. The dunes were formed in a lee of the prevailing winds as they wrap around Tucki Mountain onto the flats.

"Hey Snack. This stuff would make a great sand castle."

The wet sand did indeed pack well.

The road north was still open so the adventurous bovines took the trip to Scotty's Castle in the north part of Death Valley. Officially known as Death Valley Ranch, the complex was started in the 1920s as a vacation home for businessman Albert Mussey Johnson, but was named for raconteur Walter Scott who told tales of a gold mine in the basement.

"There's no gold here, but it sure is a pretty place out in the middle of nowhere!"

"Whoa! Mules used to pull these???"

"Yep Lunch, a team of 40 of them!"

The cows visit the Harmony Borax Works, a former processing plant for borax, which was mined in the area before the park was created. Artifacts from the borax works are still in place as an interpretive site.

With half of the national park closed from flooding, Lunch and Snack had to settle for a view of Badwater Basin and the rest of Death Valley from Dante's View, an overlook in the Amargosa Mountains on the way out of the park. Rain the night before had left standing water in much of the basin.