A recent trip I took to the Darwin area was a lot of fun and I got some
fairly decent pictures too! Featured on this page is a video of a rosy boa I
encountered while hiking in a canyon just west of Zinc Hill in the Argus
Range. I came across the snake about two miles south of Millers Spring,
which is remarkable for the beautiful yerba mansa plants that grow there. As
you can see from the picture to the left, the flowers of the yerba mansa are
somewhat unusual and the plant is not typical of most plants found in the
desert. (Click
here for more information about yerba mansa.)
On this outing I climbed Ophir Mountain (elevation: 6010 feet). The hike to
the peak is only a mile each way from the north. (In fact, it is possible to
drive even closer to the peak if you really want to keep your hiking
distance to a minimum.) Some interesting mine ruins are located a short
distance north of the peak. There are several headframes, many shafts, and
even a cabin (shown to the right). It's a great area to explore. (Click
here to see more pictures from this trip.)
This picture of a military jet was taken at Crowley Point. As you can see
the jet was flying through the gorge there and was below the point from
which I snapped the shot. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to zoom
in on the jet and so the shot came out a little blurry, but it's good enough
to provide an idea of how low pilots take their fighters while practicing
maneuvers on the outskirts of Death Valley. These pilots sometimes perform
some remarkable stunts while out on practice flights in the area and Crowley
Point is one of the spots where some of this action is easy to observe.
(
Click here to see the image to see at full size.)
A recent trip I took to the Darwin area was a lot of fun and I got some
fairly decent pictures too! Featured on this page is a video of a rosy boa I
encountered while hiking in a canyon just west of Zinc Hill in the Argus
Range. I came across the snake about two miles south of Millers Spring,
which is remarkable for the beautiful yerba mansa plants that grow there. As
you can see from the picture to the left, the flowers of the yerba mansa are
somewhat unusual and the plant is not typical of most plants found in the
desert. (
On this outing I climbed Ophir Mountain (elevation: 6010 feet). The hike to
the peak is only a mile each way from the north. (In fact, it is possible to
drive even closer to the peak if you really want to keep your hiking
distance to a minimum.) Some interesting mine ruins are located a short
distance north of the peak. There are several headframes, many shafts, and
even a cabin (shown to the right). It's a great area to explore. (
This picture of a military jet was taken at Crowley Point. As you can see
the jet was flying through the gorge there and was below the point from
which I snapped the shot. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to zoom
in on the jet and so the shot came out a little blurry, but it's good enough
to provide an idea of how low pilots take their fighters while practicing
maneuvers on the outskirts of Death Valley. These pilots sometimes perform
some remarkable stunts while out on practice flights in the area and Crowley
Point is one of the spots where some of this action is easy to observe.
(