Many people wouldn't expect to find columbine growing in Death Valley National Park, but at higher elevations it is likely to find niches where it can thrive, providing that there is adequate water. The columbine plant shown in the picture to the left was located in Surprise Canyon near Thompson Camp. The elevation of the site was probably just slightly under 7000 feet. The plant was growing right next to a large cistern located at the mouth of Water Canyon (which is essentially a side canyon of Surprise Canyon that takes off to the northeast just above Thompson Camp). (For more information about columbine click here!)

The featured video this week is called "SD Card" and it's basically about computer storage devices. In the video I present several computer storage devices and sing about the need for ever increasing amounts of storage capacity. Obviously the song is not meant to be taken seriously, but it is the case that in the past couple decades we have seen a number of storage devices come and go. Come to think of it, if I had kept all of the different storage devices I've ever owned, I could have made a more interesting video. However, it would be a little odd to store out-dated storage devices and so I've always saved the data and thrown the out-dated devices away!

The two-thousandth post was posted on the Trona News online bulletin board this last week! The first post was made to the board in November of 2009 and so it took approximately six months to reach two thousand posts. There are now sixty members and a total of 192 topics on the board. Oddly enough, the most viewed topic is called "Funny Billboards" and it was originated by a user going by the name of desertrat. The board has evolved into an interesting combination of serious discussion of current events, generous sharing of information about local sites, and humorous postings about just about anything! Check it out for yourself!