DEATH VALLEY HUB

Furnace Creek

In the desert mulepower beat horsepower. More often than not mules beat both horses and oxen in getting the job done. It took 20 mules to pull the train of wagons above and it was the Pacific Coast Borax Company that made the "20 Mule Team Borax" name famous. 

Such was the mystique of Death Valley that the firm even created and sponsored "Death Valley Days", which was dramatization of true stories from around the early West. Heard first on the radio from 1930 to 1945 then seen on TV from 1952 until 1975, the TV program was at one time hosted by Ronald Reagan before he got into politics.

One of the few places for fuel in Death Valley National Park and the only place for diesel. Even if you had a mule, you'd still have to carry a lot of water. That's why, in the preceded photograph, every wagon train out of here trailed a big tanker of water.

Of course, there's always a bike. Some folks we talked to at our campground did bring their own bikes and got a rude shock the day they rode. It was the first day of spiking temps. Bad enough their thermometer read over 100 degrees when they climbed up to their turnaround point, but the wind came up and they had to pedal to go back downhill.

Expect the unexpected in Death Valley.

BACKROADS CALIFORNIA

Standish

It may not take much to realize the great truth in this sign.

But we are not lost, just a little off route and on our way to Death Valley via NE California and W Nevada. This 106 year old building (on the National Register) was once Neil's Mercantile Store. On the ground floor was a general store. Upstairs was where the cattlemen of the region had their meetings and social functions. 

As Neil's Mercantile looked in 1910. Later the peaked roof was added and the false front removed. That is the Reid Hotel at right, long since demolished. Image courtesy the Day's End RV park.

Though folks are living in this old building, its last commercial function was as a roller rink and dance hall. It was just down the street from the mercantile store. I could find out no more history on this well building log structure.

The colorful flare in the center of the sky is called a sun dog or mock sun or phantom sun. They are caused when the sun hits a collection of hexagonal ice crystals, called diamond dust. The resultant flare of light is scattered as when it passes through a prism.

Palm Springs - #1

It's About The Outdoors

Looks like desert through and through, doesn't it. Look closer.

Up close there is an amazing green carpet that looks nothing like desert. Gated by Mount San Jacinto at left and San Gorgornio Mountain to the right, those mountains screen the rain. In just those few miles that separate those peaks, a transition occurs. From the Mediterranean climate of the greater LA basin to the beginning of a series of deserts that stretches all across the Southwest. 

What the Coachella Valley (the area that encompasses Palm Springs and a dozen other desert communities) does have is access to Colorado River and a large aquifer 1,200' beneath the valley. Domestic water comes from the aquifer and the Colorado provides the irrigation for both garden and agriculture.

Incredibly, water in the desert is plentiful enough for ornamentation use.

Ample water allows for the existence of over 200 golf courses in the Valley. Climb out of the valley into the Chocolate Mountains in the background and you can see that water doesn't reach there.

"S" is for sunshine - on average there are over 354 days of it.

This is a bit of a side note but when I was a younger visitor, this was then one of the top of the line restaurants in the area - The Chart House. The owners moved on and took the name. A number of other operators attempted to run the restaurant but not with the same success. In 2012 the restaurant caught fire. Now it is in limbo and investigators are looking into an insurance fraud angle. One of my son-in-laws gave it an apt name - The Char House.

THE MAGNETISM OF ISLANDS #1

Surrounded

An island almost always implies a view, be it water or land. Whidbey Island has that in spades.  It is a bit of a lesser known archipelago in the San Juan Island region of Washington. It can be a destination all its own if you only have time for a short exploration of the area. Closer to Seattle by ferry or car than the rest of its neighboring islands it is big enough for a long weekend's exploration. The view east above of some of the Northern Cascade Range is from near the little town of San deFuca. The tallest is probably Glacier Peak.

Looking southwest out over Oak Harbor, the Olympics seem close but between them and the rest of Whidbey Island (in the midground) is one of the Nation's busiest shipping routes - The Strait of San Juan de Fuca. Not including pleasure craft, almost 5,000 cargo ships a year use the channel.

Mount Baker is the behemoth above, just shy of 11,000 feet. Third highest summit in Washington, this peak saw its first successful climber in 1868. The view from Oak Harbor is to the northwest. Whidbey Island is in the rain shadow of the Olympic and Vancouver Island's mountains. Whidbey gets only 20 inches of rain and very little snow annually. 

GRAY GEORGIA

On A Gray Day

We were told that Georgia has more marsh land than any other state but proving it online was too much of a challenge. One thing for sure, our marine pathway through all the salt marshes was serpentine. No sooner did we traverse one section of the Intracoastal Waterway only to make a near U-turn and then nearly repeat the same route, albeit 100 yards further east. Above is one such segment as we snaked our way though the considerable wetlands of Georgia.

Though common but well named, Snowy Egrets pick tidal scrub growth to fashion their nests and raise their young. Scientists tell us that these egrets only recognize their mate by a "greeting dance" they do when returning to the nest, no matter how long they've been together. What do scientists know - maybe the birds are just happy to see their relief return.

At times we seem to cruise in remote backwaters but there is a actually a fair amount of traffic on the ICW. 

This is the tug LouAnna Guidry pushing two small barges, one of which is a fuel barge.

 Approaching Sapelo Island, the lighthouse is as much cosmetic as it is practical now that shipping follows other waterways.

Sapelo Island is 97% owned by the State of Georgia so I can only guess that this is a part of a tidal catwalk for the University of Georgia's Marine Biology Institute there.

This is the only way on and off Sapelo Island. Once established as a slave plantation, the island has gone through several other owners before the State of Georgia took over. The last major owner was R. J. Reynolds, Jr, scion of the tobacco empire. His mansion is now a Georgia State Park.

These twenty-plus hardy souls are coming back to the American Spirit after an afternoon on Sapelo Island. Of all the many fine field trips and excursions, this turned out to be the least popular. The weather and limited facilities on Sapelo conspired to produce something less than an optimal experience. The R. J. Reyolds's mansion was rented out, thus closed, the school bus that took them around was a tad uncomfortable and the wind and rain made moving about outside uncomfortable.

Despite the weather, there were always adventuresome souls who loved being outdoors. Get a little exercise and watch the world go by the Intracoastal Waterway - this is Janine who didn't let any weather bother her.

Yes, It's NOAA

How'd That Weather Satellite Get In My Building?

This is an example of one of the three GOES satellites that are parked high in the atmosphere over the US. They send streams of data captured by cameras and sensors back down to regional weather offices.  There are also several environmental satellites that orbit between the poles and what appears to be several dozen other weather satellites run by other countries. 

Our military has their own system which can "see" object as small as an oil tanker. The military satellites can also "see" at night, unlike NOAA's spacecraft.

Though this building does house the local NOAA regional weather center, it is much more than that. Located adjacent to (and partnered with) Colorado University in Boulder, Colorado, the Earth Sciences Research Laboratory is a major center for atmospheric exploration and conditions. The center is currently running major studies on Arctic air, ozone, carbon dioxide and global modeling.

On the broadest end of the spectrum, the ESRL keeps a watch on weather in our solar system. One of the areas of keen interest is tracking solar storms and the impact they have on the earth. In years past solar flares have produced enough radiation to fry many electronic components. This room contains all the inputs currently measuring activity on the sun.

On the other end of the spectrum, this woman is analyzing local conditions. If you are a weather nut like me, then you may be familiar with something called "Forecast Discussion." At the bottom of every National Weather Service online page are a series of links to more information about the daily weather.

I look at Forecast Discussion quite often. The lead forecaster on every shift writes up a synopsis of his or her predictions that usually expresses varying degrees of confidence in their forecast. Kind of a big picture sort of thing. This woman was getting ready to write the forecast discussion for this day. As the weather gets trickier (whether it be tornado or winter weather seasons) the room fills with more forecasters attempting to nail down what is coming our way next.

Tours are free but limited to just one day a week. Me? I think it's going to rain this winter.