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VOLUNTEERS ON THE GO
Wanderings in the Desert
— by ANTHONY F. and MARGUERITE BREDA
120 degrees F? Broiling Sun? Badwater? Arid Desert? Where do you think we are? If you said "Death Valley," you would be 100% correct!
Yet, just thirty miles east of this parched desert wonderland lays a lush valley where farmers grew alfalfa, hay and other crops up until the mid 1970s. Where do you think this place is? If you said Amargosa Valley, you would be right again! The Panamint Mountains separate Death Valley from the Amargosa Valley. The former conjures thoughts of sterility, death and lack of life, (although this is not really the case). The latter is a thriving land, very much alive, yet desert nevertheless. So, what's the difference between these two regions only a short distance apart? Can anyone guess?
The answer is WATER.
Here's the story. I discovered that this area sits above a large aquifer
that stretches all the way to northeastern Nevada. My wife, Marguerite
and I were at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a part of the Desert
NWR Complex, administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. We
were serving as volunteers at the refuge in the spring of 2003 and became
enamored with the stark beauty of this place. For instance, right in the
middle of the Mojave Desert, covering over 22,000 acres, sits this small
(as refuges go) refuge.
It was created in 1984 to protect an endangered specie, the Ash Meadow Pupfish. The size of a minnow, this ancient specie of fish thrives in shallow pools of hot water, 90 to 95 degrees F. They feed on algae and live, reproduce and die in these pools. As the pools are not interconnected, these small fish tend to stay put. So over the last 10,000 years, they have evolved to adapt to this environment. Consequently, they have only two dorsal fins, not three like a minnow. The males are pretty, being bright silver blue. As in many parts of the animal world, the females are rather bland in appearance. Both, however, are extremely lively, and are fun to watch.
Now you may ask, where do these pools of hot water come from, especially as we are in a desert. Well, at Ash Meadows NWR, there are approximately thirty springs or seeps that feed these pools. Together, they cover an area 10 miles long and about 1 mile wide and feed two large reservoirs. These are called Peterson and Crystal. Here, a visitor can climb a sand dune with little signs of life around, look out and see a large body of water, which is Crystal Reservoir.
The first time I saw this, I actually thought that I was experiencing a mirage! Furthermore, these springs and seeps generate 10,000 gallons of water a minute; right in the middle of the Mojave Desert!
Now, the story of how the refuge came to be is a little more complicated
than what I mentioned above. The story begins in 1952, when The Devil's
Hole unit (now on refuge land) was made a part of the Death Valley National
Monument. In 1967, the Death Valley Pupfish was officially listed as an
endangered specie.
That same year, a farming corporation amassed 12,000 acres of land in the Ash Meadows area and shortly thereafter, water table levels began to fall drastically. In 1971, a federal court issued an injunction to halt further pumping of water from the underground aquifer, and the case eventually went all the way to the US Supreme Court.
In 1976, the lower court's decision was upheld and the farm corporation
sold the land to a real estate development company, which intended to
build 30,000 homes in the area. Wow, those poor fish! In 1981, legislation
was introduced in the U.S. Senate establishing a Desert National Wildlife
Refuge. The Nature Conservancy purchased the bulk of the land from the
development company and then sold it to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Specifically, three endangered specie of pupfish were involved: the Devil's Hole Pupfish, the Ash Meadows Pupfish and the Warren Springs Pupfish, along with the Ash Meadows Speckled Dace. Now how's that for a complicated birth.
While not as spectacular as the wonders of Death Valley, the refuge is
a little miracle and a good contrast in its own right. Fed by all this
water, plants and flowers thrive in the desert. Would you care to venture
a guess as to how many plants are found in the refuge? Remember, this
is a desert.
Surprisingly, there are over 330 specie of plants here, some of which
are endangered. One of the most interesting of these plants is the Desert
Bearpaw Poppy. It has a white flower like the common poppy but has bushy
stems instead of a smooth one. This plant is a rarity and only one outcropping
was found in the refuge during the time we were there. This was found
right at the side of a refuge road, leading to Devil's Hole. Someone had
surrounded the plant with stones so that passing traffic would know that
it was special and would not run over it. Its' appearance drew visitors
in goodly numbers.
Seventeen miles of dirt roads wind through the refuge and the terrain
is rugged and varied, as are the roads. This is no place for someone with
a sore back. Flat land turns into dunes and then into small mountains.
Looking down from the higher elevations, one gets a pretty good view of
Crystal Reservoir. Boy, is it big!
Halfway back to the refuge headquarters, a side road takes you to the
entrance to Peterson Reservoir. Unlike Crystal, dense foliage and trees
surround Peterson. One can only grasp at its size by walking around the
perimeter. Watch out for the ducks! Some visitors come to the refuge just
to view the bird-life. Over 240 different species have been observed at
the refuge. Common Yellowthroats, Verdins and Western Flycatcher are frequent
visitors.
Throughout the refuge, there are many trails that mostly lead back to
old farmland or homesteads. On some of these, you can still see the outline
of the original fields, green with the remnants of alfalfa. You may also
see wild donkeys afar off in the field, just like we did one day on our
way to Purhamp.
Fish, plants and desert scenery aren't the only interesting things to
watch at the refuge. People too, are fascinating. Working in the Visitor's
Center gave us a chance to observe people, both first time visitors (of
which there were maybe a dozen per week) and returnees, who came now and
then).
Most visitors come to see the Pupfish. They usually go home happy, for the fish are quite entertaining. All are amazed by the amount of water in the desert. Others come for more serious reasons (photography, biology, geology, archeology and local history). One of the more interesting people we met was a fellow named Jim, who we called "The Bug Man."
Jim is a highly educated and knowledgeable entomologist, who has studied a rare beetle, the Tiger Beetle. These insects are small and not found in many places. Jim has traveled throughout the USA to study this specie. Yes, they live here also, and Jim is quite familiar with Ash Meadows.
Jim's car is both his means of transportation and his hotel. He had just returned from a three-week study in Oregon and Washington, where it rained for most of the time. Coming to the warm, sunny desert was a welcomed treat. We spent hours talking to him and learned about a beetle we both knew absolutely nothing about previously.
Then there are the volunteers who come here. Now you really have some interesting characters here! Most, but not all, are retired. You would never guess what the volunteer who is collecting litter on the road did in a former life. Or the lady with the pretty smile in the Visitor Center. Flight School Trainer, Vice-President-Operations, Teacher, Mechanic. All types of people come to volunteer in exchange for a place to stay and a small stipend. Yes, it is a very interesting lifestyle they lead.
There is also a couple that lives in town, Darlene and Virgil, who come twice a month to update the library and to study local history. Not all are old folks, either. Cub Scouts also come here to help clean up the paths leading to the pools of Pupfish. In the past, one of the more interesting people who roamed the Valley was Jack Longstreet.
Longstreet was a prospector, gunman, horse breeder and friend of the Paiute Indians. He built a cabin besides a pool and lived there between 1894 and 1899. The pool is now called Longstreet Springs.
With the coming of daylight one bright and sunny Sunday morning, we decide to take a ride to Death Valley, 30 miles away. We go with new friends, Jim and Pat. They too are volunteers at the Refuge. We head north on Hwy. 95, have breakfast in Beatty where we are served by a former Rock & Roll musician.
We continue and stop at the ghost town of Rhyolite and then cut over to Death Valley on a road that winds through Titus Canyon. Well, the guidebook says it's a road. Twenty-six miles of narrow, twisting, winding loose gravel, in some places just a hair wider than the pickup truck.
This white-knuckle ride is not for the faint hearted. The views, however, are spectacular. High canyon walls give way to mesas, and then stretches of desert. Finally, two hours later, we are at Scotty's Castle, just inside the Park boundary. Now why would somebody build a castle in the desert? And who was Scotty?
Death Valley Scotty's real name was Walter Scott. He was born in 1872 in Iowa and ran away from home as a young boy. He worked at numerous jobs in Nevada, including a few in Death Valley, a place he loved immediately. In 1890, he joined Wild Bill Cody's Wild West Show and traveled the world for twelve years, but eventually he left the show. He then convinced several wealthy businessmen that he had a claim to a gold mine in Death Valley worth a fortune. He agreed to split the profits, 50-50, if they would only put up the money to start extracting the precious metal. He had very little luck in striking gold, but he often turned up at the finest hotels and saloons in California and Nevada and began legendary spending sprees (with other people's money, of course)! Hence, all thought that he had truly struck it rich.
One of Scotty's steadfast investors was Albert Johnson, an insurance magnate from Chicago. They first met around 1900 and they were quite a contrast. Johnson was well respected, wealthy and religious, while Scotty was a rowdy and shady character. However, Johnson liked Scotty and gave him thousands of dollars over the next few years to invest in his gold mine.
On Johnson's numerous visits to Death Valley to see Scotty, he too fell in love with the place. A sickly man from youth, his health improved dramatically in this dry, sunny climate. So much so, that over the next ten years, Johnson returned with his wife, Bessie, and eventually built a house in the desert. Something more comfortable than the desert dwelling that Scotty had provided.
In the late 1920s, construction started on the Death Valley Ranch, a multi-million dollar Moorish style home. Johnson allowed Scotty to tell everyone that this was his home, supposedly built with the money from his secret gold mine. Upon the Johnsons' death in the 1940s, the Castle reverted to their church, The Gospel Foundation. In 1970, the Gospel Foundation sold it to National Park Service. Today, Scotty's Castle is open to the public, with tours conducted by Park Service employees in period custom. The tour is truly a fabulous experience!
A few weeks later, Pat, Jim, Marguerite and I decided we needed a break
from all the solitude at the refuge. We decided to go out and get "some
culture." At dusk, we headed towards Death Valley Junction, down the road
apiece. Heading south on Nevada 373, we come to the once bustling Junction,
which, in years gone by was the headquarters of the Pacific Borax Company.
PBC was famed for its ad for 20 Mule Team Borax, and the radio show, Death Valley Days, hosted by an actor named Ronald Reagan, who later went on to bigger and better things. The Junction is now the home of a motel and the Amargosa Valley Opera House. Now, you won't hear the Fat Lady sing Tosca here, no sir, but you will see an amazing performance by a 78-year old ballerina, complete with tutu.
Marta Becket was passing through the Junction some years ago, saw the abandoned building and thought that this would be a great place to spend her golden years. Being an artist, she decorated the entire interior herself, with murals and pictures of theater-goers covering the walls and ceiling in vivid colors. The theater is magnificent, but hardy compares to the performance. Miss Marta performs twelve different scenes, sometimes aided by a portly, comical male assistant, Tom Williams. The show is quite entertaining. Not surprisingly, the performance we attended that night was sold out.
Later that month, we returned to Death Valley to visit some of the places we have not yet seen. We stop at the Visitor Center in Furnace Creek and listen to a talk on "Ghost Towns and Ghost Highways." The Park Ranger tells us about the thirty mining towns that used to be in the Valley.
Some of them are still standing, in part. Gold, copper, silver, lead and zinc were taken out of the Valley. None, however, to a degree as large or as valuable as the borate deposits that were removed. After the talk, we visit the Ubehebe Crater, formed over 3,000 years ago by a tremendous volcanic explosion below the earth. The result was a crater 600 feet deep.
We watch two small boys at the bottom of the crater. Their mother watches them with binoculars. They appear very tiny from up here. Some weeks later, we return to Death Valley for yet a third visit.
We attend another talk, given by the same Ranger, this time on the 20 Mule Teams that hauled borate from the Valley to the railhead at Mojave, 165 miles away. Mules, strong and stubborn, were actually trained to pull a large wagon all the way to Mojave, up and down hills, around steep curves, without a fatal accident in over ten years.
Actually, there were only eighteen mules, as the leaders were two horses. The smart mules were up front, the older ones in the middle, and the frisky ones close to the wagon. When approaching a turn, the pointers would follow the direction of the curve, while the wheelers would jump the chain that ran from front to rear, then head straight out, at a tangent. Then, slowly, on command, they would start to turn into the curve and then jump back over the chain.
In this way, the wagon would not crash into the side of the road. Each mule had a name and responded to the commands of the driver. Who said mules were dumb? In all, there were five teams constantly on the go, making a round trip every ten days.
Later that day, we drove up the winding road that leads to Dante's View. And what a view it is. Standing 5,200 above sea level, you can see almost the entire Valley. Badwater, directly below, is 282 feet below sea level. Telescope Peak, 15 miles away, but appearing to be much closer, is 11,047 feet tall. What a contrast.
The Amargosa River, in the middle of this scene, is puny when viewed from this far up. To the rear of the parking lot, snow lies in the crevices and wildflowers move in the cool breeze.
Although our desert wanderings lasted only two months, we gained a lot
of knowledge and pleasure during our brief stay. The real reward of our
wanderings was the beauty and tranquility of the desert. We found this
mysterious, exciting, and sometimes, just plain breathtaking. In 2005,
we plan on returning to this area, but at a sister refuge, one that consists
of 200,000 acres where Bighorn sheep roam. But that's another story.
( — September 4, 2003)
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