Southwest Vacation Feb23 - Death Valley NP
Zabriskie Point
Our next step was a little further in the park at Zabriskie Point.  It features an overlook and some hiking trails.
   
 
   
At the overlook, checking out the surrounding badlands.
   
Nice contrast.
   
Pretty.
   
 
   
We didn't realize it until later but that gravel wash area is part of the hiking trail.
   
No vegetation whatsoever.
   
A little white snow far in the background.
   
Lots of people here at the overlook.  Later, down on the trail, not so much.
   
Not a good life for a mule I don't think.
   
 
   
Looking back at the parking lot.
   
The parking lot was the trailhead for the Badlands Loop trail (2.7 miles).  Or you could continue on some longer trails to Golden Canyon or Red Cathedral.   We're going with the Badlands Loop.
   
About to descend down into the Bandlands.
   
Up close, the white hills are basially gigantic dirt clods.
   

Lynnette discovers some borax!

Borax is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution.  t is commonly available in powder or granular form and has many industrial and household uses, including as a pesticide, as a metal soldering flux, as a component of glass, enamel, and pottery glazes, for tanning of skins and hides, for artificial aging of wood, as a preservative against wood fungus, and as a pharmaceutic alkalizer. In chemical laboratories, it is used as a buffering agent.  ...   Good to know!
   
Following the dirt trail through the badlands.
   
Looking back at Zabriskie Point.
   
 
   
No problem following this trail.
   
P38
   
So glad we did this hike.
   
 
   
 
   
We come to the wide gravel wash.
   
The signage was a little confusing but we figured it out.
   
Head south if you want to go to the Golden Canyon.  We would see Golden Canyon tomorrow coming from the opposite direction.
   
Rest time.  The temperatures were almost perfect, in the 60s.  It would be a differnent story if you did this hike in say, July.
   
 
   
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