Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [133]
13
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK & MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE
by Eric Peterson
IN 1994, DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL MONUMENT BECAME DEATH VALLEY National Park. The '49ers, whose suffering gave the valley its name, would've howled at the notion. To them, several four-letter words other than "park" would have come to mind, including— but not limited to—"gold," "mine," "lost," and "dead."
Americans looking for gold in California's mountains in 1849 got lost in the parched desert here trying to avoid the severe snowstorms in the nearby Sierra Nevada. One person perished along the way, and the land became known as Death Valley. Little about the valley's essence has changed since. Its mountains stand naked, unadorned. The bitter waters of saline lakes evaporate into odd, thorn-like crystal formations. Jagged canyons jab deep into the earth. The ovenlike heat, the frigid cold, and the driest air imaginable combine to make this one of the world's most inhospitable locations.
Death Valley is raw, bare earth, the way things must've looked before life began. Here, earth's forces are exposed with dramatic clarity; just looking out on the landscape, you'll find it impossible to know what year, or century, it is.
It's no coincidence that many of Death Valley's topographical features are associated with hellish images: Funeral Mountains, Furnace Creek, Dante's View, Coffin Peak, and Devil's Golf Course. But the valley can be a place of serenity as well.
Human nature being what it is, it's not surprising that people have long been drawn here to challenge the power of Mother Nature. The area's first foray into tourism was in 1926, a scant 77 years after the '49ers' harrowing experiences. It probably would have begun sooner, but the valley had been consumed by lucrative borax mining since the late 1880s, when teamsters drove 20-mule-team wagons filled with the mineral through the dusty landscape. This white compound is used as a cleaning agent, preservative, and flux; in fireproofing; and as a water softener.
In one of his last official acts, Pres. Herbert Hoover signed a proclamation designating Death Valley a national monument in February 1933. With the stroke of a pen, he not only authorized the protection of a vast and wondrous land but also helped to transform one of the earth's least hospitable spots into a popular tourist destination.
The naming of Death Valley National Monument came at a time when Americans were discovering the romance of the desert. Land that had previously been considered hideously devoid of life was being celebrated for its spare beauty; places that had once been feared for their harshness were being admired for their uniqueness.
In 1994, when Pres. Bill Clinton signed the California Desert Protection Act, Death Valley National Park became the largest national park outside Alaska, with more than 3.3 million acres. Though remote, it attracts nearly a million visitors a year, from all over the world.
Flora & Fauna. Most of Death Valley's climate zones are harshly limiting to plants and animals, but they are diverse nevertheless. Within the park, elevations range from 282 feet below sea level (Badwater, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere) to 11,049 feet above sea level (Telescope Peak, blanketed by snow during winter and early spring). Little sign of life is found at the lowest elevations; any groundwater is highly saline and supports predominantly algae and bacteria. One notable exception is the unique desert pupfish, an ancient species that has slowly adapted to Death Valley's increasingly harsh conditions. In the spring, you can see the tiny fish in the marshes of Salt Creek, halfway between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells, where a boardwalk lined with interpretive plaques allows an up-close look.
Hardy desert shrubs such as mesquite, creosote, and arrowweed flourish wherever there's groundwater below or snowmelt trickling from above. You have to look closely to see the surprising number of small