Saturday, October 27, 2007

Low Country Adventure - Springs

Time to finish up the Death Valley series. Not too much commentary here, these pictures are from the Keane Wonder Springs, one of the primary reasons the Keane mine was able to operate and even profit. It's not much water and it stinks of sulfur, but in this climate people weren't too picky.


The trail from the mine to the spring is easy to find, you just follow the old pipeline. In about a mile, you come to the spring that provided enough water to process the ore at the mill and pretty much think "Huh. Really??" because it doesn't look like much. The old well, shown in this first picture, gives a good idea of how this was possible; most of the water from the spring remains underground. Note how well secured the well is. This isn't a good place to let your attention wander.



This picture looks up at the spring from below, near the well (or death trap, if you prefer). Not real fancy, is it?



The views from here, like from the mine, are spectacular. This picture looks pretty much west across the valley from the spring.



This one looks north from the same area. You can just see the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells, up towards the top right of the picture.



A closer picture of the spring, showing some of the mineral deposits left behind. The sign in the upper right of the picture says something like "Danger! Open mine shafts!" This whole area is pocked with prospecting holes, and again, you kind of want to watch your step. I'm pretty sure if you break a leg out here they just shoot you.



Again, a close up. The mineral deposits are just about as colorful as the grass. Quite possibly part of the dull plant life around the spring was just the time of year. I would guess you'd get both more water and more color in the spring.



Not the greatest picture, but I liked the shadow. This crow came over several times to check us out, actually swooping over us while I tried desperately to put a more appropriate lens on the camera. Once I finally got that done, the crow decided we neither dead nor all that interesting after all and flew away.


1 comment:

Mr. Twisted said...

So, uhh... is that the old Manson family commune in the first pic?