Hello 2022

January 9, 2022

Happy New Year!! I hope the new year is bringing you everything you want and need!

It was a quiet one for us. I think we were asleep by 10 PM.

Mike and Astrid went back to Northridge on Thursday. It was a good two weeks. The weather finally cooperated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mike ended up staying two extra days. We went to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and spent some time in Death Valley.

Ash Meadows is the largest oasis in the Mojave Desert. Springs just pop out of the desert. There are several species of fish that don’t exist anywhere else. They have adjusted to water that can sometimes reach 95 degrees. The water in these pools is called fossil water. It comes from melted ice from the last ice age.

I want to go back and explore some more. They have some really nice self-guided tours.

It also contains one little section called Devils Hole. It is made up of two holes in the mountain. I think they are connected. It is at least 500 feet deep. The bottom has never been found. It also contains rare fish. The water level changes. I didn’t get very good pictures. Both entrances are fenced in for security.

Something else I found really cool were the markings on the rocks. I imagine they came from the ice during the ice age moving across them. I can’t even imagine how old they are and what they have been through – ice age, volcanos. Plus this part of Nevada was covered in water for millions of years, actually most of Nevada was after the ice age.

The next day we headed back to Death Valley. When I was in the area in November, I was more north so this time we went to the south.

Donte’s Point is 5475 ft in elevation. I have been higher but not in a place that was right on the edge. I wanted to walk out more but my head was telling me NO!!! It was a beautiful view though

Then we headed down to Badwater Basin. It is at the bottom of the Dante’s Point pictures. The elevation there is 282 feet below sea level. This is the lowest point in North America. It is covered with salt.

I saw this rock in November but didn’t get any pictures of it. My guess is that it was formed by the ice and volcanos too. Hard to tell from the pictures but it is as tall as I am. The face reminds me of a cross between the elephant man and ET.

I almost forgot….look what I got for Christmas!

Well, I was trying to insert some pictures of me shooting but for some reason they aren’t showing up in my feed. Yep, Mike gave me a gun for Christmas. and who said romance is dead!!

It is getting late so I will end this post with a few pictures, including my new Love, Gypsy