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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Scotty's Castle and a Hike in Golden Canyon

In an effort to catch up, this post covers two of our days in Death Valley. 

On Tuesday we went to Scotty's Castle, a one time private "winter get away" with an interesting origin.  

Scotty was a con-man ... 

Well, you just have to go there yourself to learn the rest of the story. The ranger-guided tour of the house, basement, and tunnels were well worth the ticket price.   


Every castle has to have at least one tower!



The beams were hand carved on site.




It is difficult to pick which detail picture to include.  I loved this spread and headboard. Everywhere you looked there were priceless pieces of furniture and art.

The only negative about the day was the temperature. Because Scotty's Castle is at 3000 feet altitude it was much colder there than on the valley floor.  It was COLD!

On Wednesday we did a fairly easy six mile hike. We started up Golden Canyon, went up to Zabriskie Point, and came back by way of Gower Gulch. 

The day was perfect.  Warm in the sunshine, and cool in the shade.  The clouds varied almost as much as the rock formations.  



It seemed that every time you turned or looked in a different direction a new type or color of stone presented itself.



Colors!  Most were soft earth tones, but from time to time you could see violet, pink, green, ocher, and sienna all at once.


I did not expect Death Valley to be like this. 

I love it.

8 comments:

  1. We did the Golden Canyon hike yesterday. I was amazed by all the different types and colors of rock. We drove up to Scotty's Castle but Dave didn't want to take the time to do the tour--next time I want to see the inside and the underground! Your pictures are amazing!

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  2. Glad you're having such a good time. Love the photos....so different than the east.

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  3. With no light pollution, don't you love the night sky! We would sit out for hours just to watch the stars!

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  4. I really enjoyed the pics from your hike. Just gorgeous!

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  5. Really enjoyed this post. You got some great photos of both the castle and your hike. Wow, six miles, good for both of you. I think you are likeing this life.

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  6. I'm so glad you're enjoying your trip to Death Valley. Isn't Scotty's Castle interesting. I'm often amazed at what people long ago accomplished!! Great pictures!!

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  7. Again, I like the quality of the photos:))

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  8. The beams in the castle were beautiful. Looks like you are having a great time. Safe travels.

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