On the wagon

We reached the halfway point of our road trip today; it doesn't feel like we've only been here a week. I hope you're all still enjoying the ride?!

We left Las Vegas early as we had another long day ahead; 9 hours on the road.

After all the walking we did yesterday, it's nice to kick back and chill out on the coach.

As we drove towards Death Valley, we watched a video about the '20 mule team' wagon train, which was used in hauling borax mined from Death Valley to Mojave. This was a distance of 165 miles and took 10 days.
The borax weighed 24 tons; the total weight totalled 36.5 tons.

I've heard of Borax, but didn't know it was in so many products.

We had a photo stop at Zabriskie point, where we could see down into the valley to the place where they used to collect the borax.
We also stopped at Furnace Creek where it was a mere 104F. I bought an ice lolly but it melted off the stick before I could finish it!!

Death Valley was greener than I expected, especially given that annual rainfall is only around 5cm. The desert supports nearly 1000 different native plant species.
It's also the lowest point in North America; 180 feet below sea level.

The road through was awesome; twists and turns up to the top of the peak then the iconic long, straight road through the desert itself.
We were flanked on one side by the Sierra Nevada mountain range; that was pretty cool.

Tonight we stayed in a ski resort at Mammoth Lakes. It's a quiet place so we plan to have dinner and an early night. We stayed out too late last night so only managed 5 hours kip :-(

Today's blip is a collage of Death Valley and the 20 mule team.

You can make out the salt flats in the top photo.
The wagon is the one they used to transport the borax.
Imagine that with 20 mules in front!