February 14th 2012 12:51 pm
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Another update on our west trip last fall. We camped again at Mesquite Springs campground after our tour of Scotty`s Castle. The next day,my dad wanted to return to the salt flats for more hiking. We found this to be a most interesting place as once you got about a half mile from the road,there were no other people and the solitude was wonderful! In addition,we had only hiked for a few hours on our first time here and Dad wanted a longer hike. This time,we hiked out to a spot about 3 miles distant from the Badwater road---measured with my dad`s GPS. We could see some jeep roads in the distance as they climbed into the Panamint Range. The unbroken white expanse of the salt flats extended in all directions around us,totally devoid of features save for the pressure ridges in the salt. Dad was reminded of astronaut Edwin Aldrin`s words as he became the second man to step onto the moon "Magnificent Desolation". Dad popped up an umbrella that he had carried along and we rested under its shade while we had lunch. Resuming our hike across the barren flats,a tiny speck appeared on the horizon. We began to walk towards it curious as to what it was. It resolved itself as a dead goose. The poor creature must have succumbed to the brutal heat and tumbled out of the sky to a lonely grave on the salt flats.
We finished up after having hiked between 6 and 7 miles. Late in the day,we drove along the remote West Side road that parallels Badwater road on the other side of the salt flats. This road passes by the jeep roads that we saw earlier and unlike Badwater road,is not paved. It traverses more remote wilderness of Death Valley. It was late in the afternoon when we started along this road thus we planned on camping somewhere along it overnite. Dad kept his speed down so as not to suffer a flat tire or other vehicle damage on this remote road. We camped at a peaceful spot known as Shorty`s Well,named after an early Death Valley prospector. The next morning,we explored the ruins of an old borax works and found some giant rusted water tanks sitting incongrously in the desert. It was an interesting trip into the wilds of Death Valley. Some pix with descriptions follow.

Salt Flats and the West side road