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| Pete looking out over Saratoga Spring, in the south end of Death Valley |
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| Obscure Ground Mantid |
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| The contrast of the marsh against the harsh desert is striking. |
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| Desert Five Spot |
The pupfish were endemic to this spring, separated from all other pupfish way back when the whole valley was a prehistoric lake. And there was a frog, who seemed to be thriving in what I can only guess is very salty water.
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| Views towards Death Valley from Riggs Road |
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| Camping on Riggs Road |
We drove out of the Death Valley South Entrance and continued a few miles to Riggs Road. Driving in on the 4WD road was fairly unexciting, except for the (sometimes) interesting remains of the Riggs silver mine and processing which was operational in the early 1900’s. Our favorite part of this campsite was the beautiful view of Death Valley to the North, the sunset, and the distance mountain views to the east. We found many strange ore-type rocks which we could keep, since we were out of the park. I wonder if this is silver ore, or maybe lead ore? It is heavier than one would expect. The boys also picked up several yellow sulfur rocks, which we burned in our campfire. More on that later.
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| Unidentified rock found on Riggs Road. Heavier than you would think. The black part looks like melted metal. |
