Day 5 - Darwin Falls, Father Crowley, Mesquite Dunes

Today I was feeling lazy about writing the daily blog (sooner or later it will happen), but then the day's events of awesomeness piled up...

Sunrise

First off in the morning, we headed out early to explore one of the biggest national park in North America, Death  Valley. Since the Darwin falls are located near the Panamint Spring resort, we decided to start from there.

 

Along the way, we gave a ride to two fellows, Horacio and Freddy that were walking up to the falls since their sedan did not have enough clearance for the rough road.
It was fun to share the hike with them, and the beauty of these springs. This water gives life not only to the flora and fauna, but also to the resort and all the turistas like us below. In fact along the trail there's a pipe that runs all the way down to the water tower near the RV campground. This is the reason why we are not allowed to swim in it, despite of what I have seen in other websites.
The water falls from a large rock and it is quite a sight to see. The water puddles in a large pool and runs down a stream transforming this arid environment into a lush oasis with ferns, cattails, cottonwood and willows. The canyon walls are made of dark green rocks.

After that we drove up the same road to Father Crowley Vista Point.

The minute we got off our truck we got a sight of a jet, swooping down the canyon and curving around the rocky walls like a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars! We had to stay and get more of  that sight.
We walked down the main look out on the giant Panamint Valley, but soon we realized that the best view was from the canyon. I wanted to see it carve it again, and we sure did. Not only we saw the jets, but even a bomber with a dangerously large wing span.
They told us that the pilots come in that area around noon and you just have to show up to see them. That's why we pay our taxes.
They are ultra fast and they go through the canyon in seconds. They start from above, then they flip on a side and swoop down, straighten out and then bend again to take the last curve in the canyon. Amazing!

After that we drove back down toward Furnace creek, to visit the Mesquite Dunes.

Now these are real sand dunes and they go on for miles. We had to walk all the way out there and climb the tallest one. We walked along the ridges like in the movies. We were missing only the camels.
From the top, the view was amazing. We could see all the dunes around us, some salt flats, and the rest of Death Valley.
We set down to watch the jets again. They were flying from one valley to the other. The pilots seemed to perform the same routine. First straight up in the clouds and then down toward the valley at supersonic speed, and then upwards at the last minute. It looks something you would do if you had to shoot or drop a bomb...

Before returning home we decided to take a look at Furnace Creek campground to make sure that we had our spot secured for the next day. As we turn into the road that lead to the campground, we saw that the entrance was blocked by a cement barrier. The place was deserted.
We went to the ranger station for explanations. They told us that most of the park sites were closed due to the government shut down. In fact, The reason that they were still working was due to donations from the Death Valley Historical society.

A word to the wise...

3.58$ a gallon at Stovepipe Wells

5.29$ a gallon at Panamint Springs!!!