19 October ‘06
Death Valley it was… We drove up North Northwest to Scotty’s Castle. What, you’ve never heard of it? Louise had, but as for me, “who is Scotty? Walter Scott, or better know as “Death Valley Scotty”. He was an ex-cowboy, prospector, performed with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, and topping all of that he was a con man. I won’t go into all the con’s that he could take credit for, but there were many. He also holds a record for having more newspaper articles written about him from coast to coast than any other person of his time. These articles were mostly favorable, mentioning in detail all of his conquests at searching out the “Big Load” (Gold). Funny thing is, he never did have a good producing claim. But to one very wealthy gentleman, he apparently could care less. He just liked Scotty. He (Chicago millionaire Albert Johnson) just liked this Scotty character, in fact he liked him so much he bank-rolled just about everything and anything that Scotty thought would work. Johnson came out to Death Valley with Scotty to see his mine (finding it wasn’t showing any signs of producing any thing of any good). It didn’t matter because Johnson fell in love with the freedom of Death Valley vs. Chicago, and besides it made his allergies better and his back problem just didn’t bother him any more. At this point Albert Johnson just didn’t want to leave so he decided to build a home for himself and his wife. This home started out small…3 tents. Soon it developed into a couple of small square buildings and then into a 6000 sq.ft. “Castle” with additional “Hacienda’s”, a large stable, guest quarters in separate buildings, and a swimming pool (that never got finished) that is over 300 feet long, 80 wide and up to 12 ft. deep. It took us over 3 hours to tour this “Scotty’s Castle”, and it was worth every minute…it was fantastic. The heating, cooling, electrical systems, sewage and water systems…the tunnels that ran from the main house to all others (over a half mile of underground cement tunnels), the music room with it’s beautiful pipe organ (we were entertained with a song by the organ)…this is some castle!!! 28 miles into Death Valley, Scotty’s Castle. Then we drove out to Ubehebe Crater. Walking around the top of the crater was awe inspiring. This crater was formed after a massive 770 foot steam explosion suddenly exploded, shattering the rock above and ejecting 100’s of tons of rock, mud, and small black pebbles miles around, and leaving a multi-colored cavity far below. Hiking around the crater was a little difficult because of the steepness and the small black pebbles that would slide from under your foot as we climbed. From there we continued to drop in altitude (from over 4000 feet to sea-level) looking for the small dirt and gravel road that would take us to Titus Canyon. Now I didn’t mention it, but this is the beginning of the tourist season here in Death Valley. The “Official” start is the first of November, so we are still here with very few others. This makes our trip worth it alone. Titus Canyon is a natural canyon that runs from one side of the interior mountain range to the other. No more than 10-15 yards wide with walls that tower 100’s of feet above on both sides as it wind and twists its way through the mountain. There is a single dirt/gravel path that is “one way” once you get to the entrance. Seeing as we had come in the way we had, we could only walk through it. Our walk covered about 3/4 mile and was stunning. Fact is, you just couldn’t see the beauty of this valley if you had been driving (except in a convertible). Not to much day light left so we headed to Stovepipe Wells Village and then out to the “Sand Dunes”. Those “Tawny” dunes so smoothly rising up to 100 feet, almost velvet like. The sun was just about ready to set and the shadows that were created were mystical. To get out on the dunes we had to park along side the road and walk a couple hundred yards through the sage and sand. Then you had to climb these dunes. Each step up was about ¾ step back and your shoe would fill with this very fine sand. The late afternoon light accentuates the ripples and patterns and it is absolutely magical.
Death Valley it was… We drove up North Northwest to Scotty’s Castle. What, you’ve never heard of it? Louise had, but as for me, “who is Scotty? Walter Scott, or better know as “Death Valley Scotty”. He was an ex-cowboy, prospector, performed with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, and topping all of that he was a con man. I won’t go into all the con’s that he could take credit for, but there were many. He also holds a record for having more newspaper articles written about him from coast to coast than any other person of his time. These articles were mostly favorable, mentioning in detail all of his conquests at searching out the “Big Load” (Gold). Funny thing is, he never did have a good producing claim. But to one very wealthy gentleman, he apparently could care less. He just liked Scotty. He (Chicago millionaire Albert Johnson) just liked this Scotty character, in fact he liked him so much he bank-rolled just about everything and anything that Scotty thought would work. Johnson came out to Death Valley with Scotty to see his mine (finding it wasn’t showing any signs of producing any thing of any good). It didn’t matter because Johnson fell in love with the freedom of Death Valley vs. Chicago, and besides it made his allergies better and his back problem just didn’t bother him any more. At this point Albert Johnson just didn’t want to leave so he decided to build a home for himself and his wife. This home started out small…3 tents. Soon it developed into a couple of small square buildings and then into a 6000 sq.ft. “Castle” with additional “Hacienda’s”, a large stable, guest quarters in separate buildings, and a swimming pool (that never got finished) that is over 300 feet long, 80 wide and up to 12 ft. deep. It took us over 3 hours to tour this “Scotty’s Castle”, and it was worth every minute…it was fantastic. The heating, cooling, electrical systems, sewage and water systems…the tunnels that ran from the main house to all others (over a half mile of underground cement tunnels), the music room with it’s beautiful pipe organ (we were entertained with a song by the organ)…this is some castle!!! 28 miles into Death Valley, Scotty’s Castle. Then we drove out to Ubehebe Crater. Walking around the top of the crater was awe inspiring. This crater was formed after a massive 770 foot steam explosion suddenly exploded, shattering the rock above and ejecting 100’s of tons of rock, mud, and small black pebbles miles around, and leaving a multi-colored cavity far below. Hiking around the crater was a little difficult because of the steepness and the small black pebbles that would slide from under your foot as we climbed. From there we continued to drop in altitude (from over 4000 feet to sea-level) looking for the small dirt and gravel road that would take us to Titus Canyon. Now I didn’t mention it, but this is the beginning of the tourist season here in Death Valley. The “Official” start is the first of November, so we are still here with very few others. This makes our trip worth it alone. Titus Canyon is a natural canyon that runs from one side of the interior mountain range to the other. No more than 10-15 yards wide with walls that tower 100’s of feet above on both sides as it wind and twists its way through the mountain. There is a single dirt/gravel path that is “one way” once you get to the entrance. Seeing as we had come in the way we had, we could only walk through it. Our walk covered about 3/4 mile and was stunning. Fact is, you just couldn’t see the beauty of this valley if you had been driving (except in a convertible). Not to much day light left so we headed to Stovepipe Wells Village and then out to the “Sand Dunes”. Those “Tawny” dunes so smoothly rising up to 100 feet, almost velvet like. The sun was just about ready to set and the shadows that were created were mystical. To get out on the dunes we had to park along side the road and walk a couple hundred yards through the sage and sand. Then you had to climb these dunes. Each step up was about ¾ step back and your shoe would fill with this very fine sand. The late afternoon light accentuates the ripples and patterns and it is absolutely magical.