Adler's Fall 2013 Northwest: November 28, 2013 Death Valley/Pahrump NV

November 28, 2013 Death Valley/Pahrump, NV

We left Death Valley today, only knowing that we will return again someday, as we didn’t get all the things done there that we wanted to do. Upon our arrival, we were wondering what we were going to do with all of our time! We were pleasantly surprised at all the things to do, see and learn about. One thing I haven’t touched on is the mining of borax in Death Valley. We have all used ‘Twenty Mule Team Borax’ in our lifetime, and this is where it got its name. In the 1870's and 1880's, F.M Borax Smith started the Harmony Borax Works Mining Company in Death Valley. He had Chinese laborers gather borax salts for $1.30 a day, and the 20 mule teams hauled the filled wagons to the railheads. The wagons weighed 36 tons, and always had a 1200 gallon water wagon connected with it, so with the 20 mule team to pull them, it was about 100 feet long. They journeyed 165 miles to market from Death Valley. So we leave Death Valley feeling a little more enriched in knowledge, and we got some very scenic hiking done in the beautiful landscape of the valley. We arrived in Pahrump, NV around noon today, got settled in, watched the awful Packer/Lions game and went to the casino for their turkey dinner. Tomorrow we will geo-cache in the area and be ready to move on Saturday. We are at the Saddle West Campground and Casino and it’s very nice here. Pahrump is a neat little town nestled in the foothills of the mountains, and they seem to have everything a person would want. We hope everyone arrived at their destinations today for their Thanksgiving Dinner, and have a safe return.