The Mesquite Springs campsite was a really great spot. I had camp spot #40, which was nice, because it backed up right to a wash and no one but wilderness to the east. I got an early start, however it would have been sooner except the unbelievably crappy pour over coffee filters that I own have sprung a leak, not once, not twice, but today it was lucky number three. As careful as I am to pour my hot water over the grounds into the filter, somehow the seam opens up and the entire thing spills into my travel mug. This time resulting in spilling all over my counter along the cabinet, and onto the floor. I don't really like to use swear words first thing in the morning, particularly not before I've had coffee, but such was the case today. I'm going to cross my fingers tomorrow morning that I will have a good pour, and then immediately throw these filters away. I'm a bit shocked since they are Melita, but they are recycled paper, and I wonder if they're just not strong enough to hold the seam together. Don't mess with my coffee.
After that ordeal, I was on the road towards Rhyolite ghost town, about 50 miles towards the town of Beatty, Nevada. It is just outside of Death Valley National Park. This small town was quite ambitious, but only lasted about six years before people abandoned it. Another case of the gold rush that came and went quickly, in some cases. It was a bit eerie seeing these buildings standing, yet falling down continuously, as we speak. I met a man at the Goldwell Open Air Museum. He was playing the flute and he also carved flutes, available for sale. I bought a native flute at the Grand Canyon a while ago. I wish I got this man's name, but he was a former high school teacher in Beatty. My sister, a very accomplished musician, will crack up at this, but he told me that via a YouTube video, and as per a native instructor, anyone can learn this native flute and simple techniques in less than two weeks. Well, I guess time will tell as I've been motivated and inspired to start practicing. The Goldwell Open Air Museum has several outdoor installations, one created by a Belgian artist who created fiberglass ghost like images depicting Leonardo da Vinci's: The Last Super. This was the last place you would find outdoor artistic installations, but what a discovery!
After a cheap gas fill up in Beatty, I went on to the Keane Wonder Mill and Mine. A ghost town mine back inside Death Valley National Park. It was a three-mile dirt road back up against the mountains which yielded a wooden mine shaft, also remnants of a tram that traveled for more than a mile. I could tell that the monsoon rains have literally worn and swept away every piece of wood and metal down these steep washes. Even a couple of miles away, as I drove back towards the main highway, I could see remnants of metal barrels and parts from the mine. The mine was built in 1906. The mica rocks in the area were beautiful, sparkly shiny and silvery.
From here, I drove through the main part of the park back through Furnace Creek, down to Badwater, which took me about two hours to get to Ashford Mill ruins. This is one big park. Ashford Mills (1914) was yet another gold processing mill that went belly up, but not until a Hungarian count purchased it for 50,000 dollars, then later selling it for $105,000. What is left is some concrete, and wonderfully weathered wood.
Of course I don't have internet connection and I've had none of it for almost two weeks. A little frustrating as I'm trying to find some public lands for my last night of camping. I was able to locate an area using paper maps and I did see one RV, which indicated to me that this was as good a place as any. I am just outside of the town of Shoshone, NV, on the border of California. There's very little traffic on this road, and I'm off on a secondary parallel road, so hopefully and with any luck it was meant to be.
So for my last night, instead of a DVD movie, I'm going to park my camp chair outside, and do some star gazing, and practice my native flute.
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