Upon leaving Beatty, I decided to spend a couple days in Pahrump, NV, only about 80 miles to the south. Not only does Pahrump offer several major grocery chains, which allowed me to replenish my pantry at reasonable expense, but fuel is much less expensive than that available in a small, remote town such as Beatty. Also, Pahrump is the closest town to Ash Meadows NWR, a place I had never been willing to visit due to its remoteness. A wide choice of RV parks only 35 miles from the refuge convinced me to stop.
Ash Meadows is at the southern end of the Amargosa Valley and another place where the underground river "springs" up to the surface in numerous locations ranging from small ponds to large lakes. The water is described as "fossil water" because it has been in the underground system for thousands of years. The entire 23,000 acre park is an oasis that served as the last water supply point for miners crossing Death Valley to the California gold fields. Some 27 species of plants and animals living in Ash Meadows are found nowhere else on earth.
Having high expectations, I was somewhat disappointed at what I was able to do and see during my time there. While there were plenty of birds, they were very skittish and uncooperative. I did not have the patience to wait for them to accept my presence and pose for the camera. Consequently, I came away with few bird photos, most of which are fairly common birds. Notice it was a very overcast day, unusual for that area.
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| Cooper's Hawk |
The most enjoyable aspect of my visit was the extent of fall foliage, which was a little surprising.
This next tree, very attractive in all seasons, is an invasive species called tamarisk. It was introduced to prevent erosion of river banks during flood. Unfortunately, the tree is so hardy and so prolific at propagation, it has become dominant in many areas and choked out native trees. It sucks so much water from the ground, those growing along the Colorado River have actually lowered the river level. The national park service has introduced a particular beetle that supposedly eats only the tamarisk, starving if there are none around. I have observed wide areas where it seems to be working, although it leaves huge volumes of dead trees to be cleaned up. I should add that some variant species do not have the negative effects, but serve as attractive ornamentals.
The lakes in the refuge certainly look out of place in the desert. Seeing no waterfowl on the lakes, I didn't spend time walking their boardwalks.
One old cabin made of railroad cross-ties interested me, but I was unable to learn its history. I'm sure plenty of prospectors spent time around here.
I like Nevada's mountains because they are so rugged and colorful. It's because they are young, having been created by volcanic activity only a few thousand years ago. Therefore, they missed the scraping and shaping of the ice age, and have had relatively little exposure to erosion.
An interesting feature of Ash Meadows is an opening into the underground aquifer called Devil's Throat. While the bottom has never been reached, it is at least 500 feet deep and is home to the tiny pupfish that live nowhere else. (They are similar to those that live in Death Valley, which I have seen.) The park has chosen to keep visitors from seeing into Devil's Throat, or viewing the pupfish, by putting a fence around it, keeping visitors at least fifty feet away.
While somewhat unsatisfying, I consider my trip there to be worthwhile, another place to label "been there, done that".
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