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An Overview of Death Valley

Describing Death Valley brings a potpourri of superlatives: hottest, driest, lowest. In
1913, the valley hit a record 134 degrees Fahrenheit! But despite its brutal image, Death
Valley is a beloved mecca for geologists and other nature lovers. It also has a colorful
history of ghost towns!

Death Valley measures approximately 3,000 square miles. It spans the border of
California and Nevada and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts
Biosphere Reserve, which is devoted to ecological conservation. The diverse landscape
features desert sand dunes, snow-capped mountains, and a vast expanse of multi-hued
rock. It is also home to uniquely adapted plants and animals. Among the mammals, for
example, are the black-tailed jackrabbit, the long-tailed pocket mouse, and the chisel-
toothed kangaroo rat!

Death Valley is surrounded by several mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevadas, the
Amargosa Range, the Panamint Range, and the Sylvania and Owlshead Mountains.
Encircled by peaks, the valley has the lowest dry elevation in North America at 282 feet
below sea level. (The continents lowest point overall can be found at the bottom of Lake
Superior, but Death Valley contains the lowest spot on dry land.)

The valley is especially noted for its geologic splendor. The cliffs reveal rock layers
spanning from Precambrian to modern times. By studying the layers, geologists learn
about the earths condition in the distant past. For example, layers from the late
Pleistocene reveal that the valley was once filled by a freshwater lake, now dubbed Lake
Manly. The valley was partly filled again during flash flooding of 2004 and 2005. Still, at
that time the water was only two feet deep; before the last ice age, it measured 800 feet!

The 19th century saw many mining camps set up when rock layers revealed valuable
minerals. Men were drawn to gold and silver discoveries in the 1850s, and they mined
Borax in the 1880s. They gave their camps names like Chloride City, Skidoo, and
Panamint City. The mining camps usually became ghost towns within a few years.

In most cases, little remains of these Death Valley mining towns besides stories about
their lively inhabitants. Skidoo, for example, is marked only by a sign. It once had a
population of 700 and is infamous for having the only hanging in the valley. The hanged
man was Hootch Simpson, a down-on-his-luck saloon owner who tried to rob the town
bank. He was foiled and later returned to kill an employee! The townspeople hanged
Hootch that night. In fact, according to legend he was hanged twice: once for real and
once again for the benefit of photographers.

Visitors to Death Valley can ssee a few ghost town ruins, such as those of Panamint City.
Panamint was reputedly the roughest town in America! Its founders were outlaws hiding
from law enforcement. Although 2,000 people eventually resided there, Wells Fargo
refused to open a Panamint bank because of the inhabitants lawless reputations.

Although prospectors left the valley when mining became unprofitable, Native
Americans have lived in Death Valley for more than 1,000 years. Timbisha families, who
are part of the Shoshone tribe, still reside at Furnace Creek. They received 7,500 acres of
ancestral homeland with the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act of 2000. As of 2000,
only 31 people lived at Furnace Creek, setting the record for lowest census in the nation.
Death Valley National Park is open year-round, but considering the summer heat, most
people find the valleys winter climate more comfortable.Since 1933 Death Valley
National Park has offered extensive public works for visitors comfort. These include
developments such as campgrounds, picnic facilities, and hundreds of miles of paved
roads.
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Ways to Save Money for Holiday Travel

Many people want to travel for the holidays but they dont feel like they can because their budget doesnt allow for it. Yet there are plenty of ways you can raise money to be able to do so. The sooner you start making a plan and determining how much money you will need the more successful you will be. Come up with as accurate of an amount as you can so you wont fall short. If you overestimate the amount of money you need for holiday travel then you can enjoy it later on.

Make a commitment not to touch the money you save for holiday travel under and circumstances. Place it in the bank or in a piggy bank that you have to break to get into. This way you wont be tempted to remove any of the money for another purpose. The money you save for holiday travel will safely continue to grow until you are ready to travel.

Everyone needs to remove clutter from their home now and then so get it done and have a yard sale. Price the items cheap so that you wont have to haul it all back into your home again. Making some money off the items you no longer need is better than not making any at all. You may want to place some of the items on the various online auctions so that you can get a better price for them. Do your research to see what is selling on these sites so you can have a good chance of selling yours.

Take a close look at your income and think about how much of it you can reasonably put away for holiday travel. Even if it is only $10 a week you can start putting it away and it will add up quickly. If you get paid every two weeks there will be months when you get three pay checks. Make a plan to save at least of those paychecks for your holiday travel plans.

You may find making some adjustments to your familys budget can help you to save enough money for holiday travel as well. Instead of paying for a cup of coffee on the way to work each day make your own. Rather than going out to dinner and to a movie consider ordering a pizza and renting a movie. All the extra money that you save needs to go towards your holiday travel plans.

Ask your boss about any additional shifts or overtime hours you can have in order to save money for holiday travel. This means you may have to give up some of your free time but it will be a worthwhile sacrifice. Let other people know you are for hire too so they can pay you to baby sit, clean their house, or paint their garage. These little projects can be very fun and add up to some nice cash for the holiday travel plans you have.

If you are traveling for the holidays to see your family or friends ask them about a no gift rule if you want to go for Christmas. Explain to them that you will be saving all your money towards coming to see them for the holidays. The amount of money you will save on gifts quickly adds up, and being able to spend time with your family and friends will be a gift you cant put a price on.

Look for excellent deals on holiday travel as well. It will be wonderful if you find a cheap flight or a discount of the train or bus. This means you will have less money to save up for your holiday travel. It may take some effort and some sacrifices but it will be well worth it when the holiday of your choice rolls around and you are able to go where you want to go.

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