Good evening, Steemians. Your daily nature nugget is about an out-of-place lush paradise in the middle of one of the most harsh environments in the country: Death Valley. Waterfalls were one of the last things I thought I'd see on this trip, justifiably so. Almost all of the areas we hiked and camped looked like this:
That shrub you see was about the extent of the vegetation. If you've never been to Death Valley National Park, you should definitely try to make it there at some point. There were times where it felt like I was hiking on Mars. We saw a lot of cool features on the 4 days we were there. Ghost towns, abandoned mines, dunes, the famous sailing rocks... all of which will be features on the Daily Nature Fix at some point. On the last day we saw a tiny dot on a park map at the west end of the boundaries. It read "Darwin Falls". Honestly, I figured it was some kind of cliff formation or something based on the terrain we had grown used to. I mean, it obviously couldn't mean "waterfall", right? We decided to go check it out.
We drove up to the parking area right off the main highway and began our 1.5 mile hike into the location. It was a canyon that turned out of sight just a quarter mile up or so. Right away I noticed a 6" PVC pip running along the canyon wall toward a nearby campground. I still didn't really think it could have been a water line though. We continued on. As we made it around that first bend, it was like we were transported to a whole new location. Weeds, small trees, flowers.... GREEN! I missed seeing green. I kind felt like we were right back home in Pennsylvania, a bit.
^^^Vegetation? A puddle? In Death Valley???
The temperature was noticeably cooler as we entered this area as well. There were even puddles of water and muddy spots before too long. It was a welcome obstacle after being used to just jagged rocks and heat for the past few days. Another half mile or so the vegetation grew even thicker and in the distance we began to hear the familiar sound of running water! That was an exciting moment. There was a creek or something nearby.
^^^Even more green and alas, we spot Darwin Creek
After about another half mile of hiking along the trail we heard a new sound, but familiar nonetheless. FALLING water. A short while later, there it was. Darwin Falls.
^^^Darwin Falls.
About 25ft tall, the waterfall makes its way down a crevice in the basalt cliffs and splits right before it empties into a dark pool. What a neat find! I truly forgot where I was for a brief moment. I forgot I was right in the middle of such an unforgiving desert.
After hanging out for about an hour and cooling off, we heading back down the canyon. It turns out that PVC pipe was, indeed, a water line. It went to a nearby campground and store.
Thanks for reading!
- Adam
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