Death Valley Flooding

[Ed in Montana]

Most roads are closed due to extreme flooding in Death Valley National Park, with one inch of rain in a day at Furnace Creek:

http://www.nps.gov/deva


It looks like this will be a big wildflower bloom this year in the Mojave:

http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/wildupdates.html


32 days to my launch date for STS-MT5 (Sportsmobile Transport System - Mojave Trip Number 5). Can't wait to get out of the frozen north!

[Psomaki]

Ed, I know this is kinda , but I can't resist. Based on the list of cool transport you own, maybe you oughta consider relocating west of the Cascades to the BEAUTIFUL OLYMPIC PENINSULA! You can do all the stuff you love, get a milder version of all four seasons, great mountains, hunting,fishing - and boy could we use more SMB folks out here! Just a thought...

[Ed in Montana]

Don't temp me Psomaki! I've been all over the Olympic Pennisula and the San Juan Islands in the last thirty years and have been sorely tempted to move. But I was thinking of spending more time there when we retire, which has unfortunately been postponed indefinitely since the thieves on Wall Street made off with half of my 401k.

But I have been scheduling longer vacations like the up-coming two week tour of the wildflowers in the Mojave desert parks.

[Joanna]

Ed, the wildflowers in the desert on a year of spectacular rainfall is an incredible experience. I went solo several years ago after biblical rains; wading through knee-high blooms in Death Valley was something I'll never forget.
Go!

[Ed in Montana]

I hear ya Joanna. I blew off a week of work at the last minute to hit the Big Bloom of 2005 in March of that year in Death Valley, and I will never forget it.

I've been stuck in wildlife jams in Yellowstone National Park many times, but in 2005 in Death Valley National Park it was the only time I have been stuck in a wildflower jam, with literally hundreds of vehicles stopped next to fields of wildflowers south of Badwater.

[Ed in Montana]

More info from the park service on the Death Valley rains and wildflowers:

Wildflower Update for Death Valley National Park
February 8, 2009

A strong storm has brought one to two inches of rain and significant flooding throughout the park the last few days. This has greatly increased our prospects for spring wildflowers in Death Valley. Much of the park received an early rainfall in October and a parkwide rain, nearly one half inch, just before Thanksgiving. This early rain, followed by warm temperatures allowed a widespread sprouting of annual wildflowers seeds. Some of these such as Desert Gold, Brown-eyed Evening Primrose and Sand Verbena have already been observed blooming along park roadsides in the southern and northern ends of the park.

In Death Valley, the driest spot in North America, spring wildflowers are not a yearly event. It’s a rare treat for conditions to be just right. The bloom this spring may still be spotty, nothing like the huge blooms in 1998 and 2005, but still worth a viewing. The heavy rains were received late in the season, so the peak blooming period along the valley floor and up to 2,000 feet may be anywhere from mid-March to early April.

Charlie Callagan
Ranger Naturalist

Titus Canyon, Mosaic Canyon, Dantes View and the Race Track roads are still closed due to flooding. Must have been a pretty impressive storm last weekend, and they expect more rain and snow later this week.