Little Trip, Day Three

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 On the third day we went to Ash Meadows.  This is an area over 23,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert uplands.  Looking out across the area, one would not expect to find springs, except for the occasional taller, green trees.

Over 100 miles to the northeast, water enters a vast underground aquifer system.  This water, also known as fossil water, takes thousands of years to move through the ground.  A geologic fault acts as an underground dam partially blocking the flow of water and forcing it to the surface into over 50 seeps and springs.  Over 10,000 gallons per minute flow year round, most from which come from seven major springs.  They determined the origin of the water by analyzing it's contents and then the surrounding areas.

The first place we stopped was where the home of Jack Longstreet stood.  (Remember the name of the casino where we stayed?)  He was a loner, hired gun, and raised race horses.  They have reconstructed his home, which he built into the mouth of a small cave from which spring water ran.  In this area there are several mounds of white, rough rock.  It is formed when the wind blows the dust which sticks on the wet surface and keeps building up.  Eventually, it blocks the springs which then finds a new channel.  The spring ran through part of his home, giving him fresh water and a place to store his perishables.  It is now a few yards from his home.  These are pictures of it.

 

The water is very clear and has a blue cast.  The white area is where the water is coming out.  In the next picture, you can see the sediment swirling. 

 

 This next spring had a deeper hole in the center from which the water was flowing.  It is at the bottom of the white sediment.

The most common tree on the refuge is screwbean mesquite.  Native people cured the pods and ground them into flour.  This is one of the trees without it's leaves.

 This is what the bean looks like.  They ground the whole thing.

 There are lots of mistletoe growing in the trees also.


There aren't any leaves on the mistletoe yet either, but there are still some berries.  The birds eat the berries, then deposit the seeds on the branches, and start the process over again.

 There are several patches like this on the ground.  It is the salt/borax that has dissolved in the water, which then evaporated and left borax cotton.









We saw several black tailed jackrabbits and several of these guys sunning themselves on the boardwalks.

 In one of the spring areas there was lots of shoots that the Indians used for their arrows.  They grow about five or six feet tall and are very straight and light weight.  While we were looking at it, all of a sudden something small flew towards Bob.  He had on a gray shirt.  He flinched and waved his arms and it flew back down the boardwalk.  It kept going back and forth and we realized that it was a bat.  It kept going towards him and he would wave his arms, so it would leave.  Finally, he just stood still to see what it would do.  It landed on his shirt pocket for about ten seconds and then took off again.  It was light brown, fuzzy, and about three inches long.  We couldn't believe that it was out in the sunlight.

Another spring in what they call Devils Hole.  It is at the base of this hill.

It is fenced to keep you from falling in and also because it is being studied.  They have monitors set up to watch the water level.  They have noted tsunamis in the water when there have been earthquakes as far away as Japan, Indonesia and Chile having caused the water to 'slosh' in Devils Hole like water in a bathtub.  It, along with the other springs, are home to endangered pupfish.

 

 This is dessert holly.  It curls like regular holy but it doesn't have spines on the end, at least this one didn't.  I didn't see any berries on it.








This last spring was call King's Pool at Point of Rocks.  It was in this area that Bob met his new friend.  It was easier to see the Amargosa Pupfish at this place than at any of the other springs.  At breeding time the males turn blue.  I took several pictures and this was about the clearest.  They lay their eggs and live on shallow shelves at the edges of the pools.  They can live in water as warm as 93 degrees F and in as little as one inch of water.

This is the only place these fish are found and they believe they are left from the dinosaur times.  They are only about an inch long.

Down stream from the pool we saw endangered Ash Meadows speckled dace fish which are about four inches long and live in fast and cooler streams.

This was another interesting area and we are very glad that our friends told us about this place also.  It certainly is not something we would expect to find in the dessert.