Since arriving at Death Valley we have been blessed with phenomenal views of vast swaths of geology. But other than the resident coyote pack and a couple of roadrunners, we have not seen any wildlife. Can't say that now. On our project day this week we were going to a distant attraction called The Charcoal Kilns. By road it was almost a 60 mile drive with lots of elevation gain, from -191 feet below sea level to more than 5,000 feet above sea level. Like the rest of the national park there are old abandoned mining operations all over the place. But equipment is not the only thing that was abandoned when the mine played out. A lot of the physical labor done to get to and from the mines as well as at the mines themselves was done by burros. When the mines were abandoned they didn't bother to salvage their animals, they just turned them loose and never looked back.
Many generations of these burros have done well for themselves in the arid high country. Each herd has adapted differently. The herds near the town of Beaty have habituated to city life. Coming into town to beg tourists for treats and rewarding their benefactor with a bite or kick. Others, like the ones Cyndee and I photographed this week are truly wild just like the mustangs of Montana and Nevada.
We did make it to the kilns about another 20 miles away.
More about the kilns and other things we saw later.
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