56 Adventures in Scenery 



a river. It starts away north in Nevada, in the Pahute Mesa. 

 Drainage from a large area of mountainous country is collected 

 into larger stream lines, and what is known as the Amargosa 

 River begins a few miles north of Rhyolite, Nevada. To the 

 south it emerges from the dissected hilly and mountainous 

 region into a broad valley known as the Amargosa Desert, and 

 continues thence south for 50 miles. It gathers some water, 

 and flows south, actually flows, across into California. Swing- 

 ing around a mountain range it turns to the northwest and 

 discharges what little water it has left into the bottom of Death 

 Valley, the lowest point in the United States, and 296 feet below 

 sea level, 80 miles east of Mount Whitney, the highest point in 

 the United States. 



The Amargosa tries as best it can to be a river. It emerges 

 from the arid region of Nevada with what water it can get, 

 loses more and more as it moves into the Mojave Desert region, 

 then seems to get discouraged and turns north between moun- 

 tain ranges, and gives up the ghost in Death Valley. Let us 

 call it a subsequent stream. Such stream as it is, it follows the 

 lines of least resistance between mountain ranges. It finally 

 gives up because here in the hottest place in the United States 

 (highest known temperature 134) it cannot get enough water 

 to save its face. It therefore "retires" under the brow of 

 Mount Whitney. 



