Geology from a Motor Car 359 



Amargosa Range to Furnace Creek Inn, and it will be con- 

 venient to stop. Half way across is the original home and 

 source of 20 -mule team borax. Believe it or not, it was from 

 here that the borax that made grocery stores famous was hauled 

 165 miles to Barstow by the historically famous 20 -mule teams. 

 No advice is offered the tourist whether he should or should not 

 go south from Mule Team Canyon (19 miles from Death Valley 

 Junction) to Ryan and ride on the Baby Gauge railroad through 

 the workings of the borax mines; whether he rides through 

 Corkscrew Canyon (do not drive too fast if you do) ; or go to 

 Dante's View (6,000 feet elevation). These are all very much 

 worth while, and a stop at Furnace Creek Inn (30 miles from 

 Death Valley Junction) will be enjoyed before driving south 

 17 miles to Bad Water (lowest point in the United States, 296 

 feet) over a good road, through the "impassable" salt bottom 

 of Death Valley. 



The Amargosa Range reaches an elevation of 6,397 feet at 

 Funeral Peak, a distance of six miles from the - 200 foot con- 

 tour of Death Valley. The altitude of the range generally is 

 6,000 to 7,000 feet. That of the Panamint Range averages 

 7,000 to 9,000 feet. The maximum grade on the west side of 

 the valley from Telescope Peak to the valley floor is 920 feet 

 per mile (9.8), and on the east side, measured from Funeral 

 Peak, 1,066 feet per mile (11.4). The canyons leading to the 

 valley do not approximate these grades, except in their upper 

 ends, but the average grade is steep. 



Furnace Creek Camp, one mile from Furnace Creek Inn, 

 offers saddle horses and all accommodations for recreation if 

 the engine of your car has become heated, or for any reason it 

 is deemed advisable to take time to enjoy life before going 32 

 miles to Emigrant Canyon, on top of the Panamint range. The 

 edge of the valley floor is traversed for 18 miles, with the 

 Funeral Mountains rising high on the right (northeast) . 

 Chloride Cliff and many other interesting points, including 

 Bullfrog, Nevada, are reached by a highway that turns off north 



