Ghosts, Rattlesnakes and Tumbleweed in other words...Rhyolite

Death Valley brings a lot of images to ones mind....mainly ones of extreme temperatures and death. The lowest point in the western hemisphere is found here at Bad Water Basin (gotta love those names) and also the second hottest place on earth (the other is some place in Africa - you can look it up).

Death Valley and her surrounding desert was once the place of prospectors and adventurers seeking to make their name in gold, oil and anything else they could find worth mining (they found a lot more Boxite there than gold). The valley played host to many a famous story such as those of the 49'ers, a group of pioneers who ran into trouble whilst trying to cross this unforgiving landscape in 1849. Various stories surround what exactly happened to them but according to legend, death found them pretty quick. It was out of their ordeal that the valley got it's name.

Soon after the initial expeditions, mining towns sprung up in and around the valley and rapidly filled with an influx of prospectors looking for you guessed it...gold. Rhyolite, as seen in my video, was no exception.

Located on the border between Nevada and California, Rhyolite was founded in 1905 and grew to a population of approx. 5000 in 1907 in just two years. In fact from it's foundation, Rhyolite grew from just a two man camp to 1,200 people in two weeks - a population explosion. By 1910 though, the local gold mines were operating at a loss and by 1920 the population was zero.

At the height of it's success (which for better or worse didn't last too long), the town had 50 saloons (oh yes, miners like their liquer), 19 gambling tables (and their gambling too), brothels (and their women also for that matter), a casino, a public bath house, a school house, 16 restaurants and a weekly newspaper. By 1907, the residents even had their very own railway station. Little did they know that just three years later, the local population of rattlesnakes would outnumber them by a ratio of many to none.

The day we visited Rhyolite, the temperature would reach 52 degrees celcius, one of the hottest on record for the valley (or so the park ranger told me). When we reached the town, it lived up to it's title as a ghost town - we were the only visible people there, excluding the spirits of course. The only sound that could be heard were the constant creaking of old rafters and shutters banging in the wind. Signs warned of rattlesnakes at every corner. With such things I always have a dangerous curiosity to see if I can see any of the critters but fortunatley (probably, for my sake) I didn't.

I peered into the ruins of several buildings. Bits of furniture were strewn around. A few old pots and pans could be seen on the foor, reminders of the life that so many people briefly had here. Rhyolite is a creepy place especially when you visit on a day when there's no other tourists around but that's a bonus of course. To see a place like this gives you a fascinating glimpse into what life must have been like. This wasn't the first ghost town we had visited on this road trip. We had now seen two extremes, Rhyolite in one of the hottest places on earth and the ghost town of Tomboy near Telluride, Colorado beside the Imagene Pass, one of the highest passes in the USA at above 13,000 feet (I can't recommend this place enough - I will write about it soon enough and publish a video guide so keep an eye out, you hear).

If your're ever heading to the Death Valley, visit Ryholite for sure. Heading from the direction of Las Vegas, drive towards the town of Beatty and then on towards Death Valley National Park. Rhyolite is located on the eastern edge of the park.

Good luck and say hi to the spirits for me.