Borax was known as “white gold” here in Death Valley. Mining operations were set up and 20 mule team teams were used to transport the stuff out of the area. We visited this abandoned site where we could see the operations along with an example of the 20 mule team carts that they pulled. Rob noted that the last of the 3 carts was a 1200 gallon water tank used to keep the mules hydrated as well as their drivers.
Harmony Borax Works
We hit a few tourist interest spots along the way (Zabriskie Point and Harmony Borax works – photos above, no those are NOT the sand dunes – keep looking down for those), and soon we found ourselves in Rhyolite, a ghost town long since abandoned when the mines all closed up in the 1920’s.
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