Death Valley - Day 3

Tuesday was kind of trashed - as far as training goes. Somehow I mis-managed my schedule for the day (not that I was doing any intense planning). On the one-hand, I wanted to run over 10 miles. On the other, I wanted to see more than I could ride or run to.
I started by crawling into three abandoned borax mines, but that only kept me entertained for 30 minutes.
I had planned on running up to several other abandoned mines and a ghost town, but I ran into "No Tresspassing" signs and the ghost town wasn't - it was a thriving modern mining camp with a constant procession of big trucks hauling ore out. So that trashed "Plan A".
Paul's group was biking up to Dante's View, not far away. If you go to Death Valley, this is not an optional place to visit! The views are astounding. The lack of vegetation makes it more so. While trees are usually nice, they block so much of your view. From the peaks in Death Valley, you can see EVERYTHING for SOOOO FAR!!!!
Paul was one of the few in the group to bike the entire climb (15% grade). Some of the lesser athletes were still very impressive in that they refused to quit - they walked thier bikes all the way to the summit. In a way, I think that was more impressive than some of the physically stronger athletes.
Paul headed back before me. One guy broke his rear gear cassette, locking-up his free-wheel. I helped hack the broken pieces out so that he could ride back to Furnace Creek.

Late afternoon, Paul and Richard (one of the riders), drove out to the ghost town of Rhyolite. It was a worthwhile excursion, but again it cut into any ability to get some running in.
Couldn't resist... We're 1000 miles from home but here we are at Golden, Colorado. or rather, the intersection of Golden and Colorado streets in Rhyolite, Nevada.