Spent the afternoon about China Ranch, near Tecopa, California. It’s a family owned and operated small farm, a lush piece of greenery amidst the forbidding Mojave Desert near Southern Death Valley. There’s cottonwoods and willows by a wandering stream, date palms and abundant wildlife, all hidden away down a winding road into the hidden oasis.
I stopped in the shop first for a date shake, which are amazing, because they close at 5pm and I didn’t want to miss it. There’s a great hike to the Amargosa River and about the Old Spanish Trail complete with the remains of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad and structures from a century ago built to mine the borax fields. It’s a good time to go before it gets too hot though don’t expect a raging river, it’s more like a series of streams coming together, but I go mostly for the date shake anyway!