CHRISSY OHLINGER/ SPECIAL TO THE PVT Above, at the Coffer Ranch north of Beatty, Brian Brown and Brenda Harris eye the Amargosa River. At right, crystal clear water is a feature of the several springs at the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. CHRISSY OHLINGER / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Brian Brown inspects the marker memorializing his grandfather at LongStreet Springs, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. CHRISSY OHLINGER/ SPECIAL TO THE PVT Above, at the Coffer Ranch north of Beatty, Brian Brown and Brenda Harris eye the Amargosa River. At right, crystal clear water is a feature of the several springs at the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. CHRISSY OHLINGER / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Advertisement

Saturday, April 12, was a translucent, neon, desert morning in Shoshone that can best be appreciated wearing hiking boots and carrying a camera.

The Amargosa River Conservancy's driving tour set off from the conservancy office to track the Amargosa River from its source, north of Beatty. The tour would follow the river's meandering "J," ending in the Mojave Desert.

Brian Brown from China Ranch was the guide and window into local culture for the day. Brown is knowledgeable about the Amargosa watershed the way a lifetime of passion for a community can transform a resident into a regional encyclopedia. At regular stops along the route, Brown shared thoughtful insights about every topic the eight-person audience broached, from political viewpoints to humorous historical anecdotes.

At the Opera House in Death Valley Junction, Brown shared with the group a comical recounting of its architectural origins.

In 1923 the Pacific Coast Borax Co. started construction of the complex in response to an unflattering article by Zane Grey for Harper's Weekly. Grey had described Death Valley Junction as a "forlorn and shabby place."

The first stop along Highway 95 to the north was to view Yucca Mountain.

The small sandstone formations were enthusiastically cited by Brown as "probably the most studied piece of earth on the planet."

Brown discussed the nature of the radioactive waste to be stored at this least impressive or majestic formation in the Mojave Desert.

A great pleasure of living in proximity to Death Valley and the Mojave Desert is having personal experience attached to the electric blue and taupe landscape. Each isolated desert community can have its own micro-culture.

Like many rural residents, Brown takes for granted the boggling expanse of the desert. Nonchalantly pointing over his shoulder, Brown announced that the next stop, Beatty "is just 30 miles up the road."

Arriving 15 miles north of Beatty on a dirt road, Brown led the group to a gem of local culture and natural resource at the upper Coffer Ranch in the Oasis Valley.

Here the group investigated the headwaters of the Amargosa River. The tour schedule qualified the visit as hopeful, saying that "We think we have permission to visit this private site but will send a woman ahead in case the watchman is cranky" -- another charming, if less friendly, example of authentic western character.

The water formed two large pristine ponds surrounded by shady poplar and cottonwood trees. The relationship between water and human enterprise was evident as development followed the stream from beginning to end throughout Beatty.

Brown used the backdrop of the working ranch with original copper roofs and free-range cattle milling about to bring home the reality of the competition between different user groups for a very small water supply.

The scope of the day's travel, from urban style homes in Pahrump to a protected wetlands conservation area, to a working cattle ranch, brought home the complexity of multiple needs.

Heading back again toward Shoshone and lunch, the caravan stopped near the Ponderosa Dairy to look at an expanse of flat desert that may very well become part of a solar installation under discussion for Amargosa Valley.

The sterile political debate over the future of the land became more vivid and three dimensional for the small group, as did the lizards, toads and tortoises that live there now.

Despite disappearing in Beatty, the underground river is still of vital importance to the economy and future of Amargosa Valley. Development of the area would mean more water usage, but here it is leveraged against the ever increasing need for electricity in nearby cities.

Returning toward Shoshone, the tour group stopped to observe cute little blue and striped pupfish at Fairbanks Springs on the west side of Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge. Brown discussed how endangered species endemic to the meadows further complicate the region's water supplies and wildlife management efforts.

In the oasis of Shoshone, the river re-emerges in the form of tall, shady cottonwood trees and pools of standing water.

After spending the better part of the day traveling and getting to know the Amargosa River, the sporadic crystal pools of water were much deeper with personality and importance than they had seemed in the morning.

After lunch at the historic Crowbar Café, the tour continued the journey south with the Amargosa River waters. Sadly, the group was less one writer and her two very tired children.