Death Valley

Death Valley is AWESOME!!! WE had no idea what to expect before we arrived and what we found blew our minds.

We are still traveling with Dan and Amy, so we caravaned from Sawtooth Canyon to Death Valley, by way of Baker.

Baker

Baker is a little California town on I-15 in the middle of nowhere. Their claim to fame? The world’s tallest thermometer. How could we not stop and take pictures? The thermometer is 134 feet tall in honor of 134 degrees Fahrenheit being the hottest temperature ever recorded in Death Valley.

You could see the thermometer from miles away.
Here it is, the world’s tallest thermometer. It was 68 degrees when we stopped at lunch time.
And…the obligatory selfie. I was there!

Under the Sea

Death Valley is the largest National Park outside of Alaska, coming in at over 3 million acres. A good portion of that is below sea level (Under the Sea…get it?)

A sign we saw more than once as we drove around Death Valley.

We stayed in Furnace Creek, a spring fed oasis in the middle of the park that is 190 feet below sea level. There is a full hookup campground that pretty much requires you to make reservations way in advance. Us being non-planners, we opted for the Sunset Campground with no hookups and no required reservations. It is essentially a large parking lot with terrific views. We had no complaints. Again, solar panels for the win!

The campground was around 25% full for most of our stay. However, on the weekend, the place filled up with tents. But by Sunday afternoon, the weekenders were all gone and we were alone and quiet again. There were also a few LARGE overflow camping lots that were empty now. I would not want to be here during a busy time!

We were surprised that Furnace Creek had cell service, not typical for a National Park. This is probably due to the private hotels and other businesses in the area. It was not the quality of cell service we were used to. If you wanted to do anything on the Internet, you had best stay up late or get up early. During the day, about all you could do is make and receive phone calls. At some point everyday, the entire cell network would go down. Hey, we were grateful for the connectivity we did have!

Now let’s start our tour of Death Valley National Park.

Zabriskie Point

Our first day, we went to Zabriskie Point at sunset. From that moderately high overlook, you could see down into the valley.

Photographers on the overlook getting set up for sunset photos.
A few adventurous souls wandered out onto the rocks.
Stunning!
The color variations in the rocks was a sight to behold.

Badwater Basin

On our first full day it was time to explore. We headed out to Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in North America. The elevation is 282 feet BELOW sea level. There, we walked out onto the salt flats.

282 feet below sea level.
At the Badwaters Basin parking lot, someone had put up a sign designating where sea level was. See that black arrow pointing to the little white sign? That is sea level!
The salt flats stretched for miles and miles.
They allow you to walk out onto the salt flat. The nearest figure in the photo is Amy.
The path that people walked out on had been worn smooth. Off the path, this is what it looked like.

The salt flat’s path’s surface is salt that is moist and a bit spongy. I took this video to show you what it is like. You can also view the video at https://youtu.be/sYry0kOUvow.

Artist’s Drive

Artist’s Drive is a 9 mile scenic loop you can drive to view rocks formations in many hues.

The drive was one-way and winding.
This stop is called Artists Palette. From the colors in the rocks, it’s obvious how it got its name.

Golden Canyon

Between the road that the Artist’s Drive was on, and Zabriskie Point, there is a hike called the Golden Canyon Trail. Jim wanted to try out his new knees. I didn’t want to try out my ever-improving knee. So we came up with a plan. I would drop off Jim, Dan and Amy on the west end of the trail and pick them up two hours later at the east end at Zabriskie Point.

The plan worked out great. The crew really enjoyed the hike, but didn’t have to do it both ways. Jim’s knees did great. Photo Credit: Daniel Knowles.

Dantes View

Dantes View is a westward looking point you can drive to. It is at 5474 feet and overlooks the valley floor. We arrived in the morning to take advantage of the sun being behind us and shining on the snow covered peaks to the west.

Below are the salt flats we were walking on just the day before.
Another obligatory selfie.
It was just beautiful.

Natural Bridge

Another short hike took you up a canyon to a bridge cut into the stone by water runoff.

The canyon was fairly wide, and you only had to walk 1/4 mile. I can do this!
Natural Bridge, with a couple of people standing under it.

Devil’s Golf Course

Devil’s Golf Course? Borrowing from Wikipedia…” It was named after a line in the 1934 National Park Service guide book to Death Valley National Monument, which stated that “Only the devil could play golf” on its surface, due to a rough texture from the large halite salt crystal formations. ”

Rough texture was an understatement.
You were allowed to walk out on the “golf course.”
This is what one of the salty orbs looked like.
Yes, it’s definitely salt.
And closer still.

Salt Creek

There is a boardwalk trail through a salt marsh. This is the Salt Creek Trail

Yes, there IS flowing water in Death Valley,
The Salt Creek is a rare pupfish habitat. Measuring only 1 inch long, the Salt Creek pupfish is endangered.
We saw a number of lizards on the walk, none of whom were shy.
This is Pickleweed, which grows along brackish water.
Sometimes the stems were red instead of green. The stems almost look like pony beads. My fellow crafters will understand that reference!

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

There are huge sand dunes in Death Valley. The time to photograph these is at sunrise. Dan and his camera ventured out twice to photograph the dunes, once with Amy and another time with Jim. I opted to sleep in both times. No regrets here.

You can see where people have walked along the top of the dune. I wonder if the footprints were gone by the next morning. Photo Credit: Daniel Knowles
This is Jim, or rather his shadow. Photo credit: Daniel Knowles

Father Crowley Vista Point

Another day we ventured to explore the western side of Death Valley National Park. That included a stop at the Father Crowley Vista Point. It is at 4280 feet in elevation and afforded a good view eastward into the park.

This picture is for Doug C. Our Jeep can climb mountains! This almost looks like a Jeep TV advertisement. Photo Credit: Daniel Knowles

Real Life

Sometimes you need to stop playing tourist and take some downtime. We had a few of those days. The dirty clothes were piling up and laundry needed to be done. There was a reasonably priced laundromat at the resort across the street. Usually laundry is not a blog worthy event. But it is when there are only four dryers, of which only one is working and someone else has clothes in it. Amy and I had the guys rig up some clotheslines for us. Between spare hangers and clothes pins that we use to close potato chip bags, we managed to get everything hung up. Let me tell you, Death Valley is the place to hang up wet laundry. Between the sunshine, the low humidity, and the breeze, everything dried super fast, even the heavy denim jeans. Still, I can’t imagine what the neighbors thought!

Yup, it’s laundry day. Sometimes you have to get inventive about where to string your clothesline. Jim and Dan managed to figure it out. My apologies to our neighbors who had to stare at our underwear for a few hours.

The Big Blow

We had intended to leave on Monday, but a weather front was moving through, and with it high winds. We opted to delay our departure by a day and sit out the winds (we had a 59 mph gust!). Driving a high profile vehicle in winds that strong would NOT be fun. So, we got some reading done, I got a quilt top stitched together, we pulled out the dominoes for some afternoon fun, and finished up the day with a bourbon tasting.

We made the best of a bad weather day.

If you ever get the chance, definitely go to Death Valley. If you don’t have an RV, there are hotels and resorts in park. Prices can be high, for example $9 for a small box of Cheerios! But it would be so worth it. We found late February was the perfect time to visit. The campgrounds were not full and the temperature was perfect in the mid 70’s. Do it!

6 thoughts on “Death Valley

  1. Jeanne & Dennis

    Oh Ya It’s unlike any other as
    Tis all about size and views.
    Glad you were able to take time to explore all!
    Just imagine a sunny July days hike ‼️
    Smokin Hot

  2. dominiquefeather

    Yay — another picture of Jim — well, his shadow!!! Glad to see that someone else hangs their laundry outside. Thanks for sharing all the nice pictures.

  3. meoneill

    Very cool blog! Enjoyed the pics and commentary. Looks the bourbon on the right is most popular…. . Looks like you are all having fun and making the most of it. Keep on truckin’.

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