Death Valley
We arrived in Death Valley from the east having come from Las Vegas. Its pretty must desert all the way over from Vegas. On the way we stopped off at Zabreski Point for our first view of the valley, just being able to see it over the small hills in front of us. Unnervingly there were signs warning of the dangers of extreme heat and not to leave the carpark after 10am even though there is a trail that runs from the Zabreski Point car park through to Badwater Road around 3 miles through the hills.
We decided to stick to the car and keep the air con on full driving through to Furnace Creek, stopping off at the "elevation sea level sign" for a photo on the way through. The visitors center in Furnace Creek offers you the chance to find out a little bit about the history of the place, watch a video and pose outside by the official temperature sign for a photo. The sign was fluctuating between 122F and 123F whilst we were there equating to 50-51 degrees Celsius. Officially the hottest place on earth, previously hitting a staggering high of 134F (56.7C).
From the visitors centre we returned along the road back to the Sea Level sign and then turned right along Badwater Road. We followed Badwater Road for around 16 miles until we reached the Badwater Basin, the lowest place below sea level in North America. You can park up here and take a walk out into the salt flats. Determined to get to a point out in the flats where I could get a photo of the salt patterns without footprints all over them I walked out about a mile, Tracey turned back about half way as it was getting way too hot with the white of the salt reflecting all the heat back up at you. I got to a great place and got my photos, but on the way back the heat began to really get to me and I was almost surprised I made it back to the car! I was very happy to get back to the aircon in the car, but could see how quickly people can get overcome by the heat.
After a few minutes in the car to cool down we drove back up along Badwater Road and took a left down a short dirt road to the devils Golf Course. This area is almost like a large boulder field, but is actually the rock salt that has eroded away unevenly leaving behind a surface "Only the Devil could play golf on"
From the Devils Golf Course we continued back up Badwater Road but then turned right and followed the Artist Drive, a semi circular drive up through the hills to a viewpoint called the Artists Pallet. After driving down from the the Artists Pallet we noticed a large storm rolling down the valley from the north, so after passing back along Badwater Road and through Furnace creek again we decided to park up at the side of the road about 20 miles further on and let the storm roll through, not wanting to drive through the sand storm, and thinking it was a good time for a cup of tea. The storm even brought a downpour of rain, apparently quite rare in Death Valley.
After the storm had passed we carried on, briefly stopping at the Devils Cornfield before stopping again to take a walk over the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. An unusual area of drifting sand dunes that are formed by the eroding mountains from the north. They are named after the Mesquite trees that grow in abundance in the area.
From the sand dunes we drove on a little west, passed the Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station and through Stovepipe Wells itself and then turned left onto Mosaic Canyon Road. A couple of miles up the road there is a dirt car park and the Mosaic Canyon Trailhead. This trail takes you through the Mosaic Canyon, this is quite a narrow canyon at first, but after about three quarters of a mile opens up a bit before again narrowing back down. We were here quite late in the afternoon and the sun begun to get low in the sky it started to cause the canyon walls to glow a golden colour as there they were reflecting the sun.
As it was late, we decided to return to the car before it got too dark. The light in the canyon was falling, but we made it out to the car before the light went completely. We returned to the main road, turning left and leaving Death Valley behind us.
