Death Valley National Park

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "Death Valley?" Heat, probably.

Death Valley was one of those places that I had heard about throughout my life, but I really couldn't tell you much about it other than "I think it's hot there." It sounds stupid, but the word "valley" in the name never really registered until we arrived. "Oh, hey... there are mountain ranges on each side. This place is a valley!" And that's one of the reasons for the heat.

And to be clear: Yes, it can get very hot in Death Valley (as of this writing, it holds the world record for hottest temperature ever recorded of 134 degrees), but it was quite pleasant the day we visited. It was even a tad chilly when we started out, and it was downright cold when we finished!

It was very pleasant for most of the day

Our campsite was just a few miles south of the park in Shoshone, CA (population: 13). The park itself is enormous, so our campsite dictated that we would start at the southern end.

It was an hour long drive through the southern end of the park to our first stop: Badwater Basin. the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level (another reason for the heat).

After spending a lot of time hitting the tourist attractions at various parks, we've been conditioned to expect a sign to the effect of "this is the spot of interest, right here." There was no such sign at Badwater (so named because some guy's donkey refused to drink the water there a long time ago because, being in a basin, it's very salty).

There was a sign (pictured below). Is that the lowest point? Who knows?

What we learned is that everyone wanders out into the salt flats for a while, presumably hoping to find a "you are now at the lowest point" sign, doesn't find one within what they determine to be a reasonable distance, and then turns around.

We did the same thing, but we wandered farther than most (when I do something, I go all in). This was fine, though, because the kids had a blast playing in the salt.

The entire valley is a basin, but Badwater is the lowest point (trust me, I saw a sign that said so). Because of that, all runoff from the surrounding mountains collects there but can't escape, so it evaporates, leaving behind salt. And that's all it is: sodium chloride, better known as table salt.

Yes, he tasted it, and yes, it was salty

After Badwater, we headed toward Furnace Creek, which is a bit of an oasis in the middle of the valley. On our way, we stopped at the Painted Hills to explore.

The camera really doesn't do it justice

We stopped at Furnace Creek for a picnic lunch and some ice cream. Yes, there is an ice cream shop in the middle of Death Valley (but be prepared to pay dearly for the privilege). In fact, there is a resort and a golf course in the middle of Death Valley. Maintaining a golf course green seems like a questionable use of water in a place that gets 0-2 inches of rain per year and can get up over 130 degrees in the summer, but nobody asked me.

Note: Don't get caught in Death Valley on an empty tank; and this was before fuel prices went crazy

We headed home after Furnace Creek (remember, the park is enormous, so we had a long drive in front of us). We stopped at Dante's View to take in a sunset on the way.

If you squint, you may be able to make out a certain hive of scum and villainy from Dante's View

We've seen a number of beautiful sunsets on this trip, but the one we saw from Dante's View is the best in my book. Trust me when I say the photo below is a pale representation. It painted the sky for a full 180 degrees.

The only downside was the cold temperatures (we've learned that the desert gets cold at night) and the howling winds. It was all I could do to force myself out of the car to get a better view, but I'm glad I did.

We returned to the park the next day, entering from the north after visiting Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge and the Rhyolite, NV ghost town. We didn't have much time before dark, so all we did was swing by the sand dunes to play for a bit. You'd think the kids would be done with sand by now, but no. It took about half a second for a sand war to commence.

After dinner at Stovepipe Wells, we headed home.

Finally, in case you were wondering, the valley was named by a group of miners in the 1800s. They thought it would be their grave, but as they escaped it, one of them turned around and said, "Goodbye, death valley." A grand total of one person died, making it slightly melodramatic, if you ask me.