Desert beauty in the Death Valley

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I headed from San Diego to Death Valley on the 2nd leg of my California trip. Drove on 15N for some hrs and then took an exit for route 127. The road was all wet and I came to know that it had been raining hard that day in the desert. Route 127 was flooded in many places and driving was a little dangerous. The white Mustang Convertible that I was driving got splashed with muddy water all over. Encountered very little traffic on this road.

I finally made it to the Death Valley Junction on the east side of the Death Valley park. Stayed at an old opera house which has a hotel also. At rate of $50 a night it was cheap but everything was ancient about this place. It is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest restaurant is in a casino which is 7 miles in the Nevada border. Nearest gas station was about 20 miles away. Driving in the night with the roads flooded was risky but a little thrilling also. Suddenly the car goes over a pool of water and slows down from 60 to 10 mph in a matter of seconds with water getting splashed all over.

The rain had stopped next morning. Death Valley was looking beautiful after the cleansing from the rain. I visited the main attractions in the park like Zabriskie point, Dante's view, Badwater basin (it is more than 200 ft below sea level) and Artists drive. There are some trails in the park for hikers but this being the Death Valley, hiking is advisable only in the winter months. Around 11 am it was getting hot and it was time to leave the park. This was september. I wonder what it would be like in the valley in the summer months!

The park has mountains, sand dunes, colorful rocks and salt basin and is worth a visit.

More photos at

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