Death Valley

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We all have images and beliefs about an area before we visit. It’s fun to go somewhere and discover the truth and learn enough so that it has more dimension and truth. If we had driven thru Death Valley, my view probably wouldn’t have changed very much, but by staying for 5 nights and visiting various areas and attending ranger talks, my view is very different from when we arrived.

We drove in from the south end of the park to Furnace Creek and the view and plants were what I was expecting. It’s a desert with the small shrubby plants growing, but there were hints of something more as we passed some areas. Furnace Creek had greenery and palms and a green golf course and I wondered where the water came from and how wasteful that was to use it that way. Surprisingly they have LOTS of water. Death Valley is the lowest place in the country and any rain in the surrounding mountains eventually arrives in the valley. The different springs produce hundreds of gallons per minute of water. So even though they only receive 2 inches of rain a year, there is plenty of water available in the valley.

Scotty’s Castle
This was well worth the drive and the fee. We booked the combo tour which included both the castle and the tunnels/mechanics of the house. Fascinating to hear the history of the people and the house. Scotty was not the owner, but he was a character that was larger than life and was befriended by the Johnsons who owned the house.

Golf
When we were on our trip to Alaska George golfed at The Top of the World Golf Course in the Yukon. He decided that golfing at the lowest gold course in the world was another experience he wanted to have. He and Larry played 9 holes of golf at The Furnace Creek golf course which is 214 feet below sea level.

Badwater Salt Flats
This is the lowest elevation in the country, at 282 feet below sea level. There is a sign on the side of the cliff so that sea level is marked and it is easy to understand how low this area is below sea level.

Canyons
Lots of fun places to hike. The colors and rocks with the varying width of the narrow canyons make for an interesting hike.

Ranger Talks
These are both fun and educational. The rangers are as varied as their backgrounds. They can be young and this is their career or they can be retired (perhaps early retired) and this is a way to share there knowledge and have some fun. I do find the older ranger/naturalists to be fascinating. So far we’ve had a geologist, a special education teacher and a psychiatrist who worked with sports teams. One of my favorite talks was around a campfire and it was “What Howls in the Night?” The atmosphere and the presentation were perfect for the topic.

We also went to a ranger talk about the night sky. It was a few miles from the campground and away from the lights. We were given red cellophane to put over our flashlights to help us see our way, and so our night vision wouldn’t be devastated by the brightness from the flashlights. The night sky was awesome! The big surprise was the glow on the one horizon, from the lights of Las Vegas over 100 miles away.

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Photos

Dantes View
Looking down on Badwater

Badwater 2
Yes there is water here and it is saltier than the ocean. Usually this area is dry and people hike.

Furnace Creek gas
This was the highest price we've seen. At Stovepipe Wells it was about 90 cents less.