Blogs from Death Valley National Park, California, United States, North America - page 3

The pictures below were taken at Death Valley National Park proper. One enters without charge, but at the Visitor Center needs to buy a day permit. Badwater is the lowest point of the valley, almost 300 feet under sea level. The bit of water left there, reminiscent of a time when there was much more water, is salty. Says the story that men trying to cross over to the west would be excited to see water at this point, just to realize soon enough that it was "bad water" to drink. Keep in mind it is called Death Valley because so many people tried to cross it on their way to California rather than going around the mountains, however realizing soon enough that it was hot hot hot and there was no water. At the time ... read more

In the middle of the middle of Death Valley, if you drive long enough, you'll finally see a tower. As you get closer, you'll see some palm trees, and eventually the rest of a house that is really more a castle. It was built in the 1920s by the fancy of Walter Scott (Death Valley Scotty) and the money of Albert Johnson and his wife. They lived there at times, had a lot of fun in it at times, later turned it into a hotel when money got scarce and eventually left it to the Gospel Foundation which later on sold it to the National Park Service. Today a tour guide takes you through the house for $15, and you can walk up to the hill where "Scotty" is buried, overlooking the castle that he so ... read more

Je weet waar je terecht gekomen bent als je plaatsnaambordjes tegenkomt met namen erop als Furnace Creek (Kachelkreek), Stovepipe Wells (Ovenpijpbronnen), Charcoal Kilns (Steenkolenovens) en Devil's Golf Course: de heetste plek op aarde, Death Valley. In de zomer komt de temperatuur hier regelmatig boven de 50 graden uit, het record van de luchttemperatuur staat op 57. De grondtemperatuur kan zelfs over de 100 graden heengaan, wat dus betekent dat als je een pannetje aardappels op de grond neerzet, deze spontaan gaar worden gekookt. In september is de grootste hitte weliswaar voorbij maar ligt de gemiddelde luchttemperatuur nog altijd boven de 40 graden. Vandaag was het een relatief koele dag, want het grootste deel van de ochtend was het zowaar bewolkt. Toch was ook vandaag op de heetste momenten de lucht die ik inademde warmer dan m'n ... read more

Las Vegas to Death Valley. Up and away bright and early from the Pink Flamingo. No breakfast as the queue at the café next to the lifts was too long and we didn’t want to lug the cases any further than that. Checked out, after only a little queuing and I waited with the cases while Bob brought the car round from the multi-storey car park, which was free, one of the few free things in Vegas as it happens. No problem at all getting out of town on the freeway, in fact surprisingly easy. A spectacular drive through this barren area of Nevada. Mostly without a covering of vegetation the earth is stripped and bare showing its multi-coloured layers of rock. Quite amazing in some places that anything manages to grow at all but most ... read more

My greatly anticipated day trip into Death Valley began at 2:30 in the morning. I travelled through Pahrump and past the “Amargosa Opera House” sign. It may have been an interesting drive, had it not been before dawn. For most of the drive, I could see the artificial glow of Las Vegas in the distance. When I arrived at the Badwater Basin parking lot three hours later, I found no one else there. It was an exciting surreal moment, being the only human for miles and miles, shrouded in thick silence and darkness. The sky was full of stars and it did not take long for my eyes to adjust to their light. I didn’t even need my head lamp. Walking out into the salt flats, I watched a couple stars shoot across the sky and ... read more