Blogs from Death Valley National Park, California, United States, North America - page 6

Day 4 Tonight my focus is on my shoes. The soles are gooey with gum that I managed to step in at the little town of Beatty, Nevada. The sides of my Nikes are encrusted with salt from Badwater basin and the insides are filled with sand acquired as I walked up and down the Mesquite Flat dunes. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the western hemisphere and, of course, we had to walk out into it. It's a strange, but beautiful place. The salt crystal formations were quite interesting. We made a quick stop at Furnace Creek for lunch and to check out the stores and it was fun to see one of the books that son Dave had designed on sale at the general store. After a leisurely stop at the old Harmony ... read more

Have a good reliable with great tires before attempting this one, The Racetrack Basin lies within the boundary of Death Valley National Park. Within the basin lies an almost perfectly flat dry lake, known as the Racetrack Playa. Resting on its flat dry lakebed are pebble- to boulder-sized rocks, with masses estimated at up to 320 kilograms This in itself could be explained by simple mass wasting processes, yet the position of the rocks, often hundreds of meters from a source area, and the presence of furrows in the clay playa surface leading toward the rocks suggests that the rocks are moving by traction. Trails created by the rocks vary in length and direction. Some trails show gradual (curving) or abrupt (angular) changes in direction; most trails indicate a general south/southwest to north/northeast motion . Many ... read more

October 15, 2009 We all agreed to leave early today so that we could arrive in Vegas early and sit by the pool. We had spent not a little bit of time yesterday, looking for potential places to stay. Hotels.com was quoting rooms for $20.00 a night…I’m not kidding and they were at big resorts…OK not Bellagio but others. We had settled on the Las Vegas Hilton and that’s where we were headed. But first we drove through Death Valley and that turned out to be one of the absolute surprise highlights of the trip…it was… magnificent…right up there with the Rockies and the northern Pacific. It’s difficult to describe it in any meaningful way and I know the pictures won’t do it justice…it’s stark, moonlike, mountainous, flat, gray, colorful, hot, still, dry, and I think ... read more

August, 10 We had an early start after Yosemite because we needed to get to Las Vegas to pick up my parents by 2pm and wanted to drive through Death Valley. Turns out the 266 mile trip can take 6-and-a-half hours so we set off at the crack of dawn. Death Valley is the hottest place on earth and features the lowest point in the western hemisphere - 282ft below sea level. What a place. Firstly you can see the heat on the road almost like water shining in the distance. The times when we got out of the air conditioned comfort of the Dodge it was like stepping into an oven. I know people say this when they go on holiday or whatever but this was the real deal. Someone had tried to fry an ... read more

When I come home from work on a 128 degree day like today, and enter my apartment, I often feel relief. I forget that I've left the swamp cooler off for the last 10 hours and eventually realize its 95 degrees inside. Thirst has become a constant here, where drink is now likened to breath. Unfortunately, the water from the faucet on cold is too hot to take a shower under, let alone drink. The water from the hot water tank is slightly cooler, now that we've shut it off. When I'm home, I keep my apartment at a tepid 85 degrees. I take off my shirt and accept, in this masochistic manner, the fact that I live in the second hottest place on earth. Cow Creek, the employee housing area here in Death Valley, is ... read more