What a great day to visit—Death Valley and the Mohave Desert! Yes, Death Valley is in California, and Greg said he would never go back, but we managed to change his mind. I’m really glad we did because Death Valley is really a beautiful and interesting place to visit. No desire to live there, but I would visit again.
We drove out to CA through Pahrump, Nevada. Pahrump is much larger than I would have guessed, and there are so many fun ways to say the name. We opted for the more scenic route (we often do) vs. the fastest, and ended up turning in Amargosa Valley. Amargosa was described in a travel review as “one of the most desolate places” around, and we concur. Ryan and Audrey thought it was creepy. You can decide what you think from the pictures.
Made it to Death Valley and paid our entrance fee (Beware the composting toilet kiosks! I have nothing against composting toilets. Maybe it was the heat. I would NOT recommend these, though, unless you’re really good at holding your breath.) First stop, Dante’s View. Beautiful! Over 5,000’ from the floor of Death Valley. Death Valley is noted as having some of the cleanest air quality, and spectacular night time sky views (little to no light pollution). We added white-tailed antelope ground squirrels, and some type of collared lizard to the animal list. Those tiny squirrels were quite the pros at posing for pictures.
On to Zabriskie Point, with an off shoot to 20 Mule Canyon. This canyon is a fairly quick dirt road track, well worth the time if your vehicle will allow for travel off the asphalt.
The terrain is vastly different throughout Death Valley. This is a good time for some quick Death Valley facts.
Death Valley covers 3,422,024 acres, and was established in 1933 (with a redesign in 1994 that added acreage.)
Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth, with the highest recorded temperature of 134 degrees Farenheight measured on July 10, 1913.
Death Valley is the driest place in the United States with an average rainfall of 2.2” per year.
Death Valley is also the lowest place in North America, with an elevation in Badwater Basin of 282’ BELOW sea level.
From Zabriskie Point, we went on to Furnace Creek and the visitor’s center. Highest temp on their thermometer while we were there—108 degrees F. We kept sending Ryan and Audrey back across the parking lot to get another picture as the thermometer rose! Death Valley gets another note on our personal list—the highest gas prices we have ever personally seen $8.84/ gal. for regular, and $9.25/gal. for diesel. Luckily we didn’t need to fill up!
Journeying on, next stop way Artist’s Palette. Beautiful views of multicolored hills. Chemical analysis show iron, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium. No copper. The red is red hematite, and the green, green chlorite. Last stops before heading back to Vegas, the Badwater Salt Flats and Badwater Basin. As noted before, Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America, being 282’ BELOW sea level. There is actually water visible, as well as extensive salt flats. The terrain surrounding the salt flats is quite jagged. The noted story is that the people went to the water and were disappointed that their mules would not drink. Discovering that the water was salty, it was given the name “Badwater”. There is a type of snail that lives in the salt water, but we weren’t able to spot any from where we could be. We did all walk out on the salt flats. Yes, it was incredibly hot. Yes, if you touch the ground, it is also incredibly hot. (Did all of us touch the ground? Ummm, yes.) Temperature according to the truck thermometer at Badwater Basin, 109 degrees F.
Back to Vegas, again by the scenic route. A quick pet of the Adventure Dog, and back out to dinner at Wolfgang Pucks at the MGM Grand. This was Ryan’s (and Audrey, but she is a minor so can’t be on the gambling floor) first casino. He was not impressed. Unfortunately for Vegas, the Flatts are not big gamblers, and if we win, we stop playing and keep the money.
After dinner it was an easy stroll through the casino to see David Copperfield’s show. He is still very theatrical, and he does like to make large things appear. We enjoyed the show, and were glad we got to see him as our live Las Vegas show experience.
All in all, a very long, but very fun day!
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