We arrived in Death Valley last night around sunset with temperatures around 105 degrees F! My first impression of the landscape was.. how strange! It was more beautiful than we thought it would be and there are many different types of landforms. There are areas with mountains and surprisingly large amounts of foliage and desert plants. There are other areas containing nothing but sand dunes. We saw several different species of lizards... dull gray small ones to huge (at least 1 1/2 ft long) pinkish ones. We even spotted some quail!
This morning we headed for some sand dunes said to have accoustic activity (walking on them or running your fingers through them apparently creates audible vibrations). We looked at the map and chose the road that seemed to lead out to them... what we found was a very rustic unmaintained gravel road that didn't go anywhere near the dunes at all! In fact, we couldn't see that ANY road actually went to the dunes, and in 100+ degree weather, we weren't in the mood to hike many miles in the sweltering desert! Our off-road experience lasted about an hour and a half. Back on a paved road we discovered some closer sand dunes and hiked around on them for a while. (I wish I had a camel.)
Next we took Ron's advice (GREAT advice, btw!) and drove down 20 Mule Team Canyon Road and Artist's Drive, both narrow winding one way roads cutting through the intensely colorful mountains. Breathtaking! Artist's Palate was by far the highlight for me!
A stop in the Badwater Basin nearly killed me. At 282 feet below sea level, it's the lowest (and arguably, Hottest!) point in the Western Hemisphere. The salt flats here stretched out for miles. It reminded us of snow because the salt would collect around our boots and make a slushy concoction that was difficult to walk though.
In the evening we took another off-road adventure in the truck to see the Panamint Falls. We never found them... I think it probably required another wild goose chase hike through the desert to reach them. Not what we had in mind. So instead, we drove out to to Father Crowley Point to watch the sunset over the mountains and dunes.
This morning we headed for some sand dunes said to have accoustic activity (walking on them or running your fingers through them apparently creates audible vibrations). We looked at the map and chose the road that seemed to lead out to them... what we found was a very rustic unmaintained gravel road that didn't go anywhere near the dunes at all! In fact, we couldn't see that ANY road actually went to the dunes, and in 100+ degree weather, we weren't in the mood to hike many miles in the sweltering desert! Our off-road experience lasted about an hour and a half. Back on a paved road we discovered some closer sand dunes and hiked around on them for a while. (I wish I had a camel.)
Next we took Ron's advice (GREAT advice, btw!) and drove down 20 Mule Team Canyon Road and Artist's Drive, both narrow winding one way roads cutting through the intensely colorful mountains. Breathtaking! Artist's Palate was by far the highlight for me!
A stop in the Badwater Basin nearly killed me. At 282 feet below sea level, it's the lowest (and arguably, Hottest!) point in the Western Hemisphere. The salt flats here stretched out for miles. It reminded us of snow because the salt would collect around our boots and make a slushy concoction that was difficult to walk though.
In the evening we took another off-road adventure in the truck to see the Panamint Falls. We never found them... I think it probably required another wild goose chase hike through the desert to reach them. Not what we had in mind. So instead, we drove out to to Father Crowley Point to watch the sunset over the mountains and dunes.
2 comments:
The desert landscapes with all the sand seemed so surreal. And those rusted out cars, how random?!? ;o) Lovin' the pics!
Nice pictures. I wanted to let you know Jake won his race yesterday, and is moving to jr Honda next week.
Post a Comment