DEATH VALLEY

Death Valley National Park (http://www.nps.gov/deva) is huge and was hardly as expected. While there are certainly desert-like areas including the sand dunes, there are mountains, valleys, salt covered ground (actually over 200 Sq Miles of salt covered ground) where salted ocean waters once flowed freely.

You did not want to run out of gas anywhere in the park. It was over 100 degrees (farenheit) when we were there in mid-May. It was a long haul between sites in the park with little traffic and nothing but wide-open spaces in between. And forget that nonsense you hear about a "dry heat". It doesn't get any drier than this and it was HOT! HOT! HOT! Miserably hot! No hikes too far from the air conditioned car.

There are long stretches of road that are nothing but vast loneliness. We visited Dante's Peak which provides the overview of the valley and the salt covered land mass. En route to Badwater, the lowest, hottest, driest place on the planet, we stopped at Zabriskie Point - just another (interesting) overlook in the park. On the way to lunch, we did the Artists drive detour which provides for some colorful rock, a gravel road, (and did I mention) HEAT. We had lunch in Furnace Creek, before heading back out into the sweltering "furnace" heat. Before the end of the day, we wanted to see Ubehebe Crater and the dunes at Stovepipe Wells - an ambitious plan in this inhospitable place. We took off for the crater - a dormant volcano at the north end of the pavement - a LONG Haul (have RELIABLE transportation). When we got there, I realized we needed gas. I really thought the quarter tank we had would get us back to Stovepipe, but it was now 5pm and I did not want to risk it. We headed to Scotty's Castle where they advertised gas. I got there as they were closing up but they did open back up for me - GREAT People.

We got back to Stovepipe well before sunset, but the sun was low on the sand dunes. I did not hike out to them - thankfully. They are quite a bit further than they look (it is not a short walk).

We spent the night in Panamint Springs. A small cabin not far off the road. It is a fairly long haul from Stovepipe Wells, but an easy drive except the last few miles of crossing the mountains. I stayed up well past sunset and watched over the open land. THIS is the definition of DARK! And 5 or 10 miles off in the distance, you can see cars coming over the mountains, making the switchbacks as they descend the mountain and then enter the long straightaway in the valley. It looks almost like a UFO might because of the remotemess and the darkness.