Can you guess where we are in this photo?
Did you guess Death Valley? The boys are standing on salt!!! Isn’t that crazy?
We were actually in Death Valley last week. We stayed at a campground, Furnance Creek Campground, inside Death Valley without any hookups. For some reason our generator was not charging the batteries for the camper so we had no power, which meant no wi-fi, we lost everything in our fridge and freezer, and no lights after sunset at 4:45! But, I can tell you, we will never forget our time in Death Valley! We had to be creative. We played cards, built legos, and read by flashlight in the evenings. We sat outside and did the most incredible stargazing ever! We went to bed earlier and woke up earlier!
Thankfully we were fairly close to the Death Valley Inn so Ken was able to pay to use their internet for work and we were able to eat at their cafeteria the last two nights when our food had run out (and a special dessert at the ice cream parlor!).
Death Valley is a land of extremes: hottest, driest, lowest. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the world was in Death Valley in 1913, 134°!! Death Valley is the driest place in North America, with an annual average rainfall of 1.9 inches. It also has the lowest point in North America, with a depth of 282 feet below sea level. With these extremes and locations such as Dante’s View, the Devil’s Golf Course, and Badwater Basin, Death Valley did not sound like an exciting place to visit! But, its a national park and it was close to where we were traveling, so we added it to the itinerary.
We quickly realized, however, that Death Valley is such a unique place. It covers over 5,000 miles of otherworldly views and is the largest national park in the continental United States. Several times during our visit, the boys would point out that the scenery looked like landscapes from Star Wars. In fact 2 of the star wars movies were filmed in Death Valley! We also found the mountains to be full of color, the entire valley to be quiet and peaceful, and lots of life and vegetation.
In August, Death Valley shut down completely because of flash floods from Hurricane Hillary. Although the park reopened in mid-October, there were still parts of the park that were closed which was a disappointment, but we will had much to explore. We spent an entire day exploring the sand dunes. The boys kept asking to climb one more sand dune and before we knew it we had a LONG hot hike back to the parking lot!
We spent an afternoon exploring the historical site of the Harmony Borax Works plant. The discovery of borax was the central reason for the popularity of Death Valley. When in full operation, the plant was producing 3 tons of borax daily. Getting the borax out of the the valley was a difficult task. The Harmony company became famous for their 20 mule teams which continues to be a symbol of the borax industry to this day. We enjoyed learning about the production of borax as well as seeing many of the antique tools and machines used in the production of borax in Death Valley.
Our favorite day of exploring was near Badwater Basin. We attended a fascinating ranger program about the landscape of Death Valley. We also had the rare opportunity to see Lake Manly. The heavy rainfall of Hurricane Hillary brought the prehistoric lake back to life. The remainder of the area (nearly 200 miles) is salt flats. Rain falling on distant mountain peaks collects minerals as water travels down the peaks. Water comes to rest and forms temporary lakes because of the low elevation. The lakes have no place to drain so over time the water evaporates, leaving behind salt. After many many years, enough salts have washed in to produce layer upon layer of salt crust. This area was truly unbelievable! I wish that I could capture the beauty of it all.
Located directly across from the salt flats in the mountains is a beautiful Death Valley canyon hike. This hike offered so many interesting sites including a natural bridge, dry falls and hanging canyons.
I am so glad we didn’t let the name deter us. There is so much beauty within the park and it truly is a bucket list destination.
**During the ranger program, we encountered a new insect—the tarantula hawk wasp—the second most painful sting in the world, behind the African Bullet Ant. If you want to research a fascinating insect, check out the tarantula hawk wasp! Thankfully, no one got stung, but the ranger made it very clear that no one would want to get stung!!!