A weekend in Death Valley marks the 12th US national park we’ve visited together. Like many people, images of hot, flat and barren landscapes came to my mind when I thought about Death Valley, but I could not have been more wrong! Hot? Yes! But barren, no at all! Dramatic changes in topography and beautiful sweeping views fill this huge park It remoteness makes it an ideal camping destination since it’s an hour from any sort of other accommodation and a prefect winter getaway if you are longing for sun. It served as a great distraction for us, as we are excitedly awaiting our Asia vacation that is a few weeks away….seems like an eternity though!
We spent Friday night in Barstow to cut down on our Saturday drive since we would be heading back to San Diego on Sunday. We added a good 700 miles to my new car, now just over 4 weeks old with 2,000 miles! The only other ‘significant’ town we passed through was Baker. The road was spotted with a few ghost towns, but for the most part, we travelled alone on the road to the park. It was a good thing we filled the gas tank before we left Barstow since the gas in the park was almost $6/gallon!
Our first view of the park was from Zibriskie Point:
A short jaunt down the trail was a fun little break after being in the car for 3 hours:
We then drove to the Badwater salt flats, the lowest point in the United States. It’s amazing that Mt Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous US, was only 100 miles away from us. This is where we had a little fun with our fisheye lens.
A quick drive through the Artist’s Palette and the Devil’s Golf Course, and it was already time to drive into the village for quick bite to eat and lemonade. We finished our day hiking the Golden Canyon Trail and exploing the Mesquite Sand Dunes.
We drove out of the park to Beatty, a seemingly deserted and somewhat delapidated little town which it think is only in existance to rest weary travelers’ heads. The main drag was filled with saloons and a few motels. We settled in and was out early for a BBQ dinner.
We were up pretty early considering it was Daylight Savings that weekend (drat!) and out on the Mosaic Canyon Trail by 9AM for our last hike before entering civilization, refreshed and rejuvenated.
Nesting On A Hill 