What makes Death Valley unique? Death Valley is the lowest and driest place in North America, as well the hottest place on planet Earth. Due to its close vicinity to Los Angeles, where I live, I have made several trips to this national park, and more in the future.
For this trip, in the fall of 2016, my friends and I decided to do a camping trip, while visiting some old favorites, as well as some new sights I have not been to yet. I always visited in seasons other than summer for obvious reasons. Otherwise, the temperature at Death Valley is actually quite pleasant if you pick the right time to go. Once I went in Jan/Feb, and Death Valley actually got rain.
Here are some of the highlights of Death Valley. There are a number of other fascinating places to visits, which I will put up on future blogs.
A must see/do while at Death Valley is the Badwater Basin, the lowest point in N. America. This place is also known for its vast salt flat you see in the distance behind us. There is an underground river here, and when the river flows to the surface, there are actually fishes to be found here. After a big rain fall, this place can actually turn into a shallow lake.
Took a short hike at Artists Palette drive right around dusk before reaching our campsite. The sun was lower than the horizon so the colors are very muted.
Our campsite inside the park, near Furnace Creek.
For the next two days, we went on some of the most famous hikes in the park. Here is the superb Gower Gulch/Golden Canyon loop, with a side trip to the scenic Red Cathedral (left). This hike is easy to moderate but be prepared with enough water and sun protection.
A few more shots during the hike – very other worldly.
There are a few old mines to explore there too. Death Valley used to be a mining zone, producing metals and minerals. NPS blocked the entrance to them though for obvious reasons.
Made it to the top, taken at the end of the hike, at Zabriskie Point.
For our second day at Death Valley, we went on two off road adventures. The first was to the famous Titus Slot Canyon. The second was to Racetrack Playa. There are several interesting old mining towns/ruins along the route that are worth some exploration.
Titus Canyon is very scenic. I highly recommend a trip there. One can also just visit the end (the best) of the canyon from the exit without needing a jeep/high ground clearance vehicle.
Then we made the trip to the famous Race Track Playa, where the stones seem to move by themselves, leaving behind a moving track behind them. Look up how these rock move by themselves, pretty interesting.
Another classic is the Mosaic Canyon hike at Death Valley – the place is filled with polished marbles. I don’t know anywhere else to hike among wave like marbles…!
At Mosaic Canyon.
For our last stop, we then made a trip to Dante’s Point, 5,000 ft above the valley floor. The view there is fantastic….!
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