26th September 2009
From the lowest point in the USA at 282 feet below sea level, to the high-level elevations at over 11,000 feet above. The hottest, driest climate in North America, with temperatures regularly reaching over 100 degrees farenheit (it was 117 today!), Death Valley is perhaps one of the most extreme environments on the continent.
We entered at the aptly named Hell’s Gate (hot doesn’t even come close to describing it!!) and were delighted to learn that today the ususal $20 park fee (for a week’s access) was not payable because it was a public access day for parks across America.
We made our way to the visitor’s centre at Furnace Creek where we picked up a map and explored the exhibition about Death Valley and how it was formed many millions of years ago and has changed with successive ice ages.
At Dante’s View we had a complete view of the salt flats of Death Valley and could simultaneously see the lowest elevation at Badwater Basin and the highest elevation at Telescope Peak.
After Dante’s View we went to another viewpoint at Zablinske where we could see evidence of alluvial fans formed over millions of years. The heat here was almost unbearable and we didn’t hang around on the short walk to the viewpoint.
Then we moved down to Badwater Basin with the only water in the park, a small pool exists among the salt flats. This is the lowest point in the western hemisphere.
Next we went onto the Devil’s Golfcourse with its rough surface composed of large salt crystals. It was named after a line in a National Park Service guide book to Death Valley, which stated that “only the devil could play golf” on its surface.
We returned to the visitor’s centre via Artists Drive, a road which rises up to the top of an alluvial fan fed by a deep canyon. Artist’s Palette is on the face of the Black Mountains and is noted for having various colours of rock, caused by the oxidation of different metals in the desert.
On the drive home we were lucky enough to spot a coyote when the wiley fellow ran in front of the car (we didn’t hit him!), but we weren’t quick enough to get a photo.
I was astounded by the beauty of Death Valley and surprised by the surrounding mountains, I had always pictured it as being completely flat and desolate, but in reality it has many different faces and landscapes.