Land of Great Extremes. Death Valley, California

Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in the United States and after my Las Vegas visit, it was only appropriate for me to expose myself to this cruel climate. Maybe not the best part of the trip to do totally alone... But I made a campsite reservation at Lone Pine, just west of Death Valley so I was on my way.

I entered Death Valley on the east entrance and immediately saw how the entire valley, just flat, was surrounded by these glorious mountain ranges. Apparently they had this crazy storm pass through the day before and the mountains has been capped with snow. But that didn't seem for real since it was HOT. Like so hot you could see the sizzling air just hovering above the ground.

I continued driving toward Furnace Creek and took a left to drive down to Badwater. Now, side note, I had about 1/2 a tank of gas and its about 85 miles to get to Lone Pine, so I figured the extra 34 miles round-trip to Badwater would be fine.

Badwater basin is 282 feet below sea level and is the lowest point in North America! Two to four thousand years go the basin was the site of a 30 foot deep lake that has now evaporated and left a 1 to 5 foot layer of salt in its wake, which is 4 times saltier than the ocean. You can walk out onto the salt and see how the layers contract and crest interesting patterns. If you god like 5-6 inches you can even see the water sitting below the salt layers.

Badwater Basin, Death Valley

Then, when I got back onto 190 west I passed more sand dunes! I'm pretty sure I've seen all the sand dunes North America has to offer... These ones were called Mesquite Sand Dunes and had a real desert feel. The sand was hot, the air was hot, it was just really hot. I can't even imagine how it would be in the later summer months... I learned later that in 1913 the 2nd highest temperature in the world was recorded at 134 F. As I continued driving, I went past the Race Track where you can see some of the mysterious "moving rocks". Check out all my pictures here!

Mesquite Sand Dunes, Death Valley

Even though I wanted to stay and explore some of the old mining ghost towns, it was getting late and I wanted to get to Lone Pine before dark. As I kept diving I passed Stovepipe Wells Village and saw that there was a gas station for $5.28 a gallon!! I was like yeah right... I was definitely getting low but I figured I'd make it. Of course, I didn't consider the 5,000 foot climb and as I was creeping up the mountain, the gas meter just kept creeping down. And man, I'm telling you, I was in the middle of no where! Nooo where. I got so nervous the whole drive that I couldn't even enjoy the view, I was just staring at that gas meter being like pleaseee make it! I did! FEWF! When I got to Lone Pine, gas was $4.57 uhg!!! Welcome to California I guess...