Death Valley National Park

Park four (day 5) hike number 8!!

Death Valley National Park..... Who would have ever thought the LOWEST point and HIGHEST point in the continental US would be less than 100 miles from each other.... and pretty much in my backyard.... we don't live very far from Mt. Whitney (highest pt in the continental us) and Death Valley (lowest point in the continental us). I'm not going to lie..... I have had little to no desire to go to Death Valley, for seemingly obvious reasons.... "Death" Valley - hello - the name says it all. It's WAY too hot in the summer and well, it's browner than brown town... Not much to see - or- so I thought. Since it was April, and the town we had just left was 17 degrees - I thought we would be pretty safe to escape any potential heat waves in death valley. So - i agreed - we would pass through on the way home. The "rock" star husband has been here many times.... and well I guess I had a little curiosity to see why he liked it so much. Plus I could say.... I had been to the lowest point in the U.S..... that's kinda cool... right?

we entered the park from the Nevada side - after cruising thru from Vegas.... most of the drive pretty much looked like this.... pretty brown right? We passed through several HIGH security armed forces bases.. lots of missile and bomb testing out in the dessert. Some folks were protesting - (peacefully) and we saw a load of hummers on the highway.... it was interesting but besides some occasional jack rabbits - it's a pretty barren place. Pictured above are the mountains that separate Nevada and California... they are know as the Funeral Mountains.... cleaver named if you ask me ;)

Here is a view from Hell's Gate.... in the FAR distance are the Sierra Mountains - nestled in those sierras is Mt Whitney, in between the two mountains (in this picture is the VALLEY floor .... aka - Death Valley...

A mini hike in the hills.... thank goodness it was only in the mid 70's.

death becomes her......

an artist palette (probably the most color in the park in the middle of summer, anyhow) We had just missed the wildflower season... it's supposed to be really pretty - we had a few specks of color here and there but really missed it by maybe one week :(

note to self - make sure you have a FULL tank of gas before entering the park.....

a surprise valley - known as the paramint valley - it's just as big as death valley (and just as hot). I was surprised to find that there is a lot to do in Death Valley. They have several museums and a big resort with a swimming pool, tennis courts and golf course, sand dunes and lots and lots of hiking. WOW! I think that, yes, indeed we will find out way back to this part of the world but after 5 days of traveling, we were a little anxious to get home.... home sweet home......

xo,

amt