Some Scenes from Death Valley

SW Trip part 9

Death Valley is a place of broad vistas and eroded rock, sand and salt. And wind. We arrived in the evening just before sunset and began to orient ourselves. We quickly figured out that we would not be able to see many of the park’s big attractions. You really do need a some kind of a rugged, high clearance vehicle to do that and the 33 foot coach didn’t qualify. There was still plenty for us to do.

In the morning we headed out from Furnace Creek to Golden Canyon for a three mile hike and then to Badwater Basin. As the day went by, it was apparent that the weather was changing. We stopped at Zabriski Point (see another blog post) and then the old borax works. At that point the wind was blowing very hard, shaking the coach as we drove down the road and we needed to find some place to hunker down for the rest of the day. So we returned to Furnace Creek where we were protected from the strong gusts. That night we went to sleep listening to raindrops on the roof. In the morning it was dry and seemed calm. We stopped at Salt Creek, a desert oasis and home to an endangered pupfish and then went on to Stovepipe Wells. Again the wind was howling and a strong gust pulled the door right out of my hands. It had some minor damage but Jennifer was able to repair it using some inappropriate tools and lots of elbow grease. What a relief when the door closed again. After a less-than-satisfying lunch at a the only restaurant we moved on, crossing over at least two mountain ranges and out of the park.