We left Furnace Creek and headed towards our first stop, Zabriskie Point. From the parking lot, there was a short uphill walk to a view point. Normally we wouldn't have any issues doing a walk like this but in temperatures over 50C, it was tough. The viewpoint was stunning, you're looking at miles and miles of desert, mountain ranges and canyons. This was the point when mentally you check you have everything you need to explore Death Valley.... water, sunscreen, emergency food, fuel, more water, as you realise what you are driving into.
Next we headed towards Artists Drive. This is a little one way side road off the main road and takes you through an area that looks like 'an artists palette'.
At the first pull out, I could see why some conspiracy theorists believe that the first moon landing was fake, the landscape here in Death Valley looks just like the landscapes you see in the videos from Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.
As we continued along the drive, we saw more and more colours in the rocks including reds, greens, yellows, blues and blacks. We have been to Death Valley a couple of times before but I hadn't appreciated until this trip the amount of mining that used to happen in Death Valley and that the colours in the rocks are actually evidence of the precious minerals they were after.
Next we went to Devils Golf Course, a huge salt plain and the location of Death Valleys last significant lake which evaporated over 2000 years ago. It looks like a muddy field at a festival which has dried up and been covered in salt crystals. Although it looks muddy, the ground is actually really hard and there are lots of warning signs asking people to be aware of the sharp edges.
Next was Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America and the location of another great lake that dried up several thousands of years ago. The whole area is covered in bright white salt and from a distance, it looks like a bright white lake in the middle of the desert. You'll see in our video that there is still a little tiny bit of water in the lake, this water is 4 times saltier than the ocean so definitely not something you want to go near let alone to try to drink!
We continued driving through Death Valley stopping off at the pull outs and view points to admire the view until we came to the end of the park at Shoshone. This is a tiny town with a population of only 31 people. We stopped for lunch and an ice cream from the general store before continuing our journey through the Mojave National Preserve.
During our drive, we spotted a strange tall structure in the town ahead and as we got closer, we realised what it was. The Tallest Thermometer in the World! We went into the visitors center and learnt that it was built in 1991 by a local businessman but before it was even opened, high winds knocked it down. It was rebuilt and opened officially in 1992. After a number of years of changing hands and falling into disrepair, the businessman's family bought the thermometer back, renovated it and reopened it on the 10th July 2014, the 101 anniversary of the world hottest day. We were lucky enough to meet the daughter of the businessman who shared the story of the thermometer and her families involvement. It was really interesting to hear the history and the passion to get this
Our stop for the night was at the Needles KOA. When we went to check it, the lovely lady behind the desk asked us if we really wanted a tent site given how hot it was or if we would prefer a cabin. Then she gave us the killer blow, they had turned on the air con in one of their free cabins this morning thinking that we'd prefer the air conditioning to a tent. Once the word air con was muttered, we were sold! We had a lovely time a the KOA enjoying the pool in the evening to cool off and then heading to our air conditioned cabin for a slightly cooler nights sleep.
Death Valley uhhh hot hot hot. It looked very different from what we have seen before.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see all the different colours in the rocks and o see those huge long ago dried out lakes.
Just had a quick glimpse at the cookies but think they still look a bit doughy;-)
What a lucky strike to be able to have a Cabin with air con the use of a lovely pool and nice showers and toilets :-)
Not only must you have had a bit better nights sleep but just think how hot it would have been to pitch the tent!!
Lee’s moonwalk looked great but even better were Sam’s sound effects :-)
Love to you both XX
I cheated and finished the cookies off in a microwave. I think the aircon stopped the car from getting hot enough for them to cook.
DeleteThe music really suited the trip to Zabriskie Point and it did look stunning and very alien. At least it was a dry heat, any humidity and you'd have just been a couple of puddles!!
ReplyDeleteThe rocks and colours on Artists Drive were amazing and the stretch of road where is was really narrow and twisty, between the high rocks, has to be one of your best drives so far - very cool.
Devil's Golf Course looked pretty crazy and so much salt! but that is nothing compared to Badwater Basin, that was unreal and a very cool place to visit. loos must have been a real eye opener ;-)
I can't imagine living out there although it was great to visit the town and have a drink and bite to eat.
The tallest thermometer was really good although I imagined it'd be taller, that said, still pretty impressive and at least it gets to record some of the highest temperatures too!
A brilliant tour of the campsite and pool must have been welcome as would have been the little cabin, that was such a nice touch that they let you do that and had the A/C on and the dinky cabin looked fab.
Very funny post credits scene too - must have been hard work doing the breathing in that heat.