Death Valley (Oct. 27 & 28)

Here we are at the lowest point in the western hemisphere, the Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level. (Telescope Peak is in the background, rising to 11,049 ft.) We found we could breathe really well with the extra air pressure… The ground is a salt pan, though it looks like snow from a distance. Too bad it comes with us on our shoes! Death Valley would be 9,000 ft deeper if all the rocks, gravel and sediment “fill” was removed. Again, we prayed for no earthquakes on the “loose” terrain.

Our favorite places in Death Valley National Park were:

Artists Palette: The multi-colored sediment layers throughout the park are fascinating. Coming upon all the colors of the rainbow in volcanic ash was breath-taking.

Dantes View: After climbing a road with a 15% grade finale, we had the best view of the Death Valley. You can see the white Badwater Basin below.

Mosaic Canyon: Naturally occurring marble is all over the place! You can feel it, walk on it, even slide down it. At points, one wall is marble and the other is a sedimentary rock. Very cool.

Ubehebe Crater: Spectacular striations. Thinking about falling in this 3,000 year old, 600 ft deep crater gave us the hebe-jebies…