B & D's USA Hideout: Death Valley National Park

Driest, lowest and hottest, oh my! Starting with the lowest, Death Valley ranks amongst the top ten lowest places on earth. At -282 feet below sea level, it is in fact, the lowest place in the North America. Interestingly, this depth was not carved out from erosion, movements in the earth's crust have created this lowness. Death Valley is known to be the driest due to its location. Winter storms pass over the mountains on the west side and dry up by the time they meet the east, leaving dry "rain shadows" in the distance. No rain was recorded in the years of 1929 and 1953. Yet, the driest stretch on record was only .64 inches of rain from 1931-1934. It is hottest because the Valley is a long, narrow basin and is walled by a range of steep mountains. The summer sun penetrates the dessert floor and with little vegetation cover, the rocks absorb the heat and radiate it back. The heat is then trapped by the tall mountains and circulated back down to the Valley floor. The hottest temperature EVER RECORDED was in Death Valley at 134°F. This was the highest temperature in the span of the heat wave in 1913, 5 consecutive days reached 129°F. Death Valley holds the record for the hottest place on earth! Oddly enough, 1913 was also the year that Death Valley saw it's coldest recorded temperature at 15°F.

It was a long road to nowhere before we entered the park. Brian and I camped at Stovepipe Wells, just inside the entrance. This is the in-season for Death Valley, though it wasn't very busy. But everything was open, the gas station, market and saloon. The temperatures were mild, mid 50's during the day and high 30's at night. Some roads were closed due to recent flooding, but we were able to see most of the park. It was beautiful. Another park that we did not expect to be as amazing as it is. Yellow flowers called Desert Gold were in bloom all along the roadside, letting a soft, fragrant aroma fill the air. We visited almost all the points of interest including the Badwater Basin, which is the lowest elevation at -282 feet below sea level, as well as Natural Bridge, Mosaic Canyon, Mustard Canyon, the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, and Salt Creek. The only thing we didn't have time to do was visit The Racetrack. The Racetrack is a mysterious place where large rocks appear to move on their own. No one has actually seen them move but there are long trails behind the rocks and no other footprints or markings around them. What a phenomena! Our stay was over Groundhog's Day (My Gram's birthday!) so to celebrate the saloon showed Groundhog's Day, the movie, on a film projector. Brian I and enjoyed the movie with a couple cold ones ("Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy!"). We wish we had planned for more time in this park but we're so glad we were able to experience it. The drive out was also gorgeous, snow capped mountains, Joshua trees, red rock and a winding road leading through all of it.