Death Valley, Part 1 (03-14-12)

Death Valley is not at all what I expected. I guess I’ve always pictured the “valley” but didn’t give much thought to the fact that it’s tough to have a valley without the mountains! I also had in mind a completely desolate area, with the sun constantly beating down on everything below, and overbearing heat. That’s partly true, and would probably be even more true if we were here in the summer, when the temperatures reach 130 degrees. As it is, we came at a great time of year. On the days when it is really warm- in the high 80s, we head to higher elevations, where it’s much cooler.  It was in the 50s at Dante’s Peak, but in the mid- 80s at the trailer yesterday.  One of the hikes we want to do still has snow cover, so we’re putting it off for a few days. The key is to get up and out early in the day.  It hasn’t been overly hot in the mornings, but by afternoon it’s pretty steamy. Or it would be steamy if there was any moisture in the air, which there isn’t.  The humidity is about 11%. Very little moisture makes it’s way to Death Valley-with two inches of rainfall per year, it’s the driest place in North America.  The weather approaches here from the Pacific coast, but the clouds have to go over several mountain ranges before reaching this valley.  When the clouds reach the mountains, they dump their moisture on the western side, leaving a “rain shadow” on the eastern slopes, and blocking most of the moisture from reaching this valley.


  Death Valley has the lowest elevation in the United States-the Badland Basin is 282 feet below sea level.  Ironically, about 100 miles away is Mount Whitney, the highest elevation in the lower 48, standing at about 20,200 ft above sea level.
The precipitation that does make it here never leaves. It evaporates, leaving the minerals behind. Part of the basin is covered in white minerals- mostly table salt.





Our first day here we drove down Artist Rd. at sunset and were there in time to see “Artist’s Palette” lit up pretty nicely!  It’s hard to see how vibrant these colors are in a picture, but it was pretty amazing.









For our first hike we took the Golden Canyon/Gower Gulch trail, for a total of 6 miles and lots of hill climbing. For perspective, there is a person in the picture above- in the center, bottom half of the photo- looks like a small dark blot. The views were spectacular on this hike.  The mountains here have a texture to them that I’ve never seen anywhere else. Whichever way I turn my head, it looks like a painting.  It’s the first time I’ve thought that maybe a 3D camera would be a nice thing to have!