Today we went to Death Valley National Park. The park reopened yesterday after serious damage from Tropical Storm Hillary. Since it had only been about eight weeks since the storm, we had limited access to the park because repairs and restoration are still underway for a large portion of the park. It was an interesting drive because of on going work on the main road in the park. For about 20 miles of our drive to the park, we were following a pickup truck through a construction area.
Even after we entered the park, there were additional construction zones. The scenery was still amazing. We drove over two separate mountain passes on our way to Death Valley. We saw much more color in the plant life and in the mountains than we expected.
We drove toward Badwater Basin after we cleared the road construction areas. There were sand dunes in many locations, but there was also a lot of plant life. Perhaps the water from the tropical storm gave us a chance to see more green than usual.
Badwater Basin is a salt flat. It is also the lowest point in the United States at 282 feet below sea level. Unlike Bonneville Salt Flat in Utah, the ground is quite rough. Because we arrived within two months of the tropical storm, we got to see a lake in Badwater Basin. It was quite wide, but not very deep. The wind was calm, so we saw some unique reflections in the water.
We tried to get a few pictures to show how large Badwater Basin is. Normally, the lake in the first picture would be dry and the basin almost entirely salt. The mountains rise up from the salt flat very quickly. These photos also show how rough the salt is. The white marker on the mountain in the last picture indicates where sea level is.
This is a wider view of Badwater Basin.
This 360 degree view of Badwater Basin gives a little more depth to the previous photo. You can control the rotation and depth of the frame with your mouse.
The next stop was at the Devil’s Golf Course. We were happy to see a road and a parking lot in this area. Without that, walking was extremely difficult and dangerous. As the third picture shows, in some places the salt is very thin with nasty looking holes that could really hurt your foot or leg.
The drive to Artist’s Palette was enjoyable. The road was winding and hilly. The color came from the land rather than plants. The variety of colors was surprising.
The way the minerals are deposited here helps you to understand why it is called Artist’s Palette.
We walked down into a low spot to see more of the palette. There are multiple colors visible across the middle of the hills.
The bright colors continued as we drove out of Artist’s Palette toward Golden Canyon. The hike up into the canyon was steep and had a couple of small rock scrambles. It was a short hike to the other end of the canyon. The rocks change suddenly from yellow and golden to a reddish purple color.
Here we are at the turning point. A short way back down the canyon, you can see the mountains across the valley. The canyon is narrow and short, but still has a variety of colorful rocks and minerals in its walls.
We drove to Zabriskie Point next. The point is an overlook where you can see many of the mountains that surround the valley.
After Zabriskie Point, we turned back toward our motel. We made one more stop at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. It was fascinating how the color of the sand changed depending upon the angle of the sunlight. The color varied from toasty brown to golden to white. If your idea of a desert is a lot of sand, then here is a desert view.
We had a long drive even after Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. It was an enjoyable drive on a nice sunny day. Given that Death Valley is one of the hottest places on earth, it was actually quite cool today. We enjoyed our drive through the mountains.
The construction areas were still there for us to take a break from the long drive. We got out of the car to view the flowers, the trees, and a long view of one of the mountain ranges that define the valleys in this part of California.
We also got a 360 degree view of the valley.
It was still a few miles back to Lone Pine for the night after our last construction site of the day.
Our final tally was 252 miles of driving today. It was many hours on the road and many sights to see. We are glad that Death Valley reopened in time for us to get to see a part of it.