Death Valley
We drove from Bryce Canyon back to Las Vegas, dropping Zoe and Matthew off at Bellagio. They were excited to have a romantic weekend in Vegas, with shows and fine dining. Allie wanted no part of that. She hates the whole idea of Las Vegas.
Keeping with our “visit the National Parks” theme, we headed west toward Death Valley, California, a mere two hours west. We had not done much research and honestly chose to go there primarily because it was convenient. Our modest expectations were far exceeded.
Death Valley National Park is the largest park in the continental US. Only Denali in Alaska is bigger. The entire valley covers 3000 square miles and the park itself has more than 3 million acres to explore. The area earned its grisly name by taking the lives of many who did not survive its intense heat. The highest temperature ever recorded on earth was 134° measured there in 1913. It is also a place of other extremes. It contains the lowest point in North America: Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level.
Death Valley is not a park where visitors cover long distances on foot. In fact, the best way to see it today is how we did: by car. There are frequent areas to pull over and take short hikes to see features of interest. Among these are giant sand dunes and crystalline salt lakes. Despite being a desert valley with a very low floor, there are mountains that reach as above 11,000 feet.
We did short, easy hikes out to Badwater Salt flat and to Natural Bridge. Despite each only being around a mile long, the searing heat made us grateful for our water bottles and eager to get back to our airconditioned car.
Allie is dwarfed by the Natural Bridge
a literal oasis in the desert
The “capital” of Death Valley is the town of Furnace Creek. There is very little there save the park’s visitor center and the Ranch at Death Valley, one of the two official park lodging options. We opted to stay at the other, the Inn in Death Valley, an historic property located in the Oasis only a mile or so from the visitor center. The Oasis comes by its name honestly. There are abundant palm trees so that on approach it literally shocks in contrast to the austere desert surrounding it. The hotel was quite pleasant. Our favorite part was the spring-fed swimming pool. Breakfasts and dinner (after sunset, when the temp drops!) were taken on a large veranda. There is even a golf course in the Oasis. It sits 200 feet below sea level making it the lowest elevation course in the world and giving a new twist to “playing below par!”
One legacy of Death Valley’s history is a collection of ghost towns. One day we drove across the mountains to one of them, Rhyolite. As far as ghost towns go it was pretty lively. Just down the road from the strip of derelict buildings that are the remnants of what was once a thriving mining town, we walked through the outdoor sculptures of the Goldwell Open Air Museum. This funky institution was created by a group of Belgian artists nearly forty years ago. The eclectic array of art set in the desert landscape was well worth the drive. The site is in Nevada, just outside the park boundary. From there it is a short drive to Beatty, Nevada where most residents of the California side go to buy fuel and most anything else and escape the far higher costs and taxes in their state.
Art in a hostile environment
We found the eerie, desolate landscapes strangely appealing. Without the crowds we saw in the previous two parks on this trip, there were plenty of opportunities for solitude and reflection. I’m certainly glad we decided to add this unique spot to our trip. We’re now interested in visiting Joshua Tree National Park, another California desert park between Death Valley and Los Angeles. I recommend a visit to Death Valley and a stay at the Inn in the Oasis. Don’t go expecting waterfalls or encounters with wildlife. Do remember to hydrate!
Maybe it was karma. After leaving Death Valley in the morning to reach the airport in time for our afternoon flight home, we each got a text from American Airlines informing us that our flight had been canceled--not delayed, just canceled. With a series of calls we were rebooked on a flight the following day. The airline provided us a hotel room, as you might guess, in a casino! Allie was going to get the Vegas treatment she was determined to avoid. The food vouchers we received from the airline provided $24 for the two of us for 24 hours! Better not order that bottle of wine with our salad! The whole experience was enough to convince Allie that her view on Vegas had been right all along!
In the long delay between our National Park visits and the posting of my reports of them, it seems that each place we visited has been struck by some disaster. Death Valley is no exception. Of all things, it experinced devastating flooding in August. One of the driest places on the planet, it averages less than 2 inches of rain per year. A freakish storm dumper more than that in just a few hours. The results was flooding that destroyed many cars and roads, and trapped dozens of guest s adn employees at the beautiful Inn at the Oasis where we had stayed.At the time of this post, the National; Park Service was still attempting to reopen the most severely damaged areas of the park.