Death Valley - Alien Landing Part I
Trip Start
Nov 12, 2007
1
35
40
Trip End
Aug 01, 2008
Death Valley,
California,
United States
Thursday, July 10, 2008
On route to Death Valley we stopped at Lone Pine a small town where they used to film some of the old Westerns, especially the John Wayne films, due to the arid conditions and strange rock shapes.
Death Valley
Death Valley
. We were nervous but what's in a name?! We had tens of bottles of water, a full tank of petrol and still felt unprepared. We had heard the warnings about it being a hot, unforgiving environment that could be fatal if you were unwise. We were about to drive in and the car thermometer said the outside temperature was already well over 100 degrees and our mobile phones didn't have a signal.We were getting more and more twitchy as we drove further into the Valley and further away from civilisation. We were nervous about stopping the car or locking it when we got to viewpoints in case we couldn't get back in or herbie wouldn't start. Even though herbie is very clever he does not have a lot of brawn and struggles up the slightest gradient. You can imagine our dismay when we crossed the valley floor and began to climb upwards, when the outside temperature reached 122 degrees and a road sign said turn off your air conditioning to prevent the engine overheating. The slow moving lorry crawling along in front of us as we came round the bend did not raise our spirits either.However Herbie did us proud.
We have never been so glad to get to a motel before. We decided to put off the main viewpoints until the evening as the temperature and accompanying hot breeze was just too ridiculous to function in. So what should we do to kill a few hours? We decided to do our laundry. This is noteworthy beacuse human beings can be in the middle of a hostile dangerous enviroment and still have to worry about the cleanliness of their underwear (I wasn't R)and more amazingly have the facilities to clean it. This was the most challenging load of laundry I have ever done. Bottles of water and sun protection just to walk 400 yards. You cannot believe tht people choose to live and work in such a place.
Once the sun began to set and the temperature plummeted to a refreshing 113 degrees we made a dash for the car. We drove to a couple of noteworthy viewpoints. Artist's Pallette where there are different coloured rocks and then onto Zabriskie's Point just as the sun was setting. Here there were wonderful views of the mountains and rocks with many different colours and textures.
Rob went for a swim at night in the outdoor pool but it was still like swimming in a warm bath.
Early next morning we drove out of the Valley but not before stopping at one of the best viewpoints - Dante's Peak. We expected it to be swarming with tourists but it wasn't. The temperature was a more bearable 97. The views were absolutely stunning. The most incredible place we have ever been. There was silence and you could just look in both directions along the valley floor which was many different shades of white and brown where the water had evaporated and left large areas of salt patterns. The mountains soaring up from the valley floor were also many shades of brown, cream, pink and red. The whole thing looked loke a chocolate/ caramel / latte pavlova. This was not only the highlight of our Canada / USA trip but one of the highlights of our gap year. We felt like we had been transported to a completely different planet looking at a scene we had never seen before and probably never will anywhere else.
We would thoroughly recommend Death Valley but would suggest February!
