Death Valley (Summer 2023)

Death Valley in the summer, what could go wrong? I mean as long as your car doesn’t break down you should be good. They don’t have checkpoints at the entries probably because the rangers would die from heat exhaustion. Instead you pay at the visitors center and you get a placard to put on your dash. I would say it’s pretty much on the honor system here as it didn’t look like there was a lot of checking going on.

Zabriskie Point

This is one of the first stops you hit on the way in from the east. It provides a short uphill walk to get to an overlook. I have heard that sunsets are nice here. The easy walk up gives you a nice way to get used to the heat.

Furnace Creek

I think this got to 114 deg F later in the day

About a couple weeks later was when the real heat hit the valley

The visitors center is nicely air conditioned and they have a couple of refrigerated shelves where you can pick up a sandwich which is nice. They have a small exhibit area and water stations to fill up your bottles.

Badwater Basin

The lowest (and the hottest) place in the US. It is hotter here than at the visitors center because of the elevation. You can walk quite a distance out on the salt flats. This was around noon so it was well past the 10 AM time. We kept the walk short.

Devil’s Golf Course

You actually have to drive down a dirt road to reach this spot. These salt formations are impressive in that they go on seemingly forever when you are standing in front of them. They say you can sometimes hear the salt crack in the heat but I didn’t hear anything - maybe my hearing is bad.

Artists Palette / Artists Drive

I believe this area is better appreciated during sunrise and sunset because it brings out the colors of the minerals better. It would also be better when it’s cooler because you can walk into the colored rocks - it was too hot to do this day.

Borax Works

You can walk around this old borax refining house and it’s like a small ghost town. On the way here we actually saw a couple of people running on the road. I question the mental state of some adventure athletes.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

These dunes are neat in that they are constantly shifting with the wind so you can walk and make first tracks out there. Not today of course because of the heat. I picked up a rock and also put my hand on the sand to feel the heat and both were quite hot.

“Star Wars” Canyon

This canyon is located at Father Crowley Vista Point. They call it this because fighter jets use this canyon to practice precision flying. Seeing it live it seemed pretty insane to fly in something that narrow for training but I guess that is what they do.