Death Valley National Park

We really did not know what to expect to see at Death Valley. We definitely came out of it pleasantly surprised.

Death Valley, surprisingly, only became a national park in 1994. It is located in the Mojave Desert and is the largest national park spanning over 3 million acres. It is also the hottest, driest, and lowest national park.

One thing that surprised us was the salt! The salt is left behind from evaporated ancient lakes. There is a lot of it! Some places it looks like snow. Badwater Basin is one of the largest protected salt flats in the world. These flats are constantly changing and there is so much to understand about how all these chemical changes happen I can’t even comprehend. The basin is 282 feet below sea level and what causes this is tectonic changes to the floor. The earth’s crust is thinning and stretching causing it to sink. An earthquake could cause it to sink several feet! It was very surreal to know I was standing below sea level. There was a sign way up on some rocks that said “sea level.”

The area was named bad water by the early settlers because the pools of water tasted bad from the salt.

As we drove down the road we saw a sign for Devils Golf Course. Curiosity had us driving down a bumpy dirt road. We still don’t know why they call it Devils Golf Course but it was very cool!

Another interesting thing is there was an area that mined Borax. Yep the Borax they put in the soap my mom had in the house!! Twenty Mule Team!

Psst they still make Borax but not there. The plant is somewhere nearby in California.

Another interesting spot was the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Mesquite shrubs all over. Apparently they survive in this harsh environment by extending its roots way way down to reach ground water. The amazing survival that happens is quite cool.

A fact I don’t think I knew was that the original Star Wars was filmed at Death Valley! What a perfect place because Death Valley looks like it could be another planet! Back when it was filmed Death Valley wasn’t a National Park yet. We visited one spot that was a filming location!-Zabriskie Point.

We had heard that Death Valley was having a “super bloom” which is when there is rains in the fall the spring flowers bloom. It happens maybe once a decade. It happened but because of the heat wave the flowers didn’t last. We missed it. But we did see a few yellow and purple flowers.

Death Valley was a bit stressful to get to with the ascents and descents to get through the mountains but it was worth the trip for sure! It was hot, around 99 degrees but I hear it can get to 134! Yikes!

Next up: Pinnacles National Park!

Happy Trails!

Tom and Deb