Another beautiful and warm day in Death Valley. First on the agenda, ‘Badwater basin’, a lake (dry when we went to see it) in the middle of Death Valley, 86m under sea level. In the winter it’s possible that the lake is full of water as the rain pours down the mountains and collects in this dip but in summer it all dries up leaving a special salty crust behind. On the way over we had a fabulous view on the salt lake from a distance.
We also came across a small mine site where years ago borax (used in detergents) was excavated by the ‘Pacific Coast Borax Company‘. So we decided to have a quick look around.
Then we drove all the way to Badwater basin. We heard another Belgian family walking around there too. It’s funny sometimes to see how small the world has become. The lake was beautiful though so it’s only obvious why they came to visit it and surprisingly there was still some water available.
The sun must have made us completely mad as we decided to go for a desert hike towards what was marked on the map as ‘Natural Bridge’. There was a lot more to see on the trail but after 500m we had to turn around. We didn’t expect 45°C to wear us out that easily even though we followed all rules (supply on water, cover yourself with enough clothes and wear a funny hat).
But in all honestly we liked the view coming down better then the actual tourist attraction point.
Being able to breathe again in the air-conditioned car (read more on Rodrigo in the tab “The Car”!), we continued our trip to the next trail, the ‘Artist Pallet’ (which could be viewed from the car). This road gave us the opportunity to see the mountains from up close (very close at some points) and to see the different colour layers.
This brought us close to Furnace Creek. Apart from the food there wasn’t much to see here but it’s known as the hottest place on earth (57°C in 1913).
On the way back home we passed by ‘Zabrieski Point’ where we could look out over the huge mountain tops.
Oh, and there was also the cow 🙂 …. and this supermarket ….
Don’t ask me …. Maybe the Area 51 fumes have some effect on the people’s brains here… who knows? 🙂 The truth is out there.
To cool ourselves down, we had another lazy afternoon at the pool. Tonight we might go back to the desert to see the stars.
Coming, colours in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colours
She’s like a rainbow
Keep Calm and Drive South 