The Great Death Valley Photo Dump

Last week I was mostly not here at all. I was off doing a whole lot of nothing in places that were very far from me because of reasons. I guess it was a mini vacation of sorts, although not really. The only day that I actually went away was on Friday, instead of being gone all the days doing rad stuff.

Anyway, I am sure that a lot of you know that I sometimes get all riled up to do one particular thing and then that’s all I can think of doing. It happens I guess. Maybe you didn’t know that. Well, when that happens, it kind of sucks because I get very “tunnel vision” about the thing that I want to do. Most of the time, things don’t happen (like Alaska or Chicago) because of dollar bill reasons. That’s when I look to other things instead. Hence, Death Valley.

I actually went east, until I headed back home

Don’t ask me why I thought going to the desert was the best idea on a Friday. I just needed to GTFO and I had never been, so off I went. I guess Death Valley is almost 300ish miles away from Los Angeles, which isn’t that far. I figured I could do it in a day and get back to hanging with Moo the dog at night. I also thought no one would be there.

Golden Canyon – Not so golden as it was red

This was true for the most part, but there were hella tourists from abroad and no one spoke the Englaise and I was okay with that. There wasn’t really anyone on the roads or the trails that I meandered up, either. I blame that on the constant 110 (43 C) degree weather.

Hello, rocks.

Most of Death Valley looks like what I imagine Mars to look like. There’s a lot of red and pumice and rocks and it’s super barren + dry.

It also reminded me of when I drove to the Grand Canyon some years back, and I really liked that. You’re out there on the road and no one is pestering you and it’s kind of awesome. Sure, you get stuck behind all these RVs and olden people wearing blue blockers but you get to pass them and that’s that.

Everything kind of looked like old Road Runner/Wiley Coyote cartoons, too. Which was neat. I tried to look for road runners but I never really saw any signs of wildlife the entire time I was at the park.

Most of the valley is just that, a valley. It’s surrounded by all these towering mountains that are full of nooks and crannies to go exploring in. I would have loved to keep going in some of these canyons but it was crazy hot out.

If I was out for even a small measure of time, I was sweating buckets. Thank goodness I took my trusty camel back water pouch or I probably would’ve died or something. The air was really dry and I had a hard time breathing as I hiked up things. Every trail in the canyons pretty much goes up, so it adds to the strain.

Everything kind of looks like a painting of the wild west. Large expanses make me feel like I am looking at movie sets and what not. I am not used to seeing so much space. I blame that on me being a city folk.

As I drove around, I kept trying to see if I was actually headed anywhere. For the most part, I wasn’t. Once I got to one of the ranger stations, I asked what I should go see and the ranger told me that the lowest spot in North America is located in Death Valley and that I should go see that. And there it is ^^

Badwater Basin

This place was actually 111 degrees and you could tell. The whole bed of this area is salty deposits, on account of the water evaporating and stuff (I think).

Crumbly

It pretty much just looked like that all over the place. Everything was crusty with heat and blazing hots. I kind of liked it.

Please don’t step on the salty

There was this little bridge to keep people from trampling all over the nature. I probably would’ve walked on it if it weren’t there.

The Dunes

The dunes were kind of near the entrance when I arrived, but I skipped it until the end. Mostly I wanted to catch the sun when it was setting here because I thought it would look all nice and junk. It was also really hot and tourist filled when I drove passed it, so I waited. It kind of paid off.

When I got there, there were a few people just sitting around on the dunes. It also cooled off some so it was about 105 degrees (40 C). The one spot I wanted to get to was really far out, so I tried to hustle it before the sun sank behind the mountains. Right when I got to the above photo, the sun went sleepy times. I snapped this pic just in time.

Goodnight, sun.

I took this right before the previous photo, but it looks like a good pic to end with. As soon I started to hike back, I heard a baby screaming bloody murder. The entire way. I guess some a**hole parents brought their infant out to the desert where it was 105 degrees out because WHO DOES THAT? It’s like basically being put into a sauna. They also didn’t know why their kid was screaming. GEE I F**KING WONDER.

Anyway, besides that, Death Valley was awesome. I enjoyed being out in the wilds of California and on me own. The heat wasn’t too bad. I mean it sucked but at the same time, it added to the strange beauty that was the parched landscape.

The most amazing thing that I saw, I didn’t snap a photo of. Mostly, as I was leaving, the night fell onto the land like a heavy blanket cascading from some happy accident on laundry day. I stopped at one of the last turns out of the desert and just looked into the night sky. There were so many stars that I kind of just laughed and craned my neck for what seemed like ages. I could see a cornucopia of constellations and the backbone of the night. I wanted to stay there forever.

But, I had to come back. Moo was waiting for me at home and I had to take the car back in the morning. Some advice: Don’t eat Taco Bell at 1 a.m. It will be your end.