10th August 2016 - Death Valley CA - Kms to date: 10773

Kms today: 477

We got up at 5am to beat the heat and left Panamint "Resort" at 5.30am bound for the Mesquite Sand Dunes near Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. We got to the dunes just before sunrise and it was already over 30C. The colours reflected off the nearby mountains as the sun rose were amazing and the sand dunes lit up as the rays of the sun hit them. Many photos were taken and then we beat a hasty retreat back to the air conditioned restaurant at Stovepipe Wells for a well deserved breakfast. The trick was to get as many of the sights of Death Valley in before the searing heat of the early afternoon. Our first stop after breakfast was the Badwater Salt Flats. This is the lowest point in Death Valley and the whole of North America at 288 feet below sea level.

Mesquite Sand Dunes at dawn.


Badwater - you can't get any lower than that!

There was a sign on the cliffs overlooking Badwater indicating where sea level was. We met a poor sod whose battery was flat and was looking for someone with jumper leads. Luckily he found someone as he was gone after we got back from our walk on the salt. After Badwater we headed for the Natural Bridge which was at the end of a rather rough 3.5km gravel road. The poor old 'stang got a real beating. There was a short walk to the bridge which had been created by rain (Death Valley???) rushing down the gully and eroding the softer rocks. It was very impressive.

Natural Bridge.

Next we went round the Artist's Drive which was a one way road into the cliff side that took us past many coloured rocks. These were made of various minerals such as magnesium, borax and kryptonite.!!!

Multi-coloured rocks at Artists Drive.

Next stop was Zabriskie Point which looked out over a moonscape of eroded rocks. Then we did the Twenty Mule Train Trail another gravel road but not as bad as the last.

Zabriskie's Point.

Apparently the Borax miners made up a mule train with 20 mules to transport the Borax out of the narrow canyon.  Our last stop before lunch was Dante's View which overlooked the whole of Death Valley and most of the places we had just visited. Many photos were taken before we retreated to the air-conditioned car. Time for lunch so we headed back to Furnace Creek for a burger and fries which seems to be our staple lately. We made this a big one as we knew there was no food available at the Amargosa Opera House where we were staying. After lunch we checked out the exhibits in the visitor centre. The temperature was now up to 45C!!!

Death Valley from Dante's View -282ft to + 11,500 ft.

We made a bee line for the car turned up the air off the dial and headed for Death Valley Junction where the Amargosa Opera House was located. There are all kinds of warnings in Death Valley about running your car aircon in extreme heat and overheating your engine. Luckily the 'stang seemed to handle it OK. We arrived at the Amargosa Hotel in Death Valley Junction at 3pm but check in wasn't until 4pm so we headed 7 miles up the road to a Casino just inside the Nevada border for a cold beer. Whilst there we watched the Australia v USA basketball game from Rio. It was very exciting but unfortunately the wrong team won. Death Valley Junction has a population of 10 and the hotel where we were staying is called "The Amargosa Opera House". A dancer from New York called Marta Beckett moved to Death Valley Junction in 1968 and bought the building which was used to house workers from a local Borax mine. She poured a lot of money into it and converted a meeting hall attached to an Opera House where she has performed up until seven years ago. She is now 92. The whole place is quietly falling apart and the accommodation is circa 1950s with peeling paintwork. We bought a bottle of wine and nibbles in Furnace Creek so we had that as our evening meal.

Amargosa Hotel.