Day 16: the Death Valley

The Death Valley

There is no place like the Death Valley in July, when the thermometer reaches 125 degrees! The heat is so intense that we both literally felt short of breath in several occasions along the long drive across the desert.

The Death Valley

Nonetheless we were mesmerized by the beauty of the colors of the rocks, the plants and the dunes. Certainly not a place to be visited with little time and certainly not in the summer. We would love to be back in the spring when I heard that some parts of the vallery are covered in wild flowers.

The Death Valley

Some areas of the valley are below sea level by a couple of hundred feet and they are completely covered in a thick layer of salt. With the heat of mid day we could literally hear the crackling sound of the salt breaking all around us when we stopped by the Devil’s Golf Course.

The Death Valley - the Devil's Golf Course

Overall this was one of the most intense days of the trip and we were very glad when the road took us away from the heat of the valley to Mono Lake, at the feet of the mountains of Yosemite National Park, where we arrived a little past sunset and enjoyed a nice spicy dinner on the patio of a small restaurant.