I stayed truly in the middle of nowhere last night (Ridgecrest, CA) but it is the only place to stay to enter the park from the west side. It still was an hour and a half drive to get to Death Valley this morning. I drove through Trona, which was a wasteland of mining mounds and smokestacks. I found it interesting that there was a sign posted that if you litter there is a $1000 fine, yet the desecration of the land seems to be just fine. I also drove through Lost Hills yesterday. There were hundreds of oil drilling machines in the large oil fields. I’ve never seen anything like it. I am not in beautiful San Francisco any more!

Fortunately, Death Valley trumps Trona and Lost Hills by a thousand fold. Death Valley was amazingly beautiful and varied. On one side of the road there were smooth, colored, layered mountains and on the opposite side of the road jagged peaks like one would expect. I visited:

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Sand dunes in the middle of this park were amazing to see.

Badwater Basin. The lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. The salt looks like snow. Because of the recent storms, the flats were actually covered with water and looked like a lake. The storms also prompted some road closures.

Artists Drive. The colorful hills with layered rock formations were mesmerizing.

Zabriskie Point. The golden colored badlands were my favorite thing in the park. It was nice that Pete was able to see them, too.

After I left the park I drove four plus hours to Needles, CA. It’s another very small town in the middle of nowhere. But tomorrow will only be a five hour drive and we will be in Tucson!