Our second trip into Death Valley National Park, CA, was just a bit warmer, but still extremely pleasant! The air was still and clear which meant the sun was brighter. Bright sun is not the best for bringing out the subtle color in the park and it shows in the pictures, although I think we still captured some of the natural beauty of Death Valley. We started with Dante's View. It was a paved spur off of the main road, 13 miles each way. The road was nicely paved, but the last quarter mile was the steepest climb our little Honda Fit has ever encountered. A sign told us it was a 15% grade, but I think it was more. The combination of the grade and sharp switchbacks had us in 1st gear for the climb. The view from the top, however, made the drive worthwhile.
The view of the valley from atop Dante's View.
Dogs are not allowed on the trails or we would have Sam with us - he loves hiking! Obviously, not everyone leaves their pets at home. This one was quite well behaved and I suspect really wanted nothing more than to get back into the car, but her mom got her new sneakers and she was going to use them!
The booties are beyond cute!!!
As I already said, the view was spectacular! We hiked out more than a quarter mile from the parking lot so when the crowd thinned out we sat for a while to take it all in.
The white below is solid halite salt. The crust of salt is
40-80 inches thick.
We spotted the area we had previously visited, Badwater, 282 feet below sea level. In the extreme telephoto shot below, we could just see people walking along the salt.
Looking down at Badwater you can see a few tiny specks on the white. That would be people walking on the salt bed.
Our first real hike in the park was along the Golden Canyon Trail. In the official park photo, you can see the color at its best - our pictures may not be up to National Geographic standards but we enjoyed the scenery immensely.
Our high noon sun didn't bring out the red in Red Cathedral.
David's camera captured the color much better than mine.
Red Cathedral is composed of red colored oxidized cliffs.
We climbed a hill for a better viewpoint. I made it back down first.
Getting closer...
The last 1/4 mile was a bit of a climb.
Plenty of evidence of previous hikers.
The end of the trail!
Standing back it looked like this, but...
...up close the minerals between the layers of rock became evident.
The mountain looks like it is covered in multi-colored frosting.
David adds a bit of scale.
On the map, it looked like a short drive to our next destination - Mosaic Canyon, but through the wasteland, it seemed to take a long time to cover the 30 miles. Mosaic Canyon is best known for its marble formations. With the sun glinting off of the marble it almost looked wet or polished.
Mosaic Canyon is named such due to the rocks formation above.
This munchkin was having a ball sliding on the smooth marble.
The marble walls have been worn smooth by the power of water.
It only rains an average of 2 inches a year in this valley.
It was really surprising how the varied rock sediment layers laid on top of each other. Often times it looked like one rock type had "oozed" over the top of another.
I noticed a couple of other photographers with tripods and nice cameras. Then I noticed a few more and, finally after about five folks in a row with tripods, I asked one of them if they were part of a photography class. In fact, they were - probably 20 of them altogether. They certainly had some great subject material in this canyon!
A photography class was capturing the beauty.
In the canyon, it felt like dusk, but the sun was still shining bright in the valley.
From Mosaic Canyon, we backtracked to the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. I think the dunes are what most people imagine when they think of the desert. I have no idea why these few acres of the park are so different from all the rest - maybe we will have to delve into a bit of geology after all to find the answer.
Next stop, the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, (just above the center of the photo), seen from Mosaic Canyon's parking area.
From four miles away it is hard to believe that some of the dunes are 200 feet high.
We could hike along the peaks of the dunes, but they were still at least a mile away.
The sun is setting fast. Further exploration will have to be another day.
We seriously thought about waiting a few more hours to see the stars from this premier dark sky location, but we were worn out and just wanted to get home to some dinner. We also knew Sam would be happier to have us back sooner rather than later. Next time we will have to camp in the park so we can enjoy the desert after dark.
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