Death Valley National Park
12/08/08 – 12/09/08
The drive from Mammoth Lakes into and through Death Valley National Park is composed of serious ascents and descents over the Inyo, Panamint, and Amargosa Mountains with elevations ranging from 8500 feet above sea level to 282 feet below. We made an early stop at the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center, just south of Lone Pine. This facility provides an abundance of information on all the national parks as well as BLM and Forest Service lands in this part of the world. Our two purposes in stopping here were to clarify just exactly which peak in the Inyo Mountains was Mt. Whitney and to grab any specific Death Valley information.
We entered the Park from the west along Route 190 and were immediately taken by the vastness of the area as well as the diversity, despite its apparent desolateness. Just inside the park boundary is an impressive display of Joshua Trees. We chose the Mosaic Canyon Trail for a late afternoon hike. This marbled trail through the canyon extends two consistent and gradual miles uphill, in some places opening up into a wide expanse and, in others, narrowing down to skinny remnants of waterfalls which require minor scrambling.
Mosaic Canyon
Mosaic Canyon
Mosaic Canyon
Because the sun was setting, we elected to camp at the nearby Stovepipe Wells Campground. Given the absence of canopy vegetation within the park, campgrounds here resemble a gravel parking area within the desert floor (at sea level of course). Our campground had space for 200 vehicles but because we were one of only about a dozen campers, we still managed plenty of privacy. Waking to 65 degree weather was a welcome change and motivated us on our way – making stops and short hikes at many of the park’s highlighted geologic features: sand dunes, salt creeks (home to the endangered pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus salinus)), the natural bridge, the badwater basin and the artists palette.
Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes
Natural Bridge
View of the Badwater Basin from the Natural Bridge
The lowest point in North America
Table Salt on the floor the Badwater Basin
Death Valley is the largest park in the lower 48 and its harshness is striking as one travels through, but this should not be a deterrent. The geologic history and mineral composition of the planet on display here is most impressive.
Artist Drive
Artist Palette
The drive from Mammoth Lakes into and through Death Valley National Park is composed of serious ascents and descents over the Inyo, Panamint, and Amargosa Mountains with elevations ranging from 8500 feet above sea level to 282 feet below. We made an early stop at the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center, just south of Lone Pine. This facility provides an abundance of information on all the national parks as well as BLM and Forest Service lands in this part of the world. Our two purposes in stopping here were to clarify just exactly which peak in the Inyo Mountains was Mt. Whitney and to grab any specific Death Valley information.
We entered the Park from the west along Route 190 and were immediately taken by the vastness of the area as well as the diversity, despite its apparent desolateness. Just inside the park boundary is an impressive display of Joshua Trees. We chose the Mosaic Canyon Trail for a late afternoon hike. This marbled trail through the canyon extends two consistent and gradual miles uphill, in some places opening up into a wide expanse and, in others, narrowing down to skinny remnants of waterfalls which require minor scrambling.
Mosaic Canyon
Mosaic Canyon
Mosaic Canyon
Because the sun was setting, we elected to camp at the nearby Stovepipe Wells Campground. Given the absence of canopy vegetation within the park, campgrounds here resemble a gravel parking area within the desert floor (at sea level of course). Our campground had space for 200 vehicles but because we were one of only about a dozen campers, we still managed plenty of privacy. Waking to 65 degree weather was a welcome change and motivated us on our way – making stops and short hikes at many of the park’s highlighted geologic features: sand dunes, salt creeks (home to the endangered pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus salinus)), the natural bridge, the badwater basin and the artists palette.
Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes
Natural Bridge
View of the Badwater Basin from the Natural Bridge
The lowest point in North America
Table Salt on the floor the Badwater Basin
Death Valley is the largest park in the lower 48 and its harshness is striking as one travels through, but this should not be a deterrent. The geologic history and mineral composition of the planet on display here is most impressive.
Artist Drive
Artist Palette
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