Death Valley National Park, California
May 12, 2015
Holy cow, it was FREEZING.
I don't know which was more of a struggle: storing my DSLR at the bottom of my sleeping bag, or using two hay bales as a mattress. I got absolutely zero sleep.
Dawn was at 6:30 a.m. We hustled to pack our belongings while attempting to stay warm. Caleb had to summon a bit of courage to put on his pants—they were completely covered in frost!
We had a long drive ahead of us.
Frigid britches.
So, we started driving, stopping only for a Costco pizza in Bakersfield, California.
Through the middle of nowhere, down roads I didn't think would be healthy for any car's suspension, we drove. About six hours later we arrived at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America.
Finally, it was warm once again!
It's 282 feet below sea level. The sign was so tiny. Hard to imagine that much water being above my head. And all around me.
The sign in the top left says, “sea level”.
The main reason our drive took so long was to navigate around Mt. Whitney which ironically is the highest point in the contiguous US. Both extremes lie less than 100 miles from each other.
Weird.
We also made a stop at Artist's Palette.
We can't stay for very long.
A sign informed us the color in the rocks comes from oxidizing metals.
I'd visited before on a family vacation many years ago but since forgotten just how vivid the colors were.
What an alien world.
We stopped for a quick group shot before exiting the park.
Feeling artistic at Artist's Palette.
It was another 175 miles to our destination outside of Las Vegas.
Seven hours down, two to go. We continued driving.