Death Valley

Death Valley is so incredibly hot that I have no desire to stay longer than we need to. It went up to 49C at one point during our visit… The hottest temperature on record is 57C on July 13, 1913.

We arrived at the Stovepipe Wells Village to spend 3 nights but stayed only a night. It’s too darn hot. The Visitor Center advise against staying outside for more than 15 minutes during the day – so it pretty much means we have nothing to do after driving around the park to see the major points of interest.
We checked in at the hotel’s registration desk for the RV spot with full hook up, there was only one other trailer in the whole area – and they were not expecting anyone else. The other park campground was empty – closed during the Summer… Hmm, somehow I felt that we must be crazy or hardcore to spend a night in Death Valley at Stovepipe Wells… We did the obligatory scenic drive around Death Valley. Stopped by Badwater Basin which is the lowest point in North America at 282 ft below sea level. Our highest elevation for this trip is about 10,000 ft at Yellowstone, so this is quite the difference. We also drove to the Devils Golf Course, which is the largest protected saltpan in North America. A visit to the desert is not complete without going to the sand dunes. We stopped by the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and we did not want to stay out there for too long. The landscape here at Death Valley is quite barren. If you’re looking for a tree to stand under for shade, you are out of luck. No trees around except at Furnace Creek which is in the middle of Death Valley. Someone or some business at some point must have thought that it was a great idea to plant all these palm trees to give it that oasis feel. Well, trees or no trees, oasis or not, it is still pretty darn hot in Death Valley in August.

During our drive to and around Death Valley, we noticed quite a number of vehicles with some form of black cover/wrap. Those of us who are car enthusiast know exactly what they are – they are road testing pre-production vehicles under extreme heat conditions in Death Valley.

At 7:30pm, we were still trying to cool down, the temperature read 45.9C for outside and 33C inside the 5th wheel with the air-conditioning at full blast. The water coming out from the cold tap is warm – we can’t even take a shower to cool down. When we turned in for the night, the duvet was warm. We pulled off the duvet and the mattress was warm too! Ugh! How is someone supposed to sleep on a warm mattress in the desert? It took a while before the room and mattress cooled down, I guess by that time I had fallen asleep.

The adults woke up at 4:30am as we had planned an early start. The sky was still dark, there were so many stars above and we saw lightning in the distance. Quite incredible to see so many stars but it was at a balmy 34C early that morning! We left just before 5:30am and headed in the direction towards Yosemite. The road in/out of Death Valley is full of dips. We climbed from sea level all the way to about 4000ft with a 10+C change in temperature.. We have no reservations and had to find a spot somewhere. We stopped by Mammoth Lakes and that turned out to be too rich for our taste… We are now settled at June Lake in a Forest Service campground, our base until we get to Yosemite on Saturday.