What a Wonderful World (An #AtoZChallenge Post): D is for Death Valley National Park

 

A sign in the desert reads, "Death Valley National Park Homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone"

My husband recently re-retired, and we are front-loading travel. My #AtoZChallenge posts this year will explore our adventures--some pre-retirement some post. Today's location: Death Valley National Park.

I've lived many years in desert climates. I'm familiar with the phrase, "but it's a dry heat." Because desert climates are not my favorite, Death Valley National Park was not at the top of my travel bucket list, but I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to see it, either. I must say, it exceeded my expectations. 

After stopping by the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center, we drove to Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. (As an aside, is it any wonder that I wasn't drawn to this particular national park, with names like "Death Valley" "Furnace Creek" and "Badwater Basin"?)

The wooden sign on the edge of a huge salt flat reads, "Badwater Basin 282 feet/85.5 meters below sea level"

To get a scale of how far 282 feet below sea level is, there is a white wooden sign on the nearby mountain to mark where sea level is, as shown in the photo below:

The salt flats covered much of the valley. The photo below shows the white flats stretching out to the mountains in the background.

Death Valley has more than just salt flats, though. We hiked to Natural Bridge. (Photo of a wide stone arch):

Artist's Palette was aptly named, as the mountains, rich in mineral deposits, have many different colors. (Photo shows my husband hiking toward green and pink mountains.)

Not only are there interesting colors throughout the park, there are also interesting rock formations. 

(Photo at Zabriskie Point of rippled mountains):

A short hike through Mosaic Canyon featured narrow canyon walls and winding paths:

And if you're a fan of the beach, Death Valley has you covered (minus the ocean, of course). The sand dunes go on for miles. It's about a mile from the parking lot to get to the tallest dune. (Photo from the top of the tallest dune shows my arm,  a person hiking up, and sand stretching to the mountains in the distance.)

After walking miles across sand dunes, I picked up quite a bit of sand in my shoes, as evidenced from the photo below. (Photo of my shoe near a pile of sand--which I dumped out of my shoes. The sand pile is nearly as big as my shoe!)

Death Valley National Park is the nation's largest in the lower 48 states. It's also the hottest, and the lowest. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this sign. (Photo of brown information sign states, "Furnace Creek Elevation -190 Feet")

We ended our time in the park with a stop at Father Crowley's Vista Point. (Photo of a green bush in the foreground and a canyon in the background. White cloud decorate a blue sky overhead.)

Although I wouldn't want to live there, a visit to Death Valley (in mid-March) was much more enjoyable than I imagined it would be. Public Service Announcement: if a place is a national park, it will be interesting. 

Come back tomorrow to see where in the world we'll visit next!