DEATH VALLEY

For two snow bunnies used to scaling mountaintops and high elevations with ease, settling into a campsite at 200 feet below sea level and reaching heats of 40 degrees at 7:30 in the morning was a bit of a struggle. The heat is completely enveloping and the sun is torturous and the only relief is the seldom gusts of hot wind that tumble across the fields. We had planned to do some hikes to explore the beautiful landscape but every time we ventured onto the track we’d only make it a mile or so before being overwhelmed by the heat and sulking back to the car for some air con. Luckily, there was a lot to see from the comfort of Veronica. We drove up to Dante’s View, an overlook at 5,500 feet that gives a beautiful view of the valley. Funnily enough we went up for sunset and the 22 degrees was just a bit cold for us. When we made our descent back to the valley the temperature doubled, despite it being past 8pm.

Dante's View

But I shouldn’t complain. The surrounds completely made up for the uncomfortable heat and we knew what we were in for. Surely the name “Death Valley” made it obvious that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. The sheer size of the valley is astonishing, stretching for three and a half million acres. Most of the park can be reached by the paved roads that criss-cross through the centre, but some of the highlights are only to be reached by dirt roads. We gave Veronica quite a work out and she performed brilliantly, if not a little begrudgingly.

Sand Dunes

It was quite a sight to get so many different landscapes and vistas in the one scope. Snow-capped mountains towered over granite and marble volcanic canyonlands and rolling sand dunes overlooking the great expanse of salt plains that reach across the floor of badwater, the lowest point of the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level.

Badwater Basin

Zabriskie Point, a popular lookout

Due to erosion, the floor of Death Valley has been dropping for thousands of years and is currently dropping at a rate of 6 inches each century. Death Valley receives around 2 inches of rain per year, less than 5 centimeters, largely due to the mountains surrounding the valley, that prevent rain clouds entering and also prevent the warm air leaving, attributing to the warm, dry weather.

Ubehebe Cratre

There is a place in Death Valley called the race track, where winds are so strong that they actually push rocks along the valley floor, leaving a trail behind the rock. Unfortunately we didn’t think that Veronica would be up to the 30 mile dirt road, but it would have been a great sight. I did some googling to find an pic.

A rock on the racetrack

Death Valley was given its name by prospectors that traveled through the valley on their way to the California goldfields in the mid 1800’s. It was one particular group who had a hard time and on their exit, one member remarked ‘Goodbye Death Valley’ and the name stuck. Business started soon after with the mining of Borax. Towards the late 1800’s people were starting to make serious money from mining opportunities in Death Valley. One of the most illustrious was Walter Scott (Scotty). He would roam far and wide, telling people of his secret goldmine in Death Valley, getting investors to pay him thousands of dollars to get a cut in his profits. One of the biggest investors was Albert Johnson, a millionaire who had heavily invested in, and profited from, other mining businesses. When he saw no returns from Scotty but heard how he’d been throwing his money around, Johnson decided to pay Scotty and Death Valley a visit. Scotty staged an elaborate scheme, getting his buddies to act as gold-hungry thieves and ambush him and Johnson while in Death Valley. This would surely scare Johnson enough to never visit again but to continue to fund the mining of the gold that was obviously worth protecting. In the execution of the plan, however, Scotty’s brother got shot, a halt to the fight was called and Scotty was shown to be the fraud that he was. Instead of being angry and severing his partnership with Scotty, Johnson was drawn to the valley and continued to visit the Valley and Scotty, who soon became his close friend. In the 20’s the Johnsons built a holiday retreat in the northern region of the park, with a guest house for Scotty. The home was always called “Scotty’s Castle” and every night the Johnson’s and Scotty entertained guests with Scotty’s outlandish stories of the ‘goldmine’, and even got the hired help to make noises in the basement, just the miners working hard, collecting that gold. Albert Johnson once said that even though he had given Scotty well over one hundred thousand dollars over the years, he had been compensated a hundred times over with his friendship.

Scotty's Castle

We did a tour through the castle and it was really interesting to hear the tale and see the amazing furnishings. As it had always had guests visiting and enjoying it as a museum, everything was in pristine condition, and all furnishings were the originals. In the 1920’s, it cost the Johnson’s $2million to build, I can only imagine what it would be worth today.

This area of Death Valley is called Devil's Golf Course, as it is such an expanse of rock salt weathered into jagged spires so serrated that 'only the devil could play gold on such rough terrain'

Much deathly love,

T and Z