Day 7 - Death Valley - Sat, June 21

 Today, we left the camper parked at the spot we spent the night, and took the van into Death Valley National Park. This is the scene that comes to mind when I think of Death Valley. 

Which isn’t too far off. And man, is it hot as hades! After hitting the Visitor Center, we drove to Badwater Basin, the lowest point below sea level in the U.S. and the starting point of a 135 mile ultra marathon, which is almost incomprehensible to this non-runner. The salt deposits are packed hard here by many trampling feet. 

Salt & heat. Good thing we brought lots of water. Being in an air conditioned car, it’s easy to forget how unforgiving this place is. As desolate as it is, and with few park staff (we didn’t see any, aside from at the Visitors Center) it wouldn’t be hard to get in a bad spot very quickly. The trusty van didn’t let us down as we wound a bunch of switchbacks to the top of Dante’s Peak, which felt more like Dante’s Inferno. I’m not going to lie. The best mountain tops lookouts are the ones that are accessible by road. 

After driving back out of the park and stopping back to load the RV and have a quick lunch, we headed further west, first hitting the ghost town of Death Valley Junction, aka Amargosa. It was an old mining town that served as the first stop for materials like copper and borax mined from Death Valley. Despite being largely abandoned when Marta Becket, a dancer and artist from New York City came to town in the 1960s, she liked it so much she decided to stay. She bought the local hotel, fixed up the old Amargosa Opera House, and danced nightly on the stage, whether there were patrons in the seats or not. She painted murals on the walls with faces to serve as  stand-in audience when visitors to her hotel were scarce. Unfortunately, we were a few years too late in meeting this eclectic women, as she passed in 2012. But she is well remembered as the Matriat of the town she loved. The hotel is still open for business and it would be quite the experience to spend a night there  Maybe next time.

Read more about this intriguing ghost town here. 

As we said goodbye to Death Valley and eased our way into California, I was reminded again how incredible it is that people learned how to master living in this desolate landscape. Only a hearty people would be able to do it and they were surely made of stronger stuff. It also strikes me that there is an incredibly amount of land in this part of the country that is virtually untouched. Mountains upon mountains with vast expanses of flat, hot desert in between. With a lack of resources we take for granted, hiking even one hill over from the road and you might feel like you’re on Mars. 

After several more hours of driving and paying a pretty penny for gas, we grabbed pizza in Barstow, CA which is right on historic Route 66. And they aren’t hesitant to play that angle up with signage.

Worlld’s largest thermometer 

It was a long day of exploring and driving, but very nice not to have to worry about working. Tonight, we are parked at a Walmart in Yucca Valley, CA which is in close proximity to tomorrow’s destination of Joshua Tree.