Pictures: Lyle Such
Camera: Canon 5d Mkiii
Our first road trip of 2015 was to the long-anticipated destination of Death Valley. Despite being only 6 hours from home, we had never taken the time to visit this colorful and unique area of California. We hit the road in a shiny silver Jeep Wrangler rental. The forecast was hot hot hot, but it’s Death Valley so you just have to expect and embrace the heat otherwise it can be a miserable experience.
Mosaic Canyon
This short road trip began late on a Friday with an overnight stay in Ridgecrest, a city which they call The Gateway to Death Valley. Late Saturday morning we arrived at the Mosaic Canyon trailhead for the first hike of our trip. Overall it was only a 4 mile round trip hike.
Marble walls of the canyon.
Mosaic Canyon was a pleasant walk and the rocky features were beautiful to look at. The shade from the steep canyon walls protected us from the harsh sun for the majority of the hike. The heat, however, was becoming a concern. Despite the forecast predicting moderate temperatures, the desert heat would soon make it dangerous to wander too far from water and air conditioning.
After a bit of scrambling we reached the end of the trail and decided to head back to the Jeep before it got too hot.
Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes
After a short nap at the Furnace Creek Ranch following the hike through Mosaic Canyon, we headed out for the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. The original plan was to drive south towards the Badwater Salt Flats to watch the sun set over the valley. Our timing was off and the sun set without waiting for us. A quick u-turn took us north back to the dunes. Upon our arrival, the sunset viewing crowd was slowly leaving, but there was still a little daylight left so we took off our shoes and walked straight towards the tallest dune. As it was quickly turning dark, we just decided to find a nice spot to watch the final light leave and wait for the stars come out. Once we had our fill of the night sky, we carefully walked back to the car in the dark.
Dante’s View
Sunday morning we woke up before sunrise and drove up to Dante's View, a lookout above the main section of Death Valley. The sunlight crept up on the face of snowcapped Telescope Peak and slowly illuminated the entire valley. It was unbelievably peaceful up there, and aside from a couple of other early risers, we had the view entirely to ourselves.
Telescope Peak covered in snow.
Bristlecone Pine.
Death Valley looking North.
Panorama from Dante's View.
Artist’s Drive
Later that day we took a side road called Artist's Drive. Breaking away from the "Devil" theme that is so popular in Death Valley, this was a much more serene landscape than the surrounding areas. The paved road gently climbed through rolling foothills, then descended through a narrow part of the canyon with colorful views. The main lookout was called the Artist's Palette. Once again, we were surprised at how much diversity in landscape the area had to offer. The variety of colors were slowly revealed. These mountains are much more beautiful and subtle in-person than the over-saturated Instagram pictures would have you believe.
Moon setting over the mountains.
Endless roads, a bikers paradise if the weather weren't so harsh.
Details on the floor of the canyon are often overlooked, but it's so worth it if you just look down every once in a while.
20 Mule Team Canyon
As you're driving along the main roads through Death Valley, every once in a while a turnoff appears, usually rocky or dirt roads that lead up into the canyons. We took one called 20 Mule Team Canyon Road. The landscape was amazing, it reminded me of the Rhyolite mountains along the Landmanlauger trail in Iceland. The colors at first were subtle, but once the sun came out the we could see how every peak had a wildly different color and tone. We took a short hike up a ridge into the landscape and everywhere we looked the view was jaw-dropping.
The Furnace Creek Ranch...not much to say about it. Very family friendly with lots of rooms. I would definitely recommend staying at the resort instead.
After checking out of the hotel for the day, we drove to the center valley where the majority of visitors spend their time. The road stretched out in front of us as far as we could see. After only about 20 minutes we arrived at the Badwater salt flats.
The road to Badwater.
Badwater Basin
The sign pretty much says it all.
Badwater Basin is the most iconic spot within Death Valley. Formerly a lake, this 200 square mile salt flat is the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. We could feel the heat rising, but decided to take a quick walk into this surreal landscape.
The salt that makes up the floor of Badwater is the reason most people stop here. It's the kind of place that when taken in as a whole is an immense, overwhelmingly harsh and grand landscape. What many people miss, however, is the detail. The closer you look, the more intricate the landscape becomes. The fine crystals underfoot are so tiny and delicate that you almost feel bad walking over and destroying something so beautiful.
Devil’s Golf Course
Just down the road from Badwater Basin we found the Devil's Golf Course. I think they overuse the "devil" references in Death Valley, but I guess it is an appropriate theme. This place was hideously ugly and weirdly beautiful at the same time. Looking across the expanse of uneven, rocky terrain, we kept thinking how awful it would be to walk any distance across, let alone golf on.
Once again, the details were an added bonus to the already beautiful landscape. I think more than anywhere I've been the closeup view was even better than the bigger picture.
Artist’s Drive
Our final stop was another canyon road called Artist's Drive. Breaking away from the "Devil" theme, this was a more serene landscape, and the paved road gently climbed through rolling foothills then descended through a narrow part of the canyon with amazing views the entire way. The main stop was a section of the mountain called the Artist's Palette. Once again, we were surprised at how much diversity in landscape the area had to offer. The colors creeped up on on us, they have this tendency to blend in with their surroundings because of their subtle nature, but once you're standing in front of them, they are so unique and different from anything you've ever seen.
Finally, we were able to rent a Jeep!
And finally, another quick stop at the sand dunes before we hit the road back to L.A.
