Heading into The Valley Of Death

Death Valley is a truly unique place. While the history of most of natures wonders are counted in millions of years, the history of Death Valley is counted in the Billions. Some of the oldest rocks on the Earth can be found in Death Valley. The Earths crust here has been exposed to every kind of force at natures disposal. It has been thrust upward, pushed down, twisted, cracked and stretched. Seas have come and gone, lush vegetation, desert lands, dinosaurs, you name it, Death Valley has seen it and everything has left it's mark and can be seen today in Death Valley.

At Sea Level, Not a drop of Water In Sight and Going Down??

In Death Valley there is a constant wind, it doesn't cool you any, it just sucks the moister away.

The lead up to The Golden Canyon is an Alluvial Fan, that is - where rocks and sediment are washed out of a canyon by rushing rain water Click Here For Example It is this action that has sculpted the Golden Canyon into what it is today. The mouth of The Golden Canyon is 160 feet (49m) below sea level.

Artists Drive

With the average temperature about 120f  (48.8c), average rainfall 1.96 inches (4.97cm) a year and 282 feet (85.95m) below sea level, Badwater is the hottest, driest, lowest place in the western hemisphere. Yet is one of the few places in Death Valley with permanent water.

After spending a long day in Death Valley I came to the small town of Shoshone. After eating I went for a dip in the pool. I was the only person there for a while, it was late in the evening, just turning to dark. I was floating on my back watching bats swoop down all around me taking a drink from the pool. There was a huge owl on a telegraph pole silhouetted against the rising moon, I wish I had brought my camera to get that picture.