After dealing with our toilet issues and exploring Alabama Hills, we decided to take the 2 hour long drive out to Death Valley. It was a fantastic view along the lengthy scenic drive with the elevation changing throughout the trip from 4000 feet to 2000 feet back to 4000 feet then down to below sea level. 

As we approached Death Valley, we stopped at the visitor center to pick up a brochure to learn about this incredible piece of land. 

Death Valley sits 282 feet below sea level, making it the hottest place on Earth. The sun warms up the desert floor, with it radiating off the rocks and soil, causing the heat to become trapped inside the tall walls of the surrounding mountains. The top recorded temperature is 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is also the driest place in North America with less than 2 inches of rainfall a year.

As we were driving along, we noticed how it can be easily misleading to people who are traveling through the desert looking for water. The sun radiating off the desert floor creates a mystical illusion of a large body of water, but as you approach what you perceive to be water, you find there is just more sand. It was strange and concerning to experience this confusing phenomenon. 

We made sure to bring plenty of water with us as we knew there would be no water sources nearby and even though we were there in the winter, the air still felt quite warm. The temperature, I believe, was around 70-80's, but with the dryness and the sunshine, it felt much hotter.

We planned on hiking the Golden Canyon Trail to Red Cathedral. It was only about 3 miles long with very little elevation. At this point of our trip, we were starting to feel tired out so as we began the hike, we weren’t sure how far into it we would get. We just didn’t have the energy despite choosing a fairly easy trail.

After the first mile, we decided we didn’t have it in us to finish the hike. We had climbed up a mountainous rocky dirt pile and had an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. We decided to sit at the top of this mountain for a while and just appreciate the view rather than continuing on the hike to see other areas. 

When we’re hiking we are usually on the go and don’t take a lot of time to just sit back, relax and enjoy the view so that’s what we decided to do. We stayed there for over an hour. Ryan fell asleep for a short time while I took advantage of the solitude to look out at the sight in front of me. I had packed a book so I spent some time reading as well. I love reading while out in quiet places, being able to look up from a good book and gaze out at the surrounding nature to appreciate the world around me.

After a while, we decided to head back because we still had a long drive home and the roads in some sections were quite narrow and could be a bit winding. We didn’t feel comfortable driving the roads in the dark, especially since we also witnessed an accident on our way there.

A car was driving in the other lane going in the opposite direction as us. They swerved going off the road, causing them to panic and swerve back onto the road, except that they overcorrected and came into our lane heading straight for us. They quickly saw us and swerved back onto their side of the street. It looked like they almost flipped their car in this process, thankfully managing to avoid us. The nerve-racking part of it all was that they didn’t even slow down during this whole event. After they avoided us and were back on the road, they just continued on like nothing had happened at all. It was crazy and scary. The desert dirt formed a huge cloud in the air surrounding us. Ryan and I couldn’t believe what we had just seen and more importantly, somehow avoided. 

Due to this incident, we were a bit more cautious about our return home. We didn’t want to drive the winding roads in the dark so we left a little earlier than we had anticipated. 

We made it most of the way back with enough light to clearly see the roads and feel comfortable driving, however the last stretch of the drive was in the dark. Luckily, that part was on flat land and the roads were no longer narrow as we had made it through the mountain range. 

As we approached Lone Pine, we saw Jupiter and Saturn, also known as the Christmas star, take their place in the clear sky. It was a beautiful sight to see. I was quite intrigued by the close approximation of the two planets as it is usually very difficult to see these extraordinary events in New England with the cloudy skies.

We pulled to the side of the road to capture it on camera and to enjoy the view. It was a perfect way to end an interesting day and to remember all that we have to be thankful for in this wondrous world.