To Ku Bali me yi Lone Pine

Shortly before noon on the 16th day, we left Las Vegas and headed towards California, crossing through Death Valley, the national park located in the Mojave Desert. This is considered the driest region in the USA, where the highest air temperature in the world, 134°F (57°C), was recorded. We already felt this extreme heat at our first stop at Zabriskie Point. The water in our ice-cold water bottles, which we took with us on the hike up to the viewpoint of the bizarre erosion landscape, was unbearably warm when we returned to the car. At the visitor center, the official temperature screen already showed 122°F (50°C). On the subsequent drive to Badwater Basin, the temperature increased even further and reached 124°F (51°C) at this lowest point in North America, located at -282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. The walk out onto the salt flats became almost unbearable after just a few minutes. Back in the air-conditioned car, we continued driving along the Artist's Drive and then past the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. After crossing two passes, we left the national park and drove down to the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Lone Pine, our destination for the day at the foot of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the USA (outside of Alaska). Unlike the high peaks of Death Valley National Park, the mountains on the west side of the valley were partially covered in snow. In the evening, we strolled along the main street of this Western-style village of 2,000 people. At the Totem Café bar, we treated ourselves to nachos, chicken sticks, and a (in the end, two) pitcher of beer, and we convinced Ilenia to sing the Beatles song Hey Jude during karaoke. The bar patrons rewarded her with a standing ovation :-).