19/10/2019 - Pahrump → Death Valley → Bakersfield → Woodlake / USA(630 Kilometers)

With over 13,600 km², Death Valley National Park in the Mojave Desert is a massive heat trap and the driest national park in the USA. With its size, one day is not enough to explore the entire park. So we chose the most impressive and diverse areas of the "Valley of Death". We enjoyed a first look from the viewpoint Dantes View at 1,669 meters above the Death Valley. We had a great view of the large Badwater Basin and the surrounding mountains. From the viewpoint, we went to the Visitor Center and then to the Badwater Basin. This depression is 85.5 meters below sea level, the lowest point in North America. It is a remnant of an ancient lake. Today, hexagonal plates can be seen in the midst of a salt crust. It is common to walk into this area and take great photos in the middle of the salt lake. However, a warning sign at the beginning of the trail indicates that entry is not recommended after 10 am due to the heat. Nearby, there is a weather station that regularly records temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius in summer. Luckily, it is already October and we can just about handle the blazing sun. Afterwards, we drove along Artists Drive. This region got its name "Artist's Palette" because of the colorful rock formations. The richness of colors is caused by oxidation of various metals found in the rocks. It looks very different in the Sand Dunes. In the north of Death Valley, there is a vast desert stretching over 4 km², which has served as a backdrop in Star Wars movies. It was a very eventful and diverse visit to an exciting national park.

However, on this day, we unfortunately noticed that our new car smelled strange in the tire area whenever we stopped. That was not good because we still had several miles to go before our rental contract ended in early December. Bakersfield was on the way, and there was a station of our rental company at the airport. Just before the station closed, we arrived. We explained to a very nice employee that the car smelled weird, and she gave us a new rental car without any problems. We exchanged the Kia Sorrento for a Dodge Grand Caravan after only 469 miles and continued to Woodlake.