Day 14: The Drive to Death Valley

We have now arrived in the Valley of the Dead, and alive as planned!

We left Las Vegas with joy. It was nice to see the city, but it's nicer to leave Las Vegas after 4 days. Today was the weekend, and accordingly, the city was crowded. We took about 30 minutes to drive about 500m on the Strip. Then we drove around a bit in the suburb because the GPS didn't give us clear directions, but that didn't scare us. We know that eventually it always goes on. After finding the right direction, refueling the car, and buying ice for the cooler (after yesterday, only going into the desert with a cooler!), we both got a big shock. The air conditioning suddenly stopped working - just on the way to Death Valley. Without air conditioning, we would have lived up to the name of the valley. We stopped again, consulted the manual, and pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened! We could already imagine driving back to Las Vegas with the car, exchanging it there, and not seeing Death Valley anymore. But as luck would have it, one of us moved the switch next to the air conditioning a little to the right, and suddenly it started working again! Ah, so that's what the switch was for - to adjust the strength of the air conditioning. Uli seemed to have accidentally touched that button when getting out of the car at the gas station, and now we also know its meaning. Everything was fine, so we could continue!

On the way to Death Valley, visiting a ghost town was still on our list. I actually wanted to visit the ghost town 'Bodie' when we go to Yosemite NP. However, since the Mariposa Grove is not accessible until next year, we wouldn't be able to see the giant sequoias there. Uli really wanted to see them, so we decided to head to Sequoia NP instead, where you can even drive through a giant tree with your car. Sadly, I had to skip Bodie in favor of the giant trees. Today at breakfast, I saw the ghost town 'Rhyolite' 35 miles before Furnace Creek Ranch, where we are staying today. That fit into the plan because we couldn't check in until 4 PM and didn't want to drive through Death Valley in the midday heat. So we walked through the ghost town at 40 degrees Celsius instead ;-) Like most of these towns, it used to be a gold mining town that was eventually abandoned when there was nothing left to find. I could have spent hours here, but Uli wanted to go to Death Valley. When Uli started the engine while I was still taking pictures of the car wrecks, I knew I had to jump into the car to not have to stay there overnight.

A short time later, we passed the Valley of the Dead. The sight was again totally surreal. None of us had seen anything like it before.

The vegetation became scarcer, with only cacti, and black sand on the left and right. A short time later, there were no more plants in sight, only a desert of rocks with small and sometimes huge mountains with different colors. Wow! And of course, it was hot!

After 2 stops, we checked into the hotel shortly after 4 PM. We had to hurry now. The sun was going to set at 7:39 PM, we were hungry, and we still had to make plans. Hunger came first, and the food naturally took longer than usual, as always when you're in a hurry. But it was all not so bad, because shortly after 6 PM we drove towards Badwater Basin. This is the lowest point in North America, with an elevation of 85m above sea level. This basin is almost entirely covered with a crust of salt. It looks really amazing, but it's also very hot here! The hottest temperature the thermometer in the car showed us today was 49 degrees Celsius. Phew! After a short photo stop, we moved the car towards 'Artist Drive'. This is a small circular route where you can see the sunset on one side and the beautiful colors of the sand dunes on the other side. With great effort, we finally reached the beautiful spot for the sunset. We could really see the sunset on one side and the beautiful, different, and sometimes glowing colors of the sand dunes on the other side - truly beautiful! Shortly after sunset, however, we drove back to the hotel because nothing, absolutely nothing, is illuminated on the roads here.

Tomorrow we have a crazy plan, which is to watch the sunrise. Now we have overcome the jet lag, and getting up in the middle of the night will certainly be more difficult. Tomorrow we will test it and set our alarm for 5 AM. After all, you're only here once in a lifetime.

So we can take an early drive, take advantage of the better light, and of course, enjoy the cooler temperatures. After Death Valley, it will be more forested - and finally shadier! As beautiful as it is here, I'm looking forward to temperatures below 40 degrees Celsius!

And now the night begins with a loud air conditioning, but better a loud one than none at all! Good night!