In the Shadow of the Valley of Death

Death Valley has long intrigued me.  The idea of such a hot, arid place makes a person wonder what it is actually like to be there.  What would happen if I were to find myself stranded under such extreme circumstances?  What does the extreme heat feel like?

To answer some of the questions floating around in my mind I decided to take a trip across Death Valley during the hottest part of the day.  It wasn’t that I planned things that way, it just happened to be that was the time we arrived.

After a very quick descent into the valley we found a ranger station where we had to get a sticker for the windshield of our car.  As we walked in we caught a glimpse of the thermometer which read 117 degrees.  It was a dry heat but was still incredibly hot.  Standing outside of the car it didn’t seem as though we were sweating much.  I suppose it was because the sweat was evaporating off of our skin instantly.

We got back in our car and continued on our way.  A sign warned us to turn off our air conditioning so we wouldn’t overheat our engine as we climbed a long hill.  I heeded the advice, opening my windows to allow the hot desert air to envelope us.  As we began our uphill battle my temperature gauge steadily climbed.  Higher & higher it rose as my speed slowed.  Just as the temperature nearly reached the point of overheating we broke the summit of the hill and coasted downward for miles giving the motor a much needed rest.

We made a couple of stops along the way but they were brief.  The heat was overwhelming at times though not too bad in short bursts.  One of our stops was at the lowest point in the United States where the elevation is 282 feet below sea level.  It is interesting since this point sits only miles from the highest point in the continental US, Mount Whitney.

As we travelled through the park we observed the landscape from the comfort of our air conditioned car.  It took us a few hours to make our way across the park & I enjoyed every moment of being there.  Despite the heat it is an incredibly scenic place.

It may not seem like an ideal vacation destination, but it is worth a drive through.  If nothing else you can brag that you’ve been to the most extreme place in the United States.