Death Valley NP, California - Part 2
Furnace Creek Ranch Resort and Campground

Sept 28 - Oct 1; 5,010 miles and 75 days into the trip.

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Leaving Panamint Springs we had to cross the Saline Valley and then up over the Panamint mountains and down below sea level into Death Valley. The post cards which we sent from Death Valley were pretty negative - even ending with "we probably would not come back again." We wrote them after the first 2days here. Well after 5 days it grows on you. The mountains on both sides of the valley are comprised of various colors as well as the valley floor. White, beige, tan, brown, dark brown, maroon, mustard, grey, black; wherever you looked the colors seemed to blend together. On a given mountain or canyon wall, they seemed to change from morning to noon to evening. The shadows of the canyons moved with the sun. Every trail we took was a new and different experience. Many of the roads we wanted to travel on required a high clearance 4x4. Even the gravel roads which we did travel on were pretty hard on the Saturn. The plant life looks dead this time of year but it is living in a survivor mode. The quiet is incredible, just wind blowing in the sand and through the canyons. So we hope that we will have the honor to come back some day and discover a lot more of the quiet, elegant, beauty.

The mountains are very dry and have no grass, plants or trees. So only the colorful colors of the ground shows. My cameral does a poor job of capturing the color.

One of the many scenic drives was on Artist Drive. It is a one way narrow road which winds it's way through the colorful foothills.

This is a better picture of the artists palete.

This part of the valley floor is called "Devils Golf Course." Water does get to the valley floor due to melting snow in the mountains or when it rains. The mud buckles as it dries. Here you can see a mixture of salt and mud. Under the mud is pure salt.

Still on Devils Golf Course. This part is solid salt from 3 to 6 feet deep.

It looks like snow!

Would you care for a touch of salt?

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