The Wells Family: Death Valley

This past weekend, we headed south to Death Valley! The drive down was beautiful as we headed over the Sierras through Tahoe...then south down Hwy 395, which runs along the Eastern Sierra ridge. We decided to enter the park from the north, which is definitely the route less taken! We drove on an estimated 50 miles of gravel road, which was not in the best condition and later discovered that they recommended not only a high clearance vehicle, but that you also carry one to two spares!! Luckily, we escaped without a flat!

The Death Valley terrain was just amazing! Although wild flowers were past peak, they were still abundant and beautiful. Our first stop was the Ubehebe Crater, which is the result of an volcano which exploded. Unfortunately, the pictures don't capture the great depth of the crater. Next, we were off to Scotty's Castle.

As we proceeded south, we stopped at Stovepipe Wells to climb on the Mesquite Flat Dunes. As always, sand dunes are a big hit with the boys.

We had dinner and stayed the evening at Furnace Creek Inn, which is centrally located in the park. At sunset, we drove through the "Artist's Palette", which received it's name from the vast colors represented in the mountains.

In the morning, mom snuck out of the room to take a few photos at sunrise...primarily at Zabriskie's Point.

Back at the ranch, the boys were ready to head out for another day of exploration! We headed down to Badwater, which is the lowest point below sea level in North America! There is an enormous salt flat to walk on, which is approximately 5 feet of compacted salt. When it rains, a lake will temporarily form. After our walk on the flat, the boys were covered in salt!

Just north of Badwater is Golden Canyon. Unfortunately, the boys are not hiking yet...so we only made it 1/2 mile. After our brief hike, we headed back to Furnace Creek for a swim in the thermal spring fed pool...very nice!

Our next stop was Salt Water Creek, which was the only water we found in the park. It's also home to the only fish in Death Valley, the pup fish.

Since the dunes were such a big hit, we headed back to Mesquite Flat Dunes. Greg was ecstatic when we encountered a large desert lizard, which was a species he has never seen. Once caught, the boys took turns touching it...and eventually, Finn held it!

Our final stop in the park was visiting the charcoal kilns once used during the gold rush days.

Unfortunately, time ran out and we were unable to check out the west side of the park and Panimant Springs...next time. Here are a few more pictures of our trip...