Death Valley

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We are very lucky here in California to have nine National Parks within the state. And I am very lucky to have now visited all of them. The last one on the list was Death Valley. In November we packed up the Jeep and hit the road for three nights of camping in the park. The trip was well-timed for the week before Thanksgiving (before the crowds really set in), and the weather was nice too– not too hot, as this desert is known for in the summer, and not too cold yet either. I think this is one of the most underrated parks I’ve visited. The vistas are varied and spectacular, the night sky is expansive, and it’s just the right mix of easily accessible and open to further exploration. But it doesn’t seem as popular as Joshua Tree to the south or of course the very famous Yosemite to the north. And perhaps that’s a part of its charm as well. 

We departed the Bay Area early on a weekday morning to try to make it to camp before sunset. It’s a long eight or nine hour trek, and these winter days are so short.

We made it just in time! Our first two nights were at the Furnace Creek Campgrounds, which we reserved in advance. The campgrounds were sparse, not the cutest I’ve ever seen. And all the sites were occupied that week. But it’s conveniently located next to the only visitor’s center of the park and made for a great home base to start our trip.

We had packed with cold desert nights in mind, but this was downright balmy. It did drop further, and our last night was quite windy, but it stayed above 40 degrees the whole time.

Day one, we woke up early to catch sunrise from Zabriskie Point.

Just before the sun broke through…

And such a dramatic shift in color after it came up, illuminating the far mountains first.

Beautiful!

Of course I had to visit the Visitor’s Center for my passbook stamp. They also have a pretty extensive little museum about the park inside. Death Valley is known as the hottest point in North America– the record was 134°; the driest point in the US; and the lowest point in North America, which is Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level. 

There was a brief history of borax mining in this desert in the gold mining era, which also drew in Chinese laborers. Borax is a mineral used in detergents and other household products. It was lucrative for only a moment (a few years) before the borax companies went bust, though their legacies and the ruins can still be seen to this day. They are also the ones who called this place Death Valley, counter to the Timbisha Shoshone who were here long before and knew the land as a provider of life, not just a valley of death to be exploited for its riches.

A walk through Golden Canyon.

Devil’s Golf Course.

Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America. This once was the bottom of a lake bed. Now it’s a bunch of salt in the desert.

Artist’s Drive and Artist’s Palette. The most beautiful drive. Just full of colorful rocks.

And back to camp for the night. Even with the clouds, you can still see so many stars.

The next day was driving adventure day. We got to take Alex’s Jeep out for some really lovely offroading adventures.

First, more deserted mining operations. This one was a gold mine, the Keane Wonder Mine.

Then, we exited the park for a brief moment and wandered over the border to Nevada to fuel up in Beatty. It was the cheapest gas of the trip, at $3 something. Inside the park there was a gas station priced at over $6!

The ghost town of Rhyolite.

Bottles were used as a building material since they were what was available here in the desert.

Next, a drive through Titus Canyon, offroading with the Jeep!

So beautiful, and i always think of 4×4 driving as being like hiking, but where the car does the hiking for you.

Another ghost town. Leadfield only lasted six months, attracting people with overblown marketing before it hollowed out and everyone left.

Like hiking through a slot canyon! But by car!

Then we paid a brief visit to Ubehebe Crater.

And we claimed a campsite for the final night in the Mesquite Spring campground. Really lovely campgrounds and definitely more remote than Furnace Creek, but we just happened to end up next to a very large and rowdy crowd and it was very windy that night!

So beautiful though.

Packed up and did one final tour through the park. Things are very spread out and the park is enormous, so you can easily spend half a day just driving back and forth. With all the wind that day you could really see the sand being kicked up over the sand dunes, even from far far away.

The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

And one final mini hike, through Mosaic Canyon.

We had such a wonderful time visiting Death Valley! Three nights of camping was the perfect amount, and late November was the perfect time of year. I highly recommend a visit to anyone who loves getting outdoors and seeing a huge range of vistas and geological formations.

Stay tuned for the rest of this road trip, as we continued on to Las Vegas next!

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.