If you saw my last Photo of the Week, you know that I recently visited Death Valley National Park. What an amazing place! This was my second time visiting the park and though we saw more sights than our last visit we’ll definitely have to go back (probably several times) to see even more. I wanted to share a bit of what we saw during our camping trip – be sure to click on any of the following images to see the larger version.
There are several places to visit in the park, from the surrounding 11,000+ ft. peaks, barren sand dunes and colorful canyons, to the lowest point in the United Sates. Badwater Basin is situated 282 feet below sea level and much of the time it is an expansive salty basin that you can walk out on.
One of my favorite places we visited this trip was the Mesquite Flat Dunes about 1 mile from the Stovepipe Well Campground. We were especially lucky to have our visit when the moon and sun were setting and rising at nearly the same time as well as having a full moon. I just had to check out the dunes both at sunset and at sunrise and I am glad we did!
There were very few people on the dunes before sunrise which made it a very peaceful place to sip our coffee while watching the sun come up. And the climb to the highest peaks rewarded us with amazing views all around.
Contrary to what the name suggests, Death Valley had plenty of evidence of life. Some of the critters we saw included chipmunks, ravens, a roadrunner, a jackrabbit, kangaroo rats, lizards, red winged blackbirds, bats, and various insects. And this little scorpion had such amazing camouflage we nearly missed it! (I had trouble identifying it, so if anyone knows what kind of scorpion it is please leave me a comment at the end!)
All forms of life in the desert have adapted to the extremely harsh conditions there. Though we missed most of the spring bloom, the Creosote bushes were still flowering and you could see plenty of plants that had just finished blooming. Since taking anything out of the park is not allowed, I tried my hand at doing some on-site “studio” type shots for these last images. I think more trips are in order to practice this skill!
Things I want to check out/remember for our next trip:
• Visit The Racetrack
• Visit Eureka Dunes
• Explore more of the high country
• A wet bandanna on my head is a great way to cool down!
I’m fascinated by the desert. Thought I haven’t quite figured out why, each visit to one gives me a deeper appreciation for all the things found there. I wouldn’t want to live there, but deserts are definitely among my favorite places to visit. What are your favorite places to visit?
