California - Death Valley National Park

Angee and I went to visit Death Valley National Park a few days before I was to attend a glass conference. It was a good time to go - we were hoping to see some spring flowers. Our obligatory photo at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley is not as impressive as it would be in July (127?!!) but for late March, we were happy with the 70’s!  Also, we were able to see a super bloom on the way into the park, so that would not be seen on some of those over 100 days.   We looked around at the Visitor Center a bit, watched the movie, but then found a ranger, who told us that if we only had a few hours, we had to get to Badwater Basin… so off we went.

Once at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the USA, we were at 282 feet BELOW sea level!   Up on the slopes of a nearby hill, there was a sign that said “Sea Level” …. It seemed waaaaay up there!

I was surprised to see a “lake” there – I’m sure it is evaporated in summer, but it was interesting – and SALTY!   On our way out of that area, we hiked a bit, at the Artists Palette, as well as up on the top of the ridge at the Zabriskie Point.

It was a bit dark by the time we left the area, so our photo at “THE” National Park sign needed to be lit up by our headlights.   We saw a TON of stars though!