We started off early (still on east coast time) by getting gas, breakfast and groceries before setting off from Beatty NV for Death Valley. The first thing we did was find a campsite, unfortunately we should have gotten Pat's Golden Age pass first!
We next stop at the Visitor's center and rectified the Golden Age pass and made our plan for the day. We started off by going to Golden Canyon trail which lead up a steep canyon. We took an off the beaten path trail that was narrow and steep. Tim was worried about me, but I survived!
Next we stopped at Badwater. Badwater is 282 feet below sea level. This is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. The water is not poisonous but clearly not good. Timmy and I tasted the dried minerals and it was dirty salty. The area is very flat and from this site you can see for probably 20 miles.
We then went to Natural Bridge, which was a hike up another canyon to see a natural bridge that was probably 50 feet tall. By this time, it was beginning to warm up. Before the day was over the temperature was over 97 degrees.
From there, we went on Artist's drive and took a hike up a winding clift that rose about 1000 feet to have a view back thru a canyon to Death Valley.
Dante's Peak was next. It is 5400 feet above sea level and looks down on Death Valley. You can see clearly the two mountain ranges that enclose Death Valley. We had to hike again over several ridges to get the best view.
Then we went back to Beatty for gas and then took a unusual single lane gravel road thru the back country that ran for 25 miles and took us thru the most amazing canyons.
By that time we were exhausted and returned to our campsite for a gourmet dinner of franks and beans!!!
Pictures can be seen at here
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