Death Valley, Death Valley National Park

The salt flats remain as remnants from long dried up lakes that covered this portion of the Earth during another era. Salt and other minerals can be found in abundance on Death Valley terrain where scarsely anything can grow.

Telescope Peak is the highest point in this low valley area that descends to a nadir of 282 feet below the sea. At just over 11,000 feet, its not one of the great summits of the world. But its a long all day 14 mile round trip to bag the summit. With 3,000 feet of elevation to gain, its fairly strenuous, but I'm told the view from the top is worthwhile.

Death Valley was a major source of borax in the late 19th cent. Prospectors built roads and assembled large 20-mule wagon teams to haul out loads weighing upto 40 tons.It was designated a national monument in 1933 and became a national park

Death Valley National Monument
I loved the experience of this place.
Feels like the Moon or Mercury
You will find sand dunes in the north, mineral deposits in open air of golden, green, yellow, orange, red, purple and blue color, golden canyon near Zabriskie Point, bush size salt formation that grows like corrals near Badwater and the Devil's Golf Course, Telescope Peak up there at 11000 feet.
The valley is one of the hottest spot in the world: it has less than 1 inch of rain per year, all rain blocked by a few mountain ranges to the west, in summer the temperature reach 125-130 degrees F.
Warning : You evaporate an unimaginable amount of water there, drink almost continuously, minimum a liter/pint per hour.

Many of the most unusual sights are located south of Furnace Creek. A good first stop, seven miles along Hwy-178/Badwater Road, is the Artist’s Palette, an eroded hillside covered in an intensely colored mosaic of reds, golds, blacks and greens. Ten miles further south, Badwater is an unpalatable but non-poisonous 30ft wide pool of water, loaded with chloride and sulphates, that’s the only home of the soft-bodied Death Valley snail. A four-mile hike across the hot valley floor drops a further two feet down to the lowest point in the western hemisphere, 282ft below sea level.

Driving through was a great experience. It was quite scarry there is no signal for your cell phone, no signal for the radio, no people, just incredibly hot weather. Zou have the feeling that if something happens with your car you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere waiting for someone driving through and if he doesn´t come you will die.:)))
Unfortunatelly we couldn´t see the Badwater because by the time we were there, there were supposed to be some floods and many roads were closed.

I had a blast trying to take nice pictures in Death Valley National Park. But, I know that I was only there for a short time. The lighting wasn't always at its best. And, I had my digital camera rather than my nice one. To really take nice pictures, you should stick around a few days, or try different seasons. But we can't all do that, unfortunately.

I found a professiona photographer who has worked very hard at trying to capture the personality behind Death Valley. I suggest taking a look at Phil Kember's work.

Death Valley National Park comprises more than 3.3 million acres of desert scenery, rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness and sites of historical interest.