Joshua Tree has been pretty amazing. I spent one additional night there at a campground on the northwest corner of the park. I liked this spot because I had cell phone reception, which was a nice change from the previous areas I had been sleeping. I set up camp in the wrong spot.. One space over. The markers were shit, so I take no blame for my screw up. The rightful owners of the spot I’m in is a lovely couple who were married at Joshua Tree 39 years ago. Holy shit, that’s amazing! Tell me everything! How did the park look? How did you make the marriage work for so long? We talk for a bit, and he gives me some recommendations for hot springs on my path of future travel. As I leave Joshua Tree, I decide to stay on the East side of the Sierra Mountains. This means I’ll miss Kings Canyon and Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. All the roads are still closed for the season, and snow fall is way above average. I don’t want to risk the driving, and I it gives me an excuse to come back with Cas in the future. I’m disappointed, but I can’t expect to see everything this trip.
As I head out, I set my course for Death Valley National Park. It’s the largest park in the lower 48 states, and has lots of cool things to explore. The drive in was insane with altitude changes. Up, down, 9% grades, windy roads… The reason Death Valley is so damn hot and dry is because its situated behind three mountain ranges. Obviously the Sierras are the largest, causing the main rain shadow, but two other smaller ranges suck out any remaining precipitation that may have hit the valley. It is the hottest, driest, lowest spot in the western hemisphere. I’m a Florida kid, I can handle hot, right?
As I pull into my campsite, I realize its a big open dirt lot. I guess I should have expected that. It’s a desert with an average rainfall of 2 inches a year. What did you expect, trees? The site is called stovepipe wells, and looks to have about 200 sites, almost all of which are empty. Around the camping area is what appears to be a small town. A resort was built here in the 30s? I can’t remember… But there are hotel rooms, a pool, a restaurant and a saloon. All functional. Anyway, I’m a little rattled from the drive, so I pop into the saloon to get a beer and research what hikes to do. Stepping outside, it legitimately feels like I’m in an oven. The temperature gauge is reading 99.
After some hiking, I come back to the dirt lot campsite and wait for sunset. Man, this heat is still intense well into the evening. It’s the first time I’ll need to use my portable fan.
I wake up the next morning, and I’m excited. Today I will go to Badwater Basin to see the lowest spot, and do a hunt for places that they filmed Star Wars. Many of the original movies were filmed here, as well as IV and VI. The stovepipe wells resort had free maps telling you where to find filming locations.
282 feet below sea level 
Just open and white
Badwater Basin was amazing, it’s hard to capture the vastness and lifelessness in pictures or words. The ground was salty (yes I had to try it) and crunched under my feet. I walked way out to get away from the crowds. As a main attraction at the park, this spot had more people than I had seen anywhere else.
After my salt exploration, I worked back to where I was camping for the night. Stopping at various trail heads along the way and exploring. The last hike I did at Golden Canyon was the first time I actually got overwhelmed by the heat. My car was reading 104, and the wind felt like when you open the oven to see if your carnitas are ready. I was done. So, after 6 hours of hiking I head to my campsite at Furnace Creek. Today is hotter than yesterday, and there’s no way I can sit in the sun and roast a few hours until the sun goes down. I decide to check out the resort that is also at this site, and see if I can find some shade.
The resort here is ridiculous. Date trees, manicured grass, fountains, it looks so silly smack dab in the middle of the desert. But there are lots of people staying at the resort. Probably paying exorbitant amounts of money. I find another saloon and get a beer. I look a mess, but I don’t care. I just need to get out of the heat. I head over to the park visitor center, and realize there is a break in the main water line servicing the center and my campsite. Great. I love peeing in porta-potties when it’s 100 degrees out. The visitor center is well put together, and has a movie looping. It’s cold and dark, so I sit and watch. It’s about the Shoshone Native Americans that lived in this area for thousands of years. They still live on the land. They are one of the few Native American populations whose native land was made into a reservation that will be protected into perpetuity. The story is about how they were able to live in this difficult landscape for so many years, and how the tribe is still persisting.
After this, I decide to head to camp and get ready for sunset. It’s a hot night, and the stars are overpowered by the full moon. Too bad. My next few nights will be in the Mammoth Lakes area, just east of Yosemite.
