Death Valley National Park
Nov 2022
We spent 11 nights at Death Valley. We stayed at Furnace Creek Campground #31. It is a no-hook-up, but great spot because there is open space on the left side which means that no one is camped right beside us there. There's plenty of fresh water and the dump station is nearby. Yes, we were boondocking the entire time. Yes, we did take showers (navy showers) in our rig since the restrooms do not have shower facilities in this campground.
The weather was generally wonderful. I highly recommend November as an ideal time to visit this park. The nightly lows were mostly in the 40s and the highs in the 60-70s. We did arrive on a terribly windy day and had two more very windy/rainy days during our stay here. We have a fine layer of dirt on almost every surface and had to chase our outdoor shoes as they blew across several campgrounds.
We were treated to some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets that we have encountered thus far. This photo was taken the first morning that we were here at the entrance to the campground. I love the juxtaposition of the dry, cracked earth and the brilliant sky at sunrise. It is so iconic Death Valley.
We viewed the sunset from Zabriskie Point on the same day. It was also spectacular. There's just something about sunrises and sunsets that reminds me of how great our God is to have created something so beautiful and intangible; something that everyone can enjoy. It is a free gift for us all.
Badwater Basin, Natural Bridge, Devil's Golf Course, Artist Palette
We hit all of these attractions in one day. They are all off the same road in the park.
You have to go to the lowest point in the North America; it is a requirement! You can't really say you have been to Death Valley without visiting Badwater Basin. It is -282 ft. As a comparison, the lowest point on earth is the Dead Sea which is -1412 ft. We've also been there. There is a sign way up on the mountain opposite of Badwater Basin that shows sea level. You can walk out a ways into the basin, but it is basically more of the same.
We can say we have been there, done that...sort of like going to the four corners.
Badwater Basin
Natural Bridge
Dry Waterfall
Our next stop was Natural Bridge Canyon. It is about a 0.6 mile round trip to the bridge through the canyon. The bridge connects the walls of the canyon. A little further up you can see the chutes of dry waterfalls formed and polished by runoff.
Devil's Golf Course
iThis s a quirky little area. Russ said it does look like a golf course that the devil would design - full of bumps and holes.
Artist Palette
Finally, we drove a beautiful loop called Artist Palette, shown to the left. More than 5 million years ago, volcanic eruptions blanketed the landscape in Death Valley depositing ash and other minerals. These were chemically altered with heat and water. Chemical analyses have identified iron, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium. Even though we though the green colors you can see might be copper, it isn't; it is green chlorite.
Golden Canyon, Red Cathedral, and Dante's View
Golden Canyon is also on the road to Badwater and Natural Bridge Canyon. It is a little longer hike, so we decided to do it another day. We chose to do the hike through Golden Canyon to Red Cathedral and back. It is about 3 miles round trip, and was fairly easy. You had to do a little scrambling at the very beginning and at the end up to Red Cathedral. But, most of the hike was a gentle climb that wasn't too bad. You can choose to go on a loop through Gower Gulch which takes off before you get to Red Cathedral. That is another 3.3 miles and you end up back at the parking area.
Boulder Field at Gold Canyon
Red Cathedral
Telescope Peak from Dante's View
Death Valley from Dante's View
Dante's View is a breathtaking viewpoint over Death Valley. It is about 25 miles from the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center, and is 5,475 ft above Death Valley. You can see Badwater Basin which is the lowest point, and Telescope Peak which is over 11,000 feet. Telescope Peak has recent snow. Dante's View is on the spine of the Black Mountains which is part of the Basin and Range Geologic Province that stretches from Utah to California and from Idaho to Mexico.
Mosaic Canyon
To get to Mosaic Canyon, take Hwy 190 north to just past Stovepipe Wells Village. There is a 2.4 mi dirt road to the parking area. From there, the hike is about 1.3 miles through some narrows and ending at Boulder Jam. The trail does continue from there, but it involves scrambling over some pretty large boulders and slick rock.
We made it past the first three or four boulder jams, but decided not to go much further. It is pretty strenuous and we were worried that we might slip and fall. No one needs that :) There is another set of narrows past the boulder jams, but we'll just have to see others' photos of that part.
This is definitely the prettiest and most interesting hike that we have taken in the park. We did use our trekking poles for most of it. They were pretty useless for scrambling, however. The trail is rocky and has a total incline of 1200 ft. Since we didn't make it to the end, we only climbed about 600 ft. I would describe it as moderate except for the scrambling part at the Boulder Jam. There were a couple of other areas in The Narrows that you had to scramble a bit, but they weren't too bad as long as you were careful.
Boulder Jam - end of the line for us
The Narrows
Mosaic Canyon Rock
We spent our last day, Veterans' Day, in Death Valley at camp. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the down time. We did go to the wagon train parade sponsored by the Death Valley 49ers. It was fun and a reminder of the struggles that the original visitors to this area faced. I can't imagine navigating this land without the help of gps, maps, and experiences of others.
All-in-all, we enjoyed Death Valley. 11 nights is probably a little too long to stay, but considering we lost 2 days to wind, it turned out okay. November is the perfect time to be here. The mornings are cool and it doesn't get too warm during the day. The skies are blue and the sunrises and sunsets are magnificent. Happy trails...