The name Death Valley conjurers up visions of a hot, dry, arid, ugly and lifeless place for most people. It is indeed the hottest, driest, and contains the lowest elevation point in the U.S.
Death Valley National Park is located in the Mojave Desert. During the summer months, the temperature is frequently 120 oF (49 oC) or more in the shade. On July 15, 1972, the ground temperature at Furnace Creek registered 201 oF with an air temperature of 128 oF. The hottest temperature recorded in Death Valley was 135 oF in 1913. The average rainfall in Death Valley is about 2 inches (5 cm), less than that found in most other deserts. Occasionally, thunderstorms do occur which can cause flash flooding.
Death Valley itself (which is only a part of Death Valley National Park) is a long, narrow basin with an elevation below sea level and walled by steep mountain ranges. The lowest point, 282 feet (85.5 m) below sea level, is in Badwater Basin. The little white marker on the ridge in the photo to the right shows where the elevation of sea level would be. This unique geography is what makes it so hot and dry. Typical weather patterns in the west are generated by air currents coming from the Pacific Ocean onto the continent. As storms roll in, their clouds rise when they encounter mountain ranges.
As they rise, the moisture in them cools condensing into rain or snow which is deposited primarily on the ocean side of the mountain range. The land on the non-prevailing wind side of the range is drier due to this “rain shadow effect”.
Storms have to cross four mountain ranges before they get to Death Valley so there is little to no moisture remaining by the time they reach this area. This is what makes the valley very dry and able to support only small amounts of vegetation. In fact, in 1929 and 1953, no rainfall at all was recorded in Death Valley.
When sunlight beats down on the valley floor, heat radiates from the soil and rocks. Normally, through convection, hot air rises moving away from a heating source getting dispersed by the air circulation in cooler regions of the atmosphere.
In Death Valley, due to the topography of the valley, rising hot air cools just enough before it can escape above the mountain walls that it gets recycled to the valley floor. This returning air gets compressed and becomes heated even more by the low elevation air pressure creating superheated air at ground level.
So you may ask why anyone would want to go to such a place other than to say they have been there? I am going to try to show you why I think Death Valley National Park is beautiful and not to be missed…well maybe I would miss it in the summer!
Death Valley National Park lies at the California/Nevada border and covers more than three million acres making it the largest national park within the lower 48 states. After the start of the California gold rush in 1848, miners came to Death Valley to seek fame and fortune. Although, both gold and silver were present, mining was difficult due to the extreme climate, the lack of technology and no water for processing ore so few, if any, fortunes were made.
The most profitable ore was not a precious metal, but rather, a mineral called borax which was used to make soap and, in the modern day, the borosilicate glass that makes cooking vessels like CorningWare able to withstand extreme temperature changes. The Harmony Borax mine which opened in 1883 made Death Valley famous because of the 20-mule teams that were used to transport the borax from the mine. Talc, used in products such as talcum powder, was mined successfully from mines in the Panamint Range area of the park.
In 1933, President Herbert Hoover created Death Valley National Monument. In 1976, The Mining in Parks Act closed the monument from the filing of mining claims, essentially ending major mining in the area. Death Valley became a National Park in 1994.
There is a great amount of beauty to be found in Death Valley National Park if you put preconceptions out of your mind!
This post will cover some areas of the park within about 1.5 hours of the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. While most national parks constrain visitors to prescribed trails, Death Valley allows and encourages exploration anywhere including off the developed trails. The best times to view scenes in the park are at dawn and sunset.
Death Valley is an artist’s canvas of colors and patterns. This late morning view from the trail in Golden Canyon shows the beautiful colors of the sandstone, and the patterns generated by erosion of the red cliff.
Zabriskie Point gives a birds-eye view of a sea of brown and gold eroded badland hills below. This is a prime sunrise or sunset spot for photography although the view is spectacular anytime of day.
The road through Twenty Mule Team Canyon provides an up-close and personal experience with the badlands. You can park along the road and climb to the top of a badlands hill for impressive views. The views of the patterns and colors at first light are spectacular. The views in the photos shown top and bottom right were taken from the trail on the ridge shown below left.
While Death Valley provides the visitor with many awe-inspiring grand vistas, perhaps the greatest beauty is found in the intimate landscapes. Intimate landscapes are the smaller parts of grand landscapes or small scenes that focus your attention on shapes, lines, colors, textures or patterns close to you that you might not ordinarily notice. I have attempted to capture some of these intimate landscapes with my camera.
Badwater Basin got its name from the fact that any standing water in the basin is not drinkable due to its excessive salinity. The salt flats of the Badwater Basin cover more than 200 square miles making them one of the most extensive in the world. The photo to the right is a view of the basin from Dante’s View.
Three conditions are needed for the formation of salt flats: (1) a source of salts in a large drainage area; (2) an enclosed basin with no drainage outlet; and (3) an arid climate in which evaporation far exceeds precipitation. The Badwater Basin salt flat is filled with beautiful hexagonal salt tiles.
When it rains, water runs off the mountains into the basin where it covers the valley floor forming a very shallow lake which dissolves salts through cracks in the mud below. Since there is nowhere for the water to drain carrying the salts away, they crystallize as the water evaporates. The photos below show the three dimensional tiles and a close up view of the salt crystals of the ridge.
These salt surfaces are very delicate. The crystals that form the ridges are easily crushed, and the inner salt surface of the tiles is very thin like a thin layer of ice. There is a boardwalk that goes out onto the salt flat at the Badwater Basin parking area. Since visitors can explore off the boardwalk area, you won’t find any expanses of beautiful tiles in this area due to excessive foot traffic. If you want to see beautiful tile patterns, go elsewhere and walk out into the basin being careful to cause as little damage as possible.
Playas are flat-bottom depressions found in the interior basins of Death Valley National Park. Badwater Basin is an example of a saline playa. When flat-bottomed basins are inundated with water, salts and sediments filter to the bottom of the temporary lake and are deposited there. In these playas, the water is removed by evaporation leaving mud which dries and cracks under a baking sun creating interesting patterns.
This shot shows the mud cracks of the non-saline Panamint Playa. This surface looks like a cobblestone street. When walking on this surface, it is very much like walking on a cobblestone street.
There are many places to find beautiful mud crack patterns. Every time there is a rain event that covers a playa, new mud patterns will emerge.
The photo to the right has smaller cracking patterns inside larger cracks. Below left, shows a series of small intricate cracking patterns. As drying continues, the cracks may begin to shrink and curl (below right) where the scene looks like fallen leaves.
These mud cracks have their best depth and definition when viewed at sunrise (the photos here) or sunset. Who knew that cracks in mud could be so fascinating!
Death Valley is a desert which brings visions of sand dunes everywhere to mind before you go there for the first time. In reality, less than 1% of the park is covered in sand dunes. In order for dunes to exist, three things must be present: (1) a source of sand; (2) prevailing winds to move the sand around; and (3) a place for the sand to collect.
There are only a few places in Death Valley National Park where all three of these conditions exist. The Mesquite Flat Dunes shown to the right are the most accessible. These dunes become magical during the golden hour.
Sand Dunes provide grand vistas and intimate patterns simultaneously. These dune photos were taken by hiking about a mile off the road and away from the Mesquite Dunes parking area where the dune patterns are disrupted by many footprints. The larger bottom-most photo shows examples of the intimate types of patterns you find on the dunes more clearly. These patterns are constantly being changed by the wind. Tomorrow, they will look different!
Deserts have great beauty if you know how to look for it. Hopefully, my photos have given you a taste of the beauty of Death Valley National Park.
So very fascinating!! I was there fifty+ years ago and it looked much the same. But with your narrative, I see it in a very different way. Thank you!!
You are welcome. I love this park and keep returning with new eyes every time I go there!