Death Valley is HOT

The drive to Death Valley was a simple 4.5 hour drive from Chad’s house. During the drive, every so often, we would notice the temperature rising. By the time we got to our campsite about 10 miles outside of the park the temperature had reached 100+ degrees at 9 P.M!! We slept in our underwear that night and were still hot. I (Eugene) had the worst night of sleep so far. I woke up no less than 15 times that night – to a night without wind, and a mattress wet with my own sweat. In addition, I hurt my shoulder during the restless sleep. When Aleksey got up I expected a similarly awful experience on his part, but on the contrary, he had a peaceful and restful night. (The tables will turn in Sequoia National Park – wait until the next post!)
We drove into the park through a desolate landscape until we reached the lowest point in the United States: The Badwater in Death Valley – a location situated at 282 feet BELOW sea level. This is a location where salt water pools, dries, and creates salt flats: large expanses of salt.
Death Valley is a HOT HOT place. The temperature topped 110+ degrees F – a very interesting temperature. When driving in the car, the faster we accelerated the WORSE it got! The wind is HOT! The engine began to overheat a bit so we turned the car’s heat on full blast and compared it to the wind outside of the car: almost no noticeable difference (the car’s heater was slightly hotter).
We continued to another salt flat where the salt was not flat! It formed in interesting mounds. The visit to Death Valley was finished with a short hike up a hill where Aleksey and I had the chance to view rock and sand structures shaped by the wind.
Off to Sequoia National Park – a 7.5 hour drive to travel 130 miles!!!