Death Valley National Park – Badwater Basin - July 19, 2013 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Death Valley National Park – Badwater Basin |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | California |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | July 19, 2013 |
| Duration: | 1 day |
| Trail Conditions: | Good |
| Trail Traffic: | Heavy |
| Trip Weather: | Sunny |
| Trip Winds: | None |
| Trip Precipitation: | None |
| Trip Temperature: | High: Over 100, Low: Over 100 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | Met up with Metro at the Port Columbus Airport around 5:45 am to catch our 6:55 am flight. Luckily, the flight was uneventful, and we hooked up with BC at Las Vegas McCarran around 10:30 am. Secured the rental car and made a quick stop at a local quickie mart to pick up a couple snacks and beverages before swinging back by LAS to pick up The Colonel. The Colonel’s flight was right on-time, and we were soon off to REI to secure some supplies for our week-long hiatus in the Eastern Sierras. After stocking up at REI, we headed west. The plan was to stop at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the lower 48 states, before continuing on to the Eastern Sierras to tackle a few days of backpacking, culminating with a summit bid of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48. We ended up missing a turn somewhere along the way due to poor cell-phone GPS coverage, but didn’t end up regretting the mistake since our reroute ended up taking us past the “The Famous CROWBAR Café Saloon,” a little hole-in-the-wall bar and restaurant sitting in the middle of nowhere. We stopped in for some quick suds, including a couple Death Valley Pale Ales, and then motored on to Death Valley National Park. The drive was long, and to locals, I’m sure monotonous, but it was new to us, so it was more than tolerable. Arrived at Badwater Basin in the middle of the day in the middle of July, and stepped out of the air-conditioned car to a sultry 115-degree swathe of dry heat. Took an easy stroll out across the salt flats to a point beyond where most folks were turning around, and then enlisted the amateur photographic skills of some visiting German tourists to snap a couple unobstructed photos of our best O-H-I-O. All in all, this was a pretty neat experience, but we knew the daylight hours would be waning soon, so we took our last glances, and bathroom breaks, and returned to the car and continued westward to our next destination, the Diaz Lake Campground in Lone Pine, California. |
There are no comments yet.