Big Screen View

nice

Is this the Ubehebe crater +Jeff Sullivan

Superbe

Me gustan esas montanas

WOW…

Is this from inside Ubehebe??

I zoomed in to 100mm +Raquel Pagaling to make the background seem closer to Lori.

oh~!!

+Jeff Sullivan ….I am sorry, this landcape scare me.

nice!

The days are perfectly comfortable for hiking +Travis Cano, with temperatures in the 50s to mid 60s, but the nights can be cold, 30s or even 20s or less, especially at any altitude.  I camp in Yosemite Valley every Winter, but last week in Death Valley, even 1000 feet higher than Furnace Creek was bitterly cold, so we retreated down to sea level.  There was snow right down to the 5000 foot pass leading to The Racetrack (itself way up at 4500 feet).  

It looks like it could be a decent wildflower season this year, but that may only be true in places which received just the right amount and timing for rain.  The park is massive, nearly 3.4 million acres, and rain in Death Valley averages 1.9 inches, while the many surrounding mountain ranges receive greater amounts depending upon how the individual storms interacted with them.  I've already seen wildflowers in some places and plants starting to pop up in others, but you'll have to hunt around to find them, and both high clearance and 4WD may be necessary to reach the best rainfall locations tucked up in the mountains.  Those locations will also bloom later, due to their altitude.

One particular storm last August washed out many of the park's dirt roads (2/3 of the road miles in the park), so check carefully for road closures, and call as well… don't trust the daily condition reports (for example the road from Scotty's Castle to Eureka Valley remains closed, but the printed and online park reports don't always reflect that).  Even the Visitor Center staff had trouble giving a straight answer on the road's status… we weren't sure it was still closed until we drove right up to it a few days ago.

Photographically, nearly all of the park's nearly 1 million visitors go to the highlights at Zabriske Point (sunrise), Mesquite Flat Dunes (sunrise and sunset), the salt flats at Badwater and Devil's Golf Course (sunrise or sunset), perhaps hike up Golden Canyon drive by Artist's Palette and see the Harmony Borax Works (all best in the afternoon).  The modest ghost town ruins of Rhyolite out towards Beatty makes a nice diversion, and Titus Canyon can be a worthwhile (one-way) return drive.  I don't find Scotty's Castle all that interesting, but to each his own, the tours are only $11.  If you're in that area, nearby Ubehebe Crater is interesting.  Getting to The Racetrack is recommended for high clearance 4WD vehicles only, and even then the park recommends that visitors carry two spare tires.  I didn't go there on my recent park visits; it'll be much more comfortable up there a few months from now.

I can't wait to visit the area and looking forward to seeing things. Thanks for some suggestions considering it is such a huge park!

So amazin`