We crossed the California border, immediately sensing the organicness and anarchy, and down into Death Valley. Our first destination was Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the USA (later we saw Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the Lower 48, only 80 miles on). Temperatures peaked as we walked through the dunes at Mesquite Flats, and we marveled at the price being asked for a gallon of petrol here - by Chevron, no less.
We left the park on the opposite side, driving up the foothills of the eastern Sierra Nevadas and down into a strange half-desert-half-green valley on the other side. The mountains, including Mt. Whitney, form a wall that shoots up to 14,500ft, and we arrived just in time to see the sun disappear behind it and the gargantuan shadows sweep across the plains below.
We stopped in Bishop, which is funny but very nice little place, a gateway to the national parks and forests to its left, therefore full of travelers and the independent shops and cafes that congregate around such people. And the motel had TLC, and tonight it was Toddlers and Tiaras...
Creatures of the desert can grow to incredible sizes to cope with the lack of water.
And relax.
I laugh extremely in the face of extreme danger!
Hannah and the rock formations at Zabriskie Point.
Deep down.
Hannah is currently the lowest person in the USA. If she wanted to get lower, she'd have to become a politician.
Chevron, Death Valley. How much?
New temperature record.
Out into the dunes.
Replenishing nutrients lost to the dry wind at Astorga's Mexican in Bishop.
