Day 17: Bishop to Death Valley

As I write this, we are seated at a picnic table next to our tent, on a campsite in Death Valley called Emigrant. If it wasn’t for the lights on a parked RV some 100 metres away, and the moon and some stars, it would be pitch black. We chose this site as it has flushing toilets (as opposed to “pit” toilets), at an elevation of some 2000 feet above sea level is slighter cooler, and perhaps most important of all: it’s free. The main drawback is that the ground of the site is essentially gravel. Needless to say, there would’ve been more chance of getting the tent pegs in in a Sainsbury’s car park. A comfortable night’s sleep awaits…

Death Valley is hot. It’s even hotter than my office. Temperatures have probably been in the 100’s Fahrenheit (40’s Celsius) today, and on average this place is the hottest on Earth. All the birds seem to wander round with their beaks open.

When we arrived at the campsite this morning, I went to use the restroom (toilet), and after turning to the sink was startled by what appeared to be an owl staring at me, opening and shutting it’s beak aggressively.  I made my excuses and left.

Most of the touristy sites around Death Valley consist of rocks, and there are a lot here. The Natural Bridge rock shaped like a bridge, the Artists Pallette has some rocks that are different colours, and in fact everywhere you look there’s rocks. Of course, I’m just being flippant, but that’s only because I can’t really do some of the incredible views justice. The landscapes and scenery here are among some of the most amazing I’ve ever seen, and the transition from daylight to shadowy dusk opens up a whole load more breathtaking scenes.

However, despite the great experience today has been, Vic and I both share the same view that we are over camping, and are very much looking forward to our Vegas hotel tomorrow…