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  • Day 21

    Day 21 - Death Valley

    October 1, 2021 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    The sunrise over the mountains was beautiful. Steam from the scattered hot springs rose gently into the crisp air. We packed up camp in our usual efficient manner and headed off towards Death Valley, still several hours away. Seems we should call this the Day of Irony, as we are leaving our coldest location to go to the hottest place in the world.

    On that note, Death Valley holds several records: hottest temperature on earth recorded here in 2021 and the deepest point on the North American continent. For us, it's a personal record - Death Valley is the 16th and final official park/recreation area we visited on our 22 day trip. The most any of us have done in a concentrated amount of time.

    Death Valley possesses an otherworldly beauty, but surprised us with the variety of colours and features there were to explore. The park boasts a waterfall, brightly coloured hills and huge stones that mysteriously 'move' ever so slowly across the desert floor, leaving obvious tracks. While we didn't have time to explore all these we did stop by 'Badwater Basin' - the lowest point in the park and North America (and 8th lowest in the world!). The salt left by evaporating water creates a crystallised crust across the dry lake bed. Becky found the deepest indent in sight so she could say she stood at the bottom of America. Cilla scuttled across the searing saltpan to snap stunning shots of the scintillating scene (couldn't resist 😉). We stopped at Artist's Palette and Natural Bridge and drove many miles of beautifully windy road (unless you're a motion-sick prone Nomes, then beautiful and windy don't belong together :)).

    We were staying at Panamint Springs Resort: an old collection of camp sites, scattered motel rooms, a general store and restaurant. Nestled in the valley, this peaceful and quite location was a perfect spot to spend our last night. Cilla cooked up a scrumptious meal with a random assortment of leftovers (kinda wishing there was a recipe!). We finished off the night and celebrated the repacking of our cases with an equally random pancake recipe, cooked under the stars (also delicious).

    Hard to believe it's our last adventuring day, we've packed so much into every day, going home to routine is going to be a big change.

    - NomesThe sunrise over the mountains was beautiful. Steam from the scattered hot springs rose gently into the crisp air. We packed up camp in our usual efficient manner and headed off towards Death Valley, still several hours away. Seems we should call this the Day of Irony, as we are leaving our coldest location to go to the hottest place in the world.

    On that note, Death Valley holds several records: hottest temperature on earth recorded here in 2021 and the deepest point on the North American continent. For us, it's a personal record - Death Valley is the 16th and final official park/recreation area we visited on our 22 day trip. The most any of us have done in a concentrated amount of time.

    Death Valley possesses an otherworldly beauty, but surprised us with the variety of colours and features there were to explore. The park boasts a waterfall, brightly coloured hills and huge stones that mysteriously 'move' ever so slowly across the desert floor, leaving obvious tracks. While we didn't have time to explore all these we did stop by 'Badwater Basin' - the lowest point in the park and North America (and 8th lowest in the world!). The salt left by evaporating water creates a crystallised crust across the dry lake bed. Becky found the deepest indent in sight so she could say she stood at the bottom of America. Cilla scuttled across the searing saltpan to snap stunning shots of the scintillating scene (couldn't resist 😉). We stopped at Artist's Palette and Natural Bridge and drove many miles of beautifully windy road (unless you're a motion-sick prone Nomes, then beautiful and windy don't belong together :)).

    We were staying at Panamint Springs Resort: an old collection of camp sites, scattered motel rooms, a general store and restaurant. Nestled in the valley, this peaceful and quite location was a perfect spot to spend our last night. Cilla cooked up a scrumptious meal with a random assortment of leftovers (kinda wishing there was a recipe!). We finished off the night and celebrated the repacking of our cases with an equally random pancake recipe, cooked under the stars (also delicious).

    Hard to believe it's our last adventuring day, we've packed so much into every day, going home to routine is going to be a big change.

    - Nomes
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