Sneak in to beat the Heat!

Finally posted the pictures from the Death Valley trip, took a whirlwind 1 day tour, leaving Pahrump, Nevada and entering Death Valley National Park from Shoshone, Ca. It was past the peak season for the bloom, so a lot of the plants were already bare...although the temperature was in the high 60's at my starting elevation of 3000 feet, by the time I reached Furnace Creek, which is a little below Sea level, it was easily 80 degrees! Lots of tourists at the three campgrounds, mostly in Land Yachts and rental RV's, lots of sunburns already! I can see why they called it Death Valley... in the majority of the year it would be over 100 degrees daily, and the water you could find was so full of alkali minerals you could not drink it...and when it rained, it would be even worse, since the mountains had nothing so soak up the water, anyone in the valley floor could be washed away from the flash flooding. The rocky looking land would be deceiving, because it forms a thin crust over very fine sandy soil, it would mire wagon wheels easily. At one point you are at Sea level, and can clearly see snow on Telescope Peak, 11,075 feet above sea level. It would take days of frustration to find a path through the mountains, into this valley, and up and out again. There was a place called Mormon point, and after a rain it would have looked like a huge lake, maybe a mile across and ten miles long, but the water would have been only inches deep...and a few days after that, just a white film covering the entire lakebed. In the sun the white had a reflective quality about it, almost like fog shining up from the ground. I see why the trails to California were either North or South of here...it even seemed devoid of animal life, but in the desert most of the life would be about after dark in this place... I'll have to go back with a better camera, more time, and an air-conditioned room at furnace Creek Inn to really do this right!