I wanted to do the drive quickly in one day, and it was a success! I found a camping spot that was about 10 minutes from the fee area of Death Valley, which was located at an old abandoned RV park. It had concrete slabs laid out across the desert rocks, making level parking a piece of cake. There were plenty of other campers around too which made me feel a lot safer. The one drawback some could have with this spot is that there was zero cell service, but honestly there wasn’t much in the park itself either. These are the days that I try to embrace “off the grid” life as much as possible. I am becoming more conscious of how much security I feel having a phone with service. Sometimes my own anxiety starts to creep in when I notice I have no way of communicating with others. During this time, I tried as best as I could to sit in the discomfort and acknowledge that my phone can be hindering some of my experiences to an extent.
Unfortunately, majority of the trails to hike in Death Valley NP are not dog friendly, so Dobby was left cuddled up in bed while I explored. On the first day of hiking, I explored Mosaic Canyon Trail, which was breathtaking. The best part of this hike was the smoothness of the rocks surrounding me. I would run my hands across the walls throughout it. It was also a pretty fun hike with some scrambling up rock formations. The next day I spent hiking Golden Canyon Trail and Badlands Loop to Zabriskie Point. This was a much longer hike (about 7.6 miles compared to 4.3 miles) but very worth it! Throughout the trails I felt like I was walking on another planet in another universe, until I saw a fellow human pass by. I came to find out the trails I was exploring were used in Star Wars episodes 4 and 6, so yeah, definitely otherworldly. After the long hike I checked out the Badwater Basin, which is 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in the North America. After seeing it during daylight, I returned that night for some stargazing. As I was walking on the salt layered floor, I was staring at the sky trying my best to not let my fear override, but damn was it spooky. It felt surreal being in such a low and open land in the dark of night. It was the first time on this trip where I was looking at the sky and had a feeling I may be being watched by some other beings or forces. Unfortunately the clouds started to roll in, so it was a fast but exhilarating experience. I did in fact run back to the car.
I woke up the next morning ready to continue moving. I got the trailer ready and hooked up, then it was time to conclude our time in California.
This California boy is saying farewell to the coast and continuing east, next stop... Nevada maybe?
*As a side note, with blogging I am constantly learning. This platform aims to make posting pictures and videos as difficult as possible. I decided that from now on I will be uploading my pictures to Dropbox where you can view them with the link I will have attached to my posts. You do not need a Dropbox account to view them! This will also allow me to upload more photos! It was becoming difficult for me to narrow down the photos I wanted to share. I hope you enjoy my Death Valley folder of photos!*
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