I have been interested in visiting Death Valley for quite some time. The appeal to most, I imagine, is just how stark and desolate it is. In a place like this the earth is raw and at some of its most inhospitable, and there are fantastic extremes. The photo above is taken at -282 feet while the peak in the background is at 11,049 feet.
The hazy area on the horizon is from blowing sand suspended in the air.
The highest campground in the park is around 8,000 feet, and I had a pretty good feeling it would be cold up there in late October. So I loaded up with three blankets, two sleeping bags and cold weather jackets (since I was car camping). I ended up using all of it slept like a baby under a clear sky. Around midnight a fierce wind picked up, which was a little problematic because I prefer to sleep with either no tent or just the bug fly- this way I can fall asleep watching the stars. The downside is when the winds come, you feel them. I decided to get up at 4am to ensure I would enjoy a sunrise and get some photos (I knew it would take a while to get down the rough road). It is always really horrible crawling out of a toasty sleeping bag and into freezing temperatures (it had started snowing a little bit). By the time I got down to Badwater (where the above photos are taken) it was shorts and t-shirt weather again, even before the sun came up.
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