flowers in the Valley

We got up pretty early that Saturday morning and left the Luxor for the Rio to hit the breakfast buffet. From there, we took off for Death Valley. Myself and 8 of my college buddies made a trip to Las Vegas on March 17-21 to celebrate two of them who won’t be bachelors much longer. I didn’t go to any nudie bars and I didn’t see any shows; topless or otherwise. I did lose about $60 on slots and split my bets (lost 2, won 2) on the second day of the Final Four Tournament. But had Kevin, Wolfe, and I not gone to Death Valley, I think I would have been disappointed in my first trip west of the Mississippi.

The drive from Vegas to Death Valley was quite long and it was further extended because of flash floods last August that washed out a good portion of California Highway 190. The detour brought us to the town of Beatty, NV and the Beatty Visitors Center. Beatty isn’t the smallest town I’ve ever been in, but it seemed almost as much of a ghost town as Rhyolite, our first stop in Death Valley National Park. It was an interesting little historical side trek on our daytrip in the park, but not the reason we had driven over 2 ½ hours.

Rhyolite ghost town

I consider myself an outdoorsy-type. I don’t hunt or fish, but I like to hike and camp. I’ve never gone backpacking, but I really want to and before I die, I’d like to bike the GAP Trail from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. However, nothing I’ve ever seen could have prepared me for the beauty of Death Valley.

When we stopped at Hell’s Gate, the view of the valley below reminded me of something from a Hollywood movie. It almost looked fake; like a backdrop. The day had been pretty much overcast with a mist of rain and temperatures at Rhyolite were in the lower 40’s. Down in the valley, however, it looked as though the sun was trying to poke its rays through the blanket of clouds. The basin had water in it and along with the salt deposits, it looked as if there was snow on the valley floor.

The View into Death Valley from Hell's Gate

And then there were the wildflowers. We had heard reports in the news back home in Pittsburgh that wildflower growth not seen in over 50 years had sprung up in Death Valley. To see it in person, it looked as though there were seas of yellow and green in an area not known to support so much life. We took a couple of other side treks... we stopped at the Harmony Borax Works, had a beer and chicken fingers at the saloon at Furnace Creek, we hiked Golden Canyon, and we stopped at Badwater, the lowest point in North America. If we had more time, we all would have like to have seen more of the park, but given that the park is over 5,200 square miles and we only had about 8 hours, we got to see quite a lot.

A sea of flowers

The aroma of the flowers was like walking into a floral shop

Vegas is an interesting town and I’m glad I went, but I actually wish I had spent three days in Death Valley and only one day in Vegas instead of the reverse. I had a great time seeing all of those guys, but the best of it was the 12 hours or so that Kevin, Wolfe and I spent in the rented red Camry seeing a beautiful part of America.