More Death Valley - May 8, 2008

After visiting Furnace Creek Inn and Badwater, we had lunch back at Furnace Creek Ranch. To avoid the heat, we stayed in our room during the afternoon and I modified my web photo publishing script to show the elevation. This is interesting in Death Valley when you're 282 feet below sea level. And it's useful for runs to know the elevation. So that's working now.

Then we went for a walk in Golden Canyon. It's very beautiful. The walk was just over 3 miles and took 1hr 15min. The guide book and signs underestimate the distance. We were rather suprised by this. Even although it was late in the afternoon and the sun was heading down into the Panamint Moutains in the west, it was still baking hot. The thermometer on our return to the Ranch showed 100F - and I'm sure it was hotter in the canyon.

When we got back to Furnace Creek Ranch, I took a few photos of the place before spending an enjoyable hour talking to our neighbor Garry LeCain - a hydrologist with USGS. He was attending a USGS conference this week in Death Valley concerning the Devil's Hole National Research Program.

Death Valley is really spectacular - and incredibly hot. We might return here to take part in the Badwater race as crew of course, not running!

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