The Land of Extremes

Death Valley is the land of extremes- it’s the hottest, driest and lowest. It has the highest recorded ground temperature of 201! In 1913 the air temperature was 134 and birds were flying and falling out of the sky dead! It’s the driest spot as it receives less than 2 inches of rain a year. And it’s the lowest spot in North America with Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level.


I loved the sand dunes. They just looked perfect. We enjoyed sliding down the dunes, but we should’ve brought water with us instead of leaving it in the van. It was hot out there and we were gone longer than we’d planned.


Jacob surfing down the sand dunes.


Next stop was the lowest place in North America- Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level. A sea used to be here and now all that’s left is salt. A few of us tasted it and it was really salty. Other people had dug holes into the salt and there were little pockets of water.

There's a little white sign half way up the mountain that shows sea level.

As we headed out of the park we drove through Artist’s Drive to see Artist Palette. The rocks are all different colors- it was quite interesting.