More on Death Valley

Rowan has done an ace job, but of course there’s more. Rowan had seen a video about Death Valley at school and so knew far more about it than we did, and was desperately keen to see all the places she knew about.

The night before we ‘did’ Death Valley, we actually stayed there. Lodging is few and far between in the park, and we were exceptionally lucky to get the last room … not only that, it had 3 beds, meaning the kids actually had some space! Hot does not even begin to describe it, even at night. Stink bugs and roadrunners were the most wild of wildlife we saw, which was pretty lucky as there are rattlesnakes and scorpions galore.

Rowan made a complete hit with the waiter/office guy, who thought she was ‘way cool’ in MY hat – yup, she’s started nicking all my clothes, aged 8. I thought I’d have a few more years yet. The hat in question is my venice beach (LA) funky one, and yes, it looks better on her. We were, apparently, “totally awesome” guests. Mainly because we didn’t complain at all about the hours wait as the poor guy tried to serve some sixty people, register others and man the office.

Death valley driving is not something you do lightly. You need gallons and gallons of water per person, and your car needs to be in top notch condition before you even attempt it. Overheating is a real issue, at 115 degrees, so you are supposed to ration your air con (but overheating then becomes an issue for the car occupants, too!) It is not hard to see how people get dehydrated then disorientated out here and simply … die. In the late 1890s, some would be gold rushers went slightly off course on their way to the west. They ended up stumbling into this hell hole, and some of them stayed on the valley floor for a month. One died, and hence the name. I cannot think how they survived a month. One of the first settlers described the place as having “bad water, or none at all” when his pony refused to drink at the only place they could find fluid, and hence badwater got its name.

Another recent story we read about at the visitors centre struck a chord with us. This June, a man brought his three kids, aged 15, 10 and 8 for a weekend at Death Valley, telling his wife he’d be back on Sunday night. He wanted to show them the rocks that move 20 to 30 foot – very odd, apparently. No one catches them doing it! This is in the far northwest of the national park, and a bit off the beaten track. Well, their car broke down. They stayed with it for a few hours, keeping inside with the shade and hoping for a passer by, but no one. As night fell, father and eldest son discussed their options. It was 20 miles to the nearest ranger station, they were off paved roads, had plenty of water, but if they waited for help it may never come. They decided to try the 20 miles. Now, the youngest child was autistic, and needed a lot of support. They waited until midnight when the temperature dipped below 100 degrees and started walking. Rationing their water carefully, they managed about 10 miles by dawn. Their little flash light attracted flies and therefore a large swarm of bats, and they were followed by hyenas all night. As dawn broke, the temperature soared and they slowed right down. By 10am it was too hot to walk at all, and the 10 year old was getting sick, and they still had 5 miles to go. They lay in a ditch at the side of the dirt track, trying to get some shade. They discussed their options again. They decided the only way was for the fittest, the 15 year old son, to try and make the last 5 miles and raise the alarm. He would take what little remaining water they had. As he set off, a truck appeared in the distance.

Had they stayed with their car, the rangers reckoned no one would have found them for 6 days, as they only patrol the remote areas once a week (its a big area).

It may not be a big challenge to do Death Valley by driving through and only getting out of the aircon for brief well-watered walks, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be more daring. Not with three kids. This really is a hostile environment for man, and very alien: infact, its where NASA train their astronauts for moon type conditions. It being September, its nowhere near as hot as in June and July, so we didn’t try the fry an egg on a rock thing … lack of eggs was the other reason!