Southwest Vacation Feb23- Death Valley NP
Visitors Center, Badwater Basin
After Zabriskie Point we continued north on Hwy 190 about five miles to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. The airport is in Furnace Creek also, and I wanted to show Lynnette the place where I landed my plane back in July 2019. Link. The temperature was 118 degrees then. You pilots, don't land your plane in Death Valley in July!
Notice the field elevation on the sign: minus 211 feet.
Looking out over the empty ramp. The runway lies beyond, running left to right (or right to left, depending on your sign).
From the airport to the Visitors Center is about a mile. On the way we saw this guy. I think it's a coyote.
Close-up. Do you think it's a coyote? I think it's a coyote.
The Visitors Center is a mile from the airfield, which can be a long way if you are doing it in July and it is 118 degrees. I knew this guy who did it once....
The temperature in February is quite a bit different from that of July. Do yourself a favor, visit Death Valley in the winter!
Bighorn sheep like we saw at Valley of Fire state park.
People are heading west on a salt floor trail.
But it's a dry heat .... I experienced Death Valley at 118 degrees, and it didn't really matter if it were dry, wet or anywhere in between, it was hot! If you didn't have water and shelter, you wouldn't last long.
Off the salt floor trail, the surrounding areas looked like churned up dried mud. It was as hard as cement.
Looking back as we get farther out.
The salt flats were also as hard as cement. But not as jagged.
Too rough for a forced landing in a plane, at least a small plane.
