material was covered again and the ranger was less engaging. We did learn
that George Lucas had shot some of the Star Wars films in the valley. After
the Redwoods and Alcatraz links we were not surprised by this, just proves
how little Americans travel. In fact, according to what statistics you use, the
percentage of Americans who do have passports is between just 7% and
25%.
Although we only had one day to spend in Death Valley we certainly packed a
lot in, starting before sunrise and only finishing when it was pitch-black and
carrying on hiking would have been pointless - and possibly fatal.
It was zero degrees when we crawled out of bed at six-something a.m.,
and we quickly dressed in our entire wardrobes (also known as our Michelin
Man outfits) before heading up to Zabriskie Point to watch the sunrise. Luckily
the sky was clear and we did see the sun come up or as I recorded it at the
time ‘nature silently painted the sky’. Yes, the colours were lovely and it was
exciting waiting for the light to spill over the mountains, but it was also a bit
slow and left us asking 'yes, and?' Very few people joined us on our early
morning vigil, the only other couple that stayed as long as us were
English...what do they say about mad dogs and Englishmen? We also saw
the obligatory Japanese group, with 50 cameras between 4 people, and some
runners – clearly the maddest people there.
After this we spent the rest of the day doing various drives and short
hikes around the valley. Including the alien landscape of Badwater Basin - a
massive salt flat, which at 282 feet below sea level is the lowest point in the
continental United States. A sign marking sea level, half way up the nearest