We survived Death Valley
In 2014, we stayed at the The Furnace Creek Hotel over the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. The hotel, after a $100 million dollar renovation, is now called Oasis at Death Valley and it looks like the prices have doubled with the upgrades. Honestly, the room felt more like Motel 6 and I think it was probably overdue. The NPS changed the name intentionally to include the National Park’s name. This is very unlike Yosemite, where the prior concessionaire, Delaware North (DNC), trademarked the famous property names (in other words, stolen) the names from the National Park Service and famous spots like the Ahwahnee and Curry Village have new names.
Looking down into Death Valley from Dante’s View
It turns out, January is a great time to visit Death Valley. We wore light jackets and enjoyed several hikes and drives during the weekend. We were driving our Prius, however, which kept us off some of the longer roads we wanted to explore. Next time we’ll go, we’ll take our new four wheel drive truck and see more of the backroads.
Furnace Creek Ranch Diner
We really liked this little old fashioned diner. It felt like walking into the early ’70s. It’ll be fun to go back and check out the improvements.
Hiking in Golden Canyon
John’s Hoodoo
Playing at the Devil’s Golf Course
Our Hike Up to the Natural Bridge
The lowest spot in the United States.
There’s a little sign up about half way up that says Sea Level
Mosaic Canyon at the end of a long day of hiking
The marble walls of a very narrow stretch of Mosaic Canyon
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