Happy Thanksgiving desert style!
Tim, Keri, Jimmie and I decided that we needed a warm dry Thanksgiving. Last year was spent on the frigid White Rim Trail in the snow. This year we decided to compensate. We planned for Red Rocks outside of Las Vegas, but the forecast of rain and 50 degree temperatures drove us further south. We decided our best bet was the driest, hottest place in the Western Hemisphere. Death Valley, California.
Average temperature in July is 115 degrees. Highest recorded temperature was 136, which has only been beaten once in Libya. Best of all, average annual rainfall is 1.9 inches, exactly what we were looking for a desert getaway.
Typical of our rainy luck we entered the valley at 1 am….in the rain. The valley seemed to hit it’s yearly average in the hour we arrived. But we pulled into the campground and setup camp, oblivious to the sprinkles.
We woke up to a warm, sunny 70 degree Thanksgiving. Perfect. Our first stop was the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. Here Jimmie coined the signature term of the trip, “presumptive analysis.” While telling us about an overheard conversation between a ranger and an irate tourist, the veracity of the facts were called into question. Jimmie’s response was classic, “Well I may not have heard that, but it was my presumptive analysis,” which translated can mean: guess, fib, exaggeration, or flat out made up lie. The term has stuck.
After touring the visitor center, we hiked the sand dunes. Contrary to popular legend, Death Valley has very few sand dunes, but what’s here are impressive. We climbed to the highest dune which we found out was an uncommon accomplishment. Typically the sand is so dry that it is nearly impossible to ascend, but due to the rain the night before it was firm enough to climb. We had to appreciate the rain showers after all.
We then drove south to Badwater in the Park. Badwater is a salty lake bed which is undrinkable. That didn’t stop Tim from snacking on a dare.
We decided to find a secluded camp spot for our second night in Death Valley. We crossed the valley and drove towards the Black Mountains. Up on a rocky alluvial fan, we had beautiful sunset views over the valley. Here we put together a Thanksgiving meal of roasted turkey (thanks to Jimmie’s efforts on Tuesday), mashed potatoes, green beans and almonds, brown sugared roasted yams, cranberry sauce and gravy. We followed it up with pecan pie. It was exactly the sun soaked Thanksgiving we were looking for!
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