Death Valley is at the South end of the Sierra Nevada, near the border between California and Nevada.

As we follow and endless road in the desert that seems to go nowhere, the temperature keeps rising as we go deeper in the valley. From 22 °C when we woke up, it has already passed the 30°C, and it’s only 10 am.

The landscape starts to look unreal, sign of life become sparser, rocks and hills get unusual form and colors : we could be on another planet (like Tatooin, as it’s where the Tatooine scenes from the first Star Wars were shot).

We pass some sand dunes :

And then arrive to the village (yes, they built a village in such an hostile place), Furnace Creek.

It’s now 11:30 am, we are 58m under sea level and the temperature is 42°C. The record at this place is 134°F (56.7 °C), and it’s a world record. This valley can reach such temperature because it’s a dry place, without vegetation, surrounded by mountains, and really low.

The next step is Devil’s Golf Course, where there used to be a lake, there are now huge salt crystal formations.

After a small prayer to our car air conditioning, we drive to the lowest (-85m) and hotest (47°C !) part of the valley. As it’s the lowest place, it’s where the water flows during the (very) rare thunderstorms. It then quickly evaporates, leaving only the salt behind.

To get the real feeling behind this picture, please try to imagine standing in the middle of nowhere with a 47°C burning wind slamming your face and whole body.

Hopefully the beauty of the landscape prevent you from wondering why you are here when you could be relaxing in a swimming pool.
One of the most beautifull features of the area is Artist’s Palette, a place where different kind of rocks are mixed, making the mountain looks like a paint palette.

And the landscape on the other side of the valley is also amazing :

I have tons of other pictures, I will post them in my gallerie.