Death Valley in the Dead of August

Some people may say you are crazy to visit Death Valley in the dead of August…..but after experiencing it…. they may feel differently.

My family just returned from an unbelievable trip to the heart of nature’s oven, Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level, and the stunning views, a vertical mile up, atop Dante’s Peak in California’s spectacular natural oasis Death Valley National Park! This amazing place, where the temperature reached over 119 degrees, and where a lack of water could go way beyond…. being a little thirsty…..was incredible.

The absolutely beautiful rock formations, stunning desert views and fragile salt flats were extraordinarily enhanced by taking them in at the height of the extreme temperatures this desert area is famous for. The intense heat your body encountered as you left the safety of your air conditioned car, the equivalence of standing in a sauna with the heat of a blow dryer gusting across your entire body, was surreal. The thrill of witnessing nature at one of its most authoritative moments will stay with my family forever.

In addition to the astonishing beauty the park offered, it also housed the charming Furnace Creek Ranch, a wonderful refuge for a delicious meal, souvenirs and the all important water and gas one needs, to survive this incredulous journey.

As I get older, it is becoming far more important to me to live larger and experience life to the fullest. I think Henry David Thoreau said it best “I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Death Valley National Park in the dead of August….happy and more meaningful trails from Irv’s Luggage!