Death Valley National Park, Pacific Crest

Death Valley is one of the most extreme places on Earth, infamous for its blistering heat.  It holds the record for the hottest air temperature ever recorded – 134 F (56.7C) in 1913 – and summer days often top 120F (49C).  It gets so hot that people joke about frying eggs on the pavement, and Badwater ultramarathon runners have seen the soles of their shoes melt on the scorching tarmac.

The valley earned it ominous name during the California Gold Rush when a group of pioneers, later called the “Lost “49ers”, became stranded in its unforgiving landscape.  Though only one recorded death occurred, their suffering was so intense that, upon escape, one is said to have declared, “Goodbye, Death Valley”.  The name stuck.

Yet, life finds a way.  Creosote bushes, mesquite trees, and cacti thrive, wild desert tortoises, sidewinder rattlesnakes, and kangaroo rats survive with almost no water.  After rare heavy rains a “superbloom” carpets the valley in wildflowers.