Today was mostly taken up with travelling from Yosemite National Park to Stovepipe Wells Village in Death Valley National Park. A journey which took us from an elevation of 10,000 feet and zero degrees to zero feet and 30 degrees.
Before we left Yosemite we had one more landmark that we wanted to visit before leaving – Tunnel View. This is an elevated viewpoint looking across towards El Capitan on the left, Bridal veil falls on the right and Half Dome in the distance. Unfortunately for us the sun was in the wrong position for the best shot but it did look pretty atmospheric.
We left Yosemite via the Tioga Pass and it was amazing how quickly the landscape changed. We passed through the Inyo National Forest which was green and hemmed in with snow capped peaks to the side. Then via Mammoth Lakes where the ground started to flatten out and become more sandy.
Finally, over another set of hills and into Death Valley the hottest place on Earth, although fortunately today the temperature isn’t anywhere near the 56.7 degrees recorded to gain that record.
The place that we are staying really is in the middle of nowhere. This means that it is incredibly dark as there is no light pollution. Because of this I was looking forward to some star gazing but, as luck would have it, tonight is also a full moon so that might put a dampener on proceedings.
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