Death Valley National Park, February 13-14, 2010

Washington's birthday, baby! Noam and I left early on Friday (shh!) and drove south to lovely Delano, outside lovely Bakersfield. Saturday morning we drove around the bottom of the Sierra and into Death Valley. We could tell it had rained from the standing water left in some low places. The clay soil does not absorb the rain very quickly. The Panamint Valley, where we stopped for lunch:

We hiked into Mosaic Canyon near Stovepipe Wells. Noam lounging in the canyon:

Slick, polished walls:

More Mosaic Canyon:

Golden Canyon, near Furnace Creek:

The spot where I napped while Noam hiked a little longer:

Zabriskie Point, lovely but tour bus hell at sunset:

I love the desert. Not as much as dessert, but still.

Sunday morning we hiked to Darwin falls, near where we camped at Panamint Springs, then headed out of the park toward Sequoia and Kings Canyon National parks. Darwin Falls: