United States 2005

Highway 190 joining Death Valley... follow its power lines...

But what is this mailbox for in this desert !!??

Arrival at Death Valley. A storm broke out here two days before... Some roads and sites were impossible to access. So we couldn't see everything...

Traces of the storm...

Extraterrestrial yellow colors...

Road to Badwater

We are here at Badwater at the lowest point in all of North America: 86 meters below sea level.

Badwater is a salt lake... The very low altitude, the basin formed by the valley and the mountain ranges surrounding it leads to high heat and high evaporation.

There I am on the salt that spreads everywhere, on the right, close-up on the ground.

My salty shadow

Badwater

In the evening, return to the campsite. Since Lake Powell, we had bought a grill... that we forgot at Bryce Canyon... So here we go again for resourcefulness!!! The positive point is that while going to look for a grill at Furnace Creek (which didn't have any), I crossed some coyotes on the road... Besides, we will hear them howling all night... Gulp...

The next day, still in Death Valley, direction Sand Dunes, mini Sahara.

Walk little grasshopper, the road is still long...

Top left: there I am playing it "meditation"
Top right: find me! there too I am playing it serious!!!

Bottom left: Jean-Jacques decided to outdistance me...
Bottom right: ... but since he has the water bottle, I catch up with him quickly!!!

PANORAMIC

My sanded shadow

Crater 800 meters wide, result of a volcanic eruption that exploded about 1000 years ago.

Detail of the edge of the "basket" ( Ubehebe in Shoshone Indian language)

North of Death Valley, Walter Scott's castle (Scotty's Castle) actually belongs to the wealthy owner of an insurance company, Albert Johnson... Indeed, the latter fully trusted Walter Scott when he advised him to invest in gold mining... When he came to death valley to realize the work done, he realized that gold only existed in Scotty's head... Not resentful at all, and especially seeing the beneficial effects of the valley on his health, Johnson decided to build this villa (about 2 million dollars at the time anyway...). Johnson spent his winter holidays there and after his death, Scott lived there.
It was Walter Scott's strong personality that remained in memories and so it was by his name that this place was named...

"J & S": Johnson & Scott ???

In the buildings next to the villa, a stagecoach and cars from the beginning of the 20th century (left car, a 1925 Graham Dump Truck; right car, 1928 Ford AA Dump Truck)

Small critters including a desert iguana of about fifteen centimeters (Dipsosaurus dorsalis)

In every park we went to, there were always ravens circling around us...

Field of "Joshua Tree", (Yucca brevifolia)