Departed Las Vegas and headed west over the Spring Mountains to Pahrump as the gateway to Death Valley. Pahrump was a surprise - Las Vegas as it may have been in the 50's. It stretched across over 10 km of desert.

From Pahrump we drove across the desert to Death Valley Junction and into the National Park. The day was HOT - 113 fahrenheit . The one view I wanted to see was Dantes View which at 1669 metres overlooks Badwater Basin at -86 meters. Would you believe it - they had closed the road today and tomorrow for repairs.

We had lunch at Furnace Creek which lived up to its name - the wind was like a fire it was so hot. There are ruins of an old Borax mining operation and a couple of old mule and steam wagons for hauling ore across the desert.

Stovepipe Wells had white powdery sand dunes that were blowing into new dunes with the strong hot winds.

Death Valley is a bare desert except for some isolated saltbush and a cactus or two. Other than that and a couple of oases there is nothing but rocks and sand; but the colours are very striking; and so is the heat. It gets around 130 degrees in summer. It was worth the experience to take the crossing and imagine what it must have been like to be an emigrant stranded in the desert or a miner working in the heat.

From Death Valley we came to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous US. So today we looked down on the lowest point and up to the highest point - all within a few miles.

Following the High Sierras, we have come to the town of Bishop where we stay tonight. Bishop is a town tucked into the bottom of the Sierras and surrounded by the John Muir Wilderness, Piper Mountain Wilderness and Inyo Mountains Wilderness. Our hotel has a creek running through the back which we can put our feet in as we read the paper at our back patio. It is a delightful setting that prepares us for our big sightseeing day as we cross the Sierras tomorrow and hit Yosemite.

By the way, thanks for all the messages you are adding to the message board. I read them first before I write the blog for the day. Its good to hear from you all. Would you believe it is over 3 weeks since we arrived and now only two weeks until we have to head back.