MEANDERING MOOSE

This not what we expected Death Valley to look like.      ...or is it the HOTEST COOL PLACE IN NORTH AMERICA?  Whatever!  Death Valley National Park is OUTSTANDING!!!  When we first entered Death Valley we were expecting a brown, dry, rocky, desert dirt with a few shrubs all mixed together in a giant furnace.  We were partly right, but we were mostly wrong.  The park featured expansive salt flats, colorful mountains, sand dunes, volcano cones, desert springs and creeks, and tons of canyons through a variety of geologic formations.  This fantastic place is the largest park in the lower 48 as well as the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America.  For those who love heat without humidity, try a July visit were the average high temperature is 115 degrees with a record high of 134! A coyote gave us a visit one day. Looking into Ubehebe Crater. "Salt Creek" is teeming with "pupfish" who can survive in this super salt...

The view from our campsite on the Colorado River at Buckskin Mountain State Park in Parker, Arizona.      After being on the desert since late August, we finally found it...water!!!  Being from Connecticut we did not realize how much we missed being around the stuff.  Our journey from Lake Havasu City lasted all of 20 minutes before we discovered Buckskin Mountain State Park (Arizona) which was directly on the Colorado River where we scored a waterfront site.  Living on the river felt so good and so much like home that we ended up staying 13 days.  Nancy was in her glory either working in the studio or finding some shade to read and watch the river flow by.  We even got in a little kayaking.  I found several desert hiking trails leading to old silver mines or to spectacular mountain vistas.  I even found a really cool slot-canyon called "Crack-In-The-Mountain." A rope assist for hikers in Crack-In-The-Mountain. Ron & ...