Sitting outside after dark, listening to a fellow camper giving an impromptu concert, the warm breeze cooling us from the 90 degree day, I can’t imaging a better setting. Death Valley is a unique place, coming west from Las Vegas, after a short climb up one side of mountains, you descend, and keep descending, long past you think you have dropped below sea level. At the base of these mountains is a broad valley of gravel and a white riverbed with the occasional blue ribbon reflecting the sky back at you. There are no tracks out into the desert, there are no roads, its just you out in the wide landscape. It really matched my expectations of being left alone in an unforgiving land. Coming via the south road had very little traffic, a lucky detour I decided to take. So if you come out this way, take the south route along 178, 90% of traffic sticks to Highway 190, and the sites just off of that route. So if you take the south road or head north towards Scotty’s Castle you will be left mostly alone to enjoy Death Valley as intended, huge wide open spaces where it feels like it is just you for 100 miles in any direction. I really enjoyed this feeling of solitude and I hope you will too.
