Badwater Basin, Death Valley

Death Valley is one special place !
This area sits in a below-sea-level basin, steady drought and record summer heat make Death Valley a land of extremes. Yet, each extreme has a striking contrast. I did not expect to find mountains, salt creeks, dunes and one of my highlights- Badwater Basin, all within one huge park. Death Valley National Park is made up of 3,336,000 acres.
Two days were definitely not enough to explore.

Death Valley, the name doesn't sound inviting, yet here the beauty of the landscape was mindblowing. In this valley where much of it is below sea level, you can find spectacular wildflower displays, snow covered peaks, beautiful sand dunes, abandoned mines and industrial structures.
The Furnace Creek Inn and the Furnace Creek Ranch provide motel accommodations in the Furnace Creek area. The Stovepipe Wells Village provides motel accommodations and limited camping facilities. The Panamint Springs Resort offers resort accommodations and camping. We stayed at the Furnace Creek campground for $11 per night. The spot we chose was completely dry, but they offer full hookup in the same park for an additional fee.

We really loved our site, because we had a beautiful view of the mountains. No trees or campers were blocking our view .
After we hiked the Mesquite Dunes, we pulled in at Saltwater Creek but decided against the hike. It was already 2 pm by then and we really wanted to make it over to Badwater Basin before it gets dark. The distance between all the different locations are very long and require planning. We skipped eating lunch in the RV and passed right by our campsite on our way to Badwater Basin.
This place is absolutely stunning! We walked about a half of a mile into the basin to get the full effect of this spectacular area. We were standing in the lowest elevation in the Western hemisphere, looking up at Dante's Peak that had a marker displayed to show where the sea level is. We were 282 feet below sea level.

Several movies have been filmed in Death Valley, but one that stands out to me is Star Wars. They filmed parts of it at Badwater Basin, due to its interesting landscape.
After all the excitement our stomachs were letting us know, it's time to eat. We did not eat all day, besides breakfast and had walked over 9 miles, per Tony's pedometer. Thankfully, the little Indian village - Timbisha Shoshone- has a restaurant were we ordered some Indian tacos and caught up with social media. I was able to get very spotty internet and was excited to upload a few pictures.