Artists Drive

Wow!  Artists Drive was not exactly what I was expecting for Death Valley.  I know that you can only go up but REALLY, riding up where the grade goes between 10% and 12%, that was hard.  The ride out to Artists Drive is a nice set of rollers and then you turn left and you just climb.  The climb is also deceiving since you go around bends in the road and just when you think it is over, the hill keeps going.  There are a few dips in the road which are fun to ride through.  Of course the real kicker of the ride is that once you take in the beautiful view of Artists Palette and go right, you would hope it just means you get your reward.  But NO, you have to climb a little more as you make your way around the peaks.  Talk about some canyon riding.  No wonder why they only allow a single lane.  But like all rides that involve a climb, at least you finally get your reward down and we earned it.

Road ribbons through Death Valley

Me, Angie, Pam, Jason and Dave at the start of Artists Drive

Climbing on Artists Drive 

Quick stop on the way to Artists Palette

Don't look behind! 

Sometimes when you are taking in Death Valley, you have to ask yourself if this is what Mars is like.  So much of it seems completely uninhabitable.  Before gearing up for the ride to Artists Palette, we decided to check out two salt plains.  One of which is called Devil's Golf Course.  Sometimes you have to wonder who comes up with these names.  Anyway, there is salt dried up on mud as far as the eye can see.  From a distance it looks just white like snow or water, but up close the salt covers the tops of the crevices of dried mud.  As Dave would say, you could not find your golf ball if you even tried to play here.

Salt, salt everywhere

How I would imagine Mars would look like

Another place we stopped at was Badwater Basin which is the lowest point in North America.  Unlike Devil's Golf Course, the area is flat and sometimes it seems like we were walking on ice or snow.  The area is fed by a spring-fed pool.  Although it is undrinkable, there are animals and plans that survive in its water.

Lowest point in Death Valley

Hard to believe there was water here 

More salt