Death Valley

Mentioned earlier (500 Horsepower Reality) that I was out west this past spring. Rented an SUV (more on that later) and headed over to California for a few days - destination Lone Pine, Bishop and the eastern Sierras. Traveled Rt 190 from Las Vegas, via Death Valley. Pretty cool place - hung out for a while, but definitely need to return as a point of destination. A few photos:

First view of the valley heading from the east over the

Amargosa Mountain Range.

Rt 190 heading west toward Stovepipe Wells -
elevation around 200ft below sea level.

Mesquite Flat and the Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes........

....Ditto.....

....Ditto.

Temperature at the Dunes was around 115 degrees (F). Ran into a young Japanese couple while hiking around. They stopped me and asked if I would snap a photo of the two of them together (using their camera). I noticed that the gal was barefoot, carrying her sandals. I also noticed a desert sidewinder track nearby (saw quite a few). I snapped off a few photos before mentioning the tracks, as well as that I'd bet the critters (snakes, spiders, lizards etc..) burrow into the sand during the day to escape the intense heat - probably not a good idea to roam barefoot. She immediately leaped in to guys arms. HA!

Traveling west over the Panamint Range toward
Panamint "Lake".

Rt 190 toward the east, traveling through Panamint (dry)
Lake.

West side of the Valley - Darwin Plateau, Father Crowley
Point and Rainbow Canyon - Panamint Lake Valley
beyond.

Rt 190 winding east from Darwin Plateau toward the
Panamint Lake Valley.

When returning later in the week I was traveling east through the Darwin Plateau area, over the steep mountain pass. I was winding my way down to the valley. I suddenly heard a deafening jet engine - sounded like it was on the roof of the SUV. I'm looking all around and up through the sun roof for this thing - wherever he was, he was right on my ass. I'm about ready for a missle or two to blow me off the road, when I round a sharp bend with a clean view of the valley floor, probably 3,000 feet of air below.
ZOOM!! - this F16 fighter jet comes blasting straight up out of the valley, probably 200 feet away - he does a steep bank turn with barrel roll to the east and shoots off like a rocket (or a jet) before I can even perceive what happened. I pulled off the road and grabbed the camera - hoping he would return. No luck. I'm sure his "maneuver" was on purpose - having some fun with the "dick" in the black SUV. Glad he's on our side. I'm sure he came from the China Lake Naval Weapons Center which is just to the south of the Valley.