Our Explorations of Death Valley

Our Explorations in the Mystical Death Valley:

First of all, it must be said that there are terrible atrocities happening all over the world, and the U.S. seems to be affecting and effecting much of them abroad and home. So, I do not intend for this blog to be escapist, *and* if there ever is a political worldview, a religion, or a mystical practice that is escapist, I’ll be the first to confront it, or critique it. But the reality is, even the political activist has to sleep. Even the “integrationist” Philosphical Theologian, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. required the separation from the hostilities of the oppressive world on Sundays “during the most segregated hour of the week” to restore himself psychologically and spiritually, thus, he was not in the world all the time. I take this blog and experience it captures to be something of the like. 

I cannot teach philosophy, I cannot teach ethics, I cannot teach secondary education students critical thinking skills, teach them how to debate, teach them history, be a father, be a partner, play capitalism as minimally as possible, be up to date politically, be as politically engaged as I can be given my constraints, wrestle with the forces of the world, wrestle with overwhelming undoing that Donald Trump, the rich, white supremacists, the “harmless” unread, and uncritical are doing to this country and planet, without my sanctuary time as well. So, I think it is best to view this blog in this light, not escapist, but regenerative.

Now, let’s begin this travelogue over the mystical desert and terrain of Death Valley.

So this was not the beginning of our trip, but we drove past the Death Valley sign on the way in thinking that we would get plenty of opportunity to take a photo in front of the National Parks entrance, but it turned out, our opportunities ended up being severely limited. We actually took this photo toward the end of the trip (as you can see my glasses are broken already—and no cool story either; just sitting them on the edge of the bed next to me, placing my palm on them along with all my body weight to sit up, and (SNAP!) I broke them in half.) Anyway, we stumbled across this sign on the way out actually heading to Beatty, Nevada, one of the few places to get essentials, as you are severely limited within Death Valley. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to upload this photo first, and for viewers to be introduced to our trip in this way.

But let’s backtrack a little bit for a moment. Before we made it to Death Valley, we had a pretty miserable four and a half hour drive, so our daughter Baybeet needed to get out and stretch her legs in the middle of the desert—which was okay. It turned out to be a nice little break.

Anyway, after that nice excursion, back to the road and towards Death Valley.

See below:

This was coming into Death Valley from the Southwest entrance.

Everyone was hungry when we first arrived (largely Baybeet). So we stopped at our hotel’s Western/Saloon like outpost. Shortly after arriving, a Mad Max sandstorm had commenced.

Normally, this scenery in this video is all very clear, but one practically couldn’t see the Mesquite Flat Dunes, or even the Mountains in the background.

   Baybeet in front of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

Baybeet standing in front of an immensely beautiful mountain right by our hotel (that was sort of cabin style) in Stovepipe Wells.

Baybeet and her snake-y.

This is when we went to Golden Canyon, an excellent hike, but with a toddler, probably not one that will last very long. This is Baybeet, “right before she fell down softly, but landed hard-ly” 

on some rocks, and so she didn’t have to much patience or fun after that on the Golden Canyon hike. But you know, we wuwei everything with a toddler. We have a general plan, and then we ‘go with the flow’ with often many adaptations. 

Inside Golden Canyon.

Baybeet was very obsessed with the Black Ravens (I presume that’s their species?) hanging out in the canyon. They sat there a bit ominous, but simultaneously, tranquil, and beautiful. But this was his/her (the Raven’s) home, as she comfortably cracked open a nut or some type of natural growing food with her beak and nibbled on that something for whatever nourishment it provided.

I can’t help but feel we are on another planet when I am here. It baffles, but also infuriates me, that there are people out there, out here in our very current and relevant times that do not care to preserve and/or take care of our National Parks. It’s abhorrent that anyone would actively work at destroying or removing funding away from these magical places.

Awesome shot on the foreign planet Maya’s on.

Maya and Baybeet, walking behind, because Baybeet *had* to be the one to hold the leash. Golden Canyon was on the way to Badwater Basin, and for this day, we actually stopped at Golden Canyon somewhat arbitrarily. However, it was great place to stop, maybe next time we’ll have more of a chance to explore the canyon. 

Onward we went to Badwater Basin, which is ranked #1 for being the lowest point of un-submerged land (in a body of water like the ocean, etc.) in the geographical landmass that is the United States, and ranks as #7 for the lowest geographical landmass in the world! (The only places that are lower, are places like the shorelines of the Dead Sea of Israel/Jordan at 430.5 Meters/1,412 feet below sea level; Lake Assal (Djibouti) at 155 Meters/509 feet below sea level; Turpan Depression (China) at 154/505 feet below sea level; Qattara Depression (Egypt) at 133 Meters/436 feet below sea level; Vpadina Kaundy (Kazakhstan) at 132 Meters/433 feet below sea level; Laguna Del Carbón (Argentina) at 105 Meters/344 feet below sea level—or so A.I. tells me; that’s okay its not that important). However, on the way to Badwater Basin’s Salt Flats we decided since Artist's Drive or Artist's Palette was right there conveniently on the way, and that we would take an excursion there. It’s actually a really cool experience to take the Artist’s Drive Loop, the cliffs that surround the the curvy and loopy rode make you feel like you are on Mars or some other planet, or in a Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon.

Here is Artist's Palette: On days like the day that this was shot, it is still beautiful don’t get me wrong, but after it rains, and when the clouds are in the right condition, and the sunlight hits it just right, it can be a pretty amazing sight—much better than this. It’s best to see in the evenings during sunsets as well. “The colors [here] are from volcanic deposits rich in compounds such as iron oxides and chlorite, which creates a rainbow effect.” (nps.gov)

I suppose at its best, this general area looks something like this, or parts of it at least. 

Finally, we made it to Salt Flats of Badwater Basin. Here we find about 200 square miles of the largest salt flats on Earth. 

Shut up, I know, I have sensitive eyes.

You can also see the snow caps in the background which makes for an awe-inspiring shot.

On our way back.

The next day was mostly a day of Dunes. Baybeet loved the dunes, so we spent a lot of quality time there. A nice shot of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, followed by many more.

Baybeet relaxing in the sand.

  One of my favorite landscape shots I took.

This one is pretty cool too.

Gorgeous Momma helping Baybeet.

Dada and beautiful Momma.

Baybeet acting silly.

Baybeet having the time of her life.

Right before Baybeet took a tumble off the dune.

Baybeet fell off the dune, and I could barely get her back up. To give you an idea, essentially, I had to slide down, grab Baybeet, sprint up the dune towards the peak, and toss her to the pinnacle as I was sliding down. I barely got her back up--of course we could have walked around, but we don't have a knack for doing things the easy way.

Hopefully, this gives you an idea to how steep some of the dunes were. I think this angle is really helpful, but in actuality, this dune wasn't even as steep as the former—you get the picture. 

This shot doesn't seem like its in California--this is also one of my favorite shots I took.

That’s me carrying our sack of potatoes out of the dunes.

So the following day, as you can see presumably in her face, Baybeet did not have a great night, and therefore none of us did. Maya was not feeling well, so we let her rest at the hotel. And Baybeet and I went out for food. We had plans to do a three hour drive to see the Freshwater Springs and some other Dunes, but we decided that not wise with Baybeet when grimlin-mode was activated.

So, we decided to stay close. The following is actually probably a white-settler name, but above here, we are in “The Devils Cornfield” a figurative name, because it is not even corn. (That's the figurative part, not the Devil--these are the devils plants--kidding). No, these shrubs are actually tethered to the longstanding Indigenous history here. Sources say, these plants actually served medicinal purposes for the Native Indigenous peoples, and that the plants also served for shafts for their bow and arrows. I suppose it’s called a “cornfield” because of its appearance that resembles rows at times in the desert—though its formations are natural. One source where you can find more about this is Jenna Blough’s Death Valley National Park: Hiking, Scenic Drives, Desert Springs, by Moon Travel Publishing, 2024.

There may be a dust-devil faintly in the background on the left side.

Without a doubt, a dust-devil in the “cornfield” for this one. It was pretty cool how they would just seemingly randomly form around you, sometimes spinning right by you.

Unexplained Phenomenon/Possibly Mystical Phenomenon Happened Here: 
This desert really is a mystical place, and this is one experience I had, that as it stands, is still unexplainable, and I can’t wrap my head around. In a similar vein to the large rocks that seemingly travel on their own for thousands of feet at the racetrack, I observed something other and unexplainable, a mystical-like, white smokey-cloud that behaved like its own entity, separate from the clouds shown here, and the wind—and so separate from the clouds in this picture, that I thought it was a dust devil (only for the first few impressions). But dust devils here generally aren't white and smokey looking, they are brown, like above and below, and have a cyclone movement to them. This here, was a cloud that crept along the ground, coming up above the ground, at best, around 10 feet tall, and then creeping down low once again. Even stranger, the cloud *should be present in this photo.* But it would not show up in any of my pictures. Even stranger, the white-smokey cloud continues moving, creeping along, semi-close to the ground, at the base of the mountain, still behaving like a living entity, reaching up (so to speak), smelling the mountain (so to speak), having many heads (so to speak) and coming back into itself. It continued to the point where it nearly made it to my 12 o clock (directly in front of me), still figuratively hugging the base of the mountain, and still seemingly against the natural laws for smoke, or clouds. So I pick up my camera to video, I see the white-smoky cloud, only to find it invisible on my phone. I put my phone down, empirically and perceptially observe it, and pick it up once more as if to refresh my phone, to see if it will pick it up this time… and I experience the same result. I experience this over and over again. I took a video of it anyway—despite the ability to see anything. Maybe with the right technology, something will show up. As I watched the cloud it spread itself thinner and thinner, and part of it seemingly absorbed into part of the mountain, and the other part seemingly absorbed into the rocky ground. Part of me feels like it dissipated, as if it knew it was being watched.  It was a profound experience, and Baybeet was beside me the whole time--of course looking at rocks on the ground, so I have zero witnesses. And even if she did see it, she's a toddler. What is she going to do, provide an apologetic defense for me? I’ll share the video for those interested.

The animated and smokey-like cloud rested itself here at the base of the mountain, and this is where it sort of dissolved itself into the mountain base, and into the rocky ground. 

For doubters, here of course is a traditional dust devil in The Devil’s Cornfield which looks nothing like what I observed above. While this, dust devil is wild, and is behaving wild, it still appears to be obeying the laws of nature, it is obeying physics; it behaves just like any other dust devil, or cyclone-like winds, which is distinct from what I described above.

Oh well, move on. What can you do…? Just say “I don’t know,” forget about it and carry on?—or take the easy way out and find some way to dogmatically and faithfully default it to some scientifically observable natural phenomenon--that can "easily be explained by 'science'"? I think it would be closed-minded to not consider that a possibility that science could explain it, but it will not be my faithful default. I am a harsh critic of scientism. I have witnessed elements of this magical Earth in my lived experience that stretch far beyond the materialistic reductions of science. No, keep investigating, and don’t forget about it--keep the sense of wonder!

A beautiful base to this mountain.

Some animated Atlantis or video game clouds forming above.

After the Devil’s Cornfield, we went back to our room. After the experience with the unexplainable cloud phenomenon, Baybeet got some rest or a nap in, and so we decided on an adaptive whim, that we would go see Zabriske Point, this was something on our travel list of sites to see and spend time with. So this is where we are heading here. The terrain changes immensely here, and begins to look like another planet.

Zabriske Point here, and below:

Baybeet posing for me at Zabriske point.

Maya, Baybeet, and Charlie overlooking the volcanic remnant-ridden Zabriske point.

While the pictures of Zabriske point are great, they don’t quite do it justice, and the video does a better job of this—as Baybeet *has to hold the leash* and ensnares Maya in between the whims of Baybeet, and Charlie. However, even though the video is great and gives you an idea of the volcanic remnants, clearly, and probably obviously for most, seeing it in person is best.

After seeing Zabriske point, if you continue eastward beyond Zabriske, as if you are going to leave Death Valley into Nevada, the terrain intensifies into this really otherworldly scenery. I highly recommend this part.

After this, the day was practically over so we headed back.

So the next day, because Baybeet had another rough night, (therefore we all did) combined with the fact that I broke my glasses in half, we had to take an essential trip to Beatty, Nevada which was about a 45 minute drive from our hotel in Stovepipe Wells. 

This is some of the scenery as your leaving Death Valley into Nevada—though Death Valley extends into Nevada a bit.

So to our surprise, we see a sign that literally says to keep a watch for “wild burrows” while we are driving in. We get some supplies to repair my broken glasses, and at some point afterwards, these wild donkeys literally see me holding Myrlie, and one of them just starts coming fearlessly towards us. I have no idea if they are aggressive, diseased, healthy, gentle, etc. so I take Myrlie in my arms and get in the driver seat--as the wild donkey actually ventured to where we first were on the passenger side. Maya had her door open on the passenger seat, and it was too late… the donkey sticks its whole head in the car, and Maya snaps a shot of his/her whole head towering over us in the car. Honestly when this happened, at this point, I’m kind of freaking out, because Myrlie is in my arms, so I exit the driver's side with Myrlie once more.
Turns out, they were actually pretty friendly, and generally peaceful, cohabitable wild donkeys, they just wanted food--apparently the whole town feeds them so they have been somewhat domesticated. The only time that was not the case, was when Maya trustingly walked beside the donkey with Charlie, her dog, and immediately the donkeys ears went back when he/she saw Charlie. So I had to yell at Maya to "get the hell out of there!"

There was a nice playground and park for the little ones here.

And the wild donkeys still hung around.

Because of the lack of sleep for Baybeet, and therefore us, and the broken glasses, we adapted by allowing Baybeet to just hang out and play in this fun park in Beatty, Nevada. We had planned to do much more in Death Valley this day, but with a toddler, you have to roll with it, and wuwei as I mentioned earlier.

Baybeet finally crashed.

Since this was our last day before checkout, we let Baybeet play at the dunes again. It is so peaceful there. The sand acts as a sound insulator, and it is such a profound experience sitting on top of the dunes, meditating, and/or just being aware in the stillness. It’s really a magical place, and really feels mystical.

Over the ages, the deserts have attracted or inhabited Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Indigenous-Shamanic, African Witch-doctors, etc., and some of the most serious ascetic good-historical mystics and religionists, and also some of the most heinous-historical people around (like Charles Manson who thought there was a “subterranean paradise” or dimensional portal out here). In the sense of all of the former prior to the parentheses, it was this largely that knowledge that drew me to the desert. It was reading about the Desert Mystics in William Harmless’s Mystics, Oxford University Press (2007), that really drew me here, and along with other scholars of religion/philosophy/theology (Evelyn Underhill, Douglas Christie, Charlotte Radler, etc. to name a few).

A meta shot.

A beautiful beam of sunlight shimmering amidst the hazy sky.

Another high point about Death Valley, is stargazing and observing the night sky as it is declared an international dark zone for this type of activity.

And lastly, here are some photos as we were leaving Death Valley of a big canyon. This is if you are exiting from the northwest side of the park.

In summation:
I highly recommend visiting this otherworldly place, and given the tribalistic, us vs. them socio-political sphere, and given the nonsensical and malevolent decisions made by the Donald Trump administration, there should be no sensible reality where money is stripped from these national parks, there should be no sensible reality where these parks are less protected, there should be no sensible reality where funding is reduced, and people are fired/let go in these pivotal areas; There ought to be no sensible reality where we begin logging in National Forrests again, etc. There are already Native Indigenous petoglyphs and pictographs here that have been vandalized, in this sacred place, by tourists, and careless/ignorant visitors. Stripping away money from these national parks, and the ability to protect and preserve land that is often tethered to Native Americans, Native Indigenous history ought to be morally abhorrent to anyone with a conscience. Transcend your cowardess groupthink, and take a stand for something that matters, and will matter for generations to come, for those who “inherit the earth.”