Badwater basin & Devil’s Golf Course…:-)
Badwater basin @ Death Valley National Park – THE lowest point in North America, with an elevation of 86m below sea level… here’s the “Salt of the Earth” – sodium chloride, known as table salt – it makes up the majority of salts on Badwater Basin, being among the largest protected salt flats in the world. Other evaporative minerals found here include calcite, gypsum, and borax. These vast, surreal “salt fields” do change constantly as they expand, pushing the crust of salt into rough, chaotic forms and strange patterns… Passing rainstorms wash off windblown dust and generate a fresh layer of blinding white salt, and rare floods create temporary ponds that dissolve salts back into solution, starting the process all over again…
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N.B. it’s forbidden to pick up salt as a “souvenir”, but I did hold it in my palm! 🙂
Devil’s Golf Course – Death Valley National Park, eastern California… why this bizarre name?!… a National Park Service guide issued in 1934 stated that “only the devil could play golf on such rough links!”, as its surface has a rough texture made of large halite salt crystal formations.
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Well, I did survive and I’m back home – sound and safe… 🙂
Posted on 5 January 2016, in melanie. Bookmark the permalink. 40 Comments.
my virtual playground 
What a fab post. Such an unusual place.
Fascinating story of the Golf course and the salt. And beautiful photos as always, Melanie. ❤
Forbidden to take salt as a souvenir… surprising?
yes and no, ’cause there’s plenty of it… 🙂
Il y fait plus chaud qu’ici, me suis-je laissé dire… 😉
12°C et sec, pas comme en Bretagne… 🙂
How was the drought situation in California? last summer, there sure were a lot of wildfires there, mostly caused by the severe drought. I’m hoping things return to a sustainable situation in beautiful California.
Happy New Year! May you have many fun adventures this year, and every year, and may you always have a song in your heart.
I haven’t noticed any drought problem(s) in the SF area, Death Valley National Park and Napa Valley… I’ve loved “hermosa California” for over 30 years.
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Thanx for dropping by and have a formidable 2016!
Always an interesting trip to wander through the Devil’s Golf Course. Have you hiked up Golden Canyon on the road there? Quite beautiful and portions of the original Star Wars were filmed there. – Curt
yes, Sir, we did hike @ Golden Canyon along the footsteps of the Star Wars characters… btw, have you noticed my avatar photo?… 😉 you may see some pix from it @ my FaceBook: Mélanie NB – Toulouse… 🙂
Jumped to your Facebook, and sure enough, there you were at the head of Golden Canyon. 🙂 Also found Yoda… Peggy and I made it to the latest Star Wars on Wednesday! – Curt
Cool! 🙂 I watched the latest SW on Dec 17th in San Francisco… 🙂
all golfers are mad!!! 😀
dunno any – except Tiger Woods and frankly speaking, I’ve always been into real sports… 🙂
hahaha!!!
“Well, I did survive and I’m back home – sound and safe… 🙂 ” – Now taking bets on how long you will stay home. 😉
My Lady, your intuition is really stunning, and amazingly accurate… 🙂
why on earth is it forbidden to take some salt as a “souvenir”? looks like there’s so much of it anyway!
’cause it’s THE law, Ma’am – in ALL US-national parks… btw, en Amérique les lois s’exécutent, ne se discutent pas(jamais!) – as simple as that… 🙂
ok, ok, mais dans ce cas particulier, le sel, c’est pas très logique! mais côté (+ accent circonflexe) lois qui s’exécutent, c’est très bien: si on exécutait les lois un peu plus ici en Italie, ça serait un énorme pas dans la bonne direction!
ah, les USofA et l’Italie… come on, Béa, comparons ce qui est comparable, prego! 🙂
sigh! on peut toujours rêver (+ accent circonflexe 🙂 ) …
yep, I’m kinda a dreamer, too, mais… les yeux ouverts, ’cause réaliste, pratique, pragmatique – afin d’éviter les éventuels “cauchemars”… 😉
oui, par moments le chaos ici est cauchemaresque!
Un peisaj lunar, ai zice, dacă nu s-ar zări pe acolo și un pic de apă. Interesante și spectaculoase locuri, dar cred că greu de suportat.
Să ai un an bun, Melania, cu sănătate și noroc, cu belșug și bucurii! 🙂
în ceea ce ne priveste, tot ce-i interesant si formidabil, adesea unic e usor de “suportat”… multumesc la fel, Zina! 🙂
Glad u were able to touch the salt and mindful to not take any – cool place!
It seems the devil has chosen beautiful places to play! : )
What an amazing place, Mélanie. Great photos. Happy New Year! 🙂
Wow!!! That has got to be something. To see. Up close and personal. And to touch? I can’t imagine! What a photo. Thanks for sharing, I still can’t get over that photo!
you’re welcome, Ma’am! yep, Death Valley is an absolute must-visit, so, go K, go! btw, you live closer to it than I do… 🙂
Well, You’re right about distance 😉 Until I actually live somewhere warm, my time and money are spent going to Florida in the winter months. As soon as we DO start to travel, that place will be on the list!!! 👍🏻😎 thanks!
we visited Florida 3 years ago during 3 weeks – from the North down to Key West, stopping by its national parks, of course… whenever we return to the US, we always visit new places, as your huge country offers amazing and unique spots to discover, to explore, to admire… 🙂
While this is true, there is an expense involved… And usually it’s s big price to travel from one end to the other. Unlike Europe, it must be wonderful to go from country to country, just like that. I’m always in amazement when my grind in England is somewhere and for such a low cost. I feel the same way… Discovery, exploration and admiration. PS we love KW! 😉
Strange looking terrain.
Le lac salé à 86m sous le niveau de la mer, il y a du monde, très fréquenté ce désert, il faut avoir de bonnes chaussures, je pense.
oui, bcp de touristes chinois de plusieurs états américains… 🙂 comme à partir d’avril, il commence à faire TRÈS chaud(on a enregistré jusqu’à +58°C en été!), c’est préférable d’y aller d’octobre à fin-avril… des chaussures super-costaud, of course! 🙂
Ils sont partout, même chez moi, j’en ai croisé cet été en vtt, ils sont faciles à reconnaître, c’est les seuls qui portent des masques de chirurgien sur le visage et un gps dans la main. Ce n’est pas la vallée de la mort ou à côté?
oui, j’ai précisé: Death Valley – Vallée de la Mort… 🙂
L’anglais et moi… je me debrouille, c’est bien marqué au début, mea culpa.