Death Valley

The next morning, I drove north in the valley, the day clear and already warm below sea level.

 Death Valley is a marvelous place, where there is almost no vegetation, leaving the bone sof the earth exposed.  It is all rocks and stones and more rocks.

I parked along the road and hiked up a broad alluvial fan, headed for Red Walled Canyon sevveral miles away.

distances in the desert are always deceiving, and I was fooled again, hiking for a long time before finally reaching the mouth of the canyon.  But it is fascinating country to just wander in.

After a rest in the welcome shade, I wandered up the canyon, all cliffs and red rock

And then, a squash? of some kind, who knows from where.

and then rock and more rock, the canyon gradually narrowing

In almost all of these canyons, sooner or later there are walls across the canyon, cliffs polished by water.  Sometimes other hikers have left aids - here both a ladder and a rope

going up is the easy part, but, especially if you hike alone, you might want to be pretty sure you can get back down.  It is always harder coming down, and it looks a lot higher from the top.

I decided to climb down and hike out of the canyon, enjoying everything about it - the light, colors, textures, the heat, the slightest little breeze

 Just as far down as it was up, it turns out

a big fan across the valley, a challenge for another day

 Driving north, more enormous alluvial fans

 to Willow Springs campground, far from any store, quiet, the perfect place to end the day