(soft rock music) - [Robert] Today, we are visiting Death Valley National Park. How about I give you a quick preview, just a few clips to get you pumped? (soft rock music) Yep, it is an incredible place. ♪ I'm riding, riding, riding ♪ ♪ Riding in my RV, my RV ♪ ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm free in my RV, yeah ♪ (dramatic techno music) We're entering the park from the west. Actually, a beautiful drive
here across the Darwin Plateau. And our first stop is going to be the Father Crowley Vista Point. Let's check it out. I want to apologize in advance. Because of the high winds, you will experience some wind
noise in part of this video. I might get a larger windscreen or a Dead Cat in the
future to mitigate that. But, for now, there's nothing I can do. Here we are. There is a plaque dedicated
to Father Crowley. No drones, but we knew that, right? By the way, John J. Crowley
was a Catholic priest known as the Desert Padre. As you can hear, it is
very windy out here. This canyon here in front of
us is called Rainbow Canyon. (wind howling) Well, there is a short trail
that I'm going to take. Yeah, I'm gonna have to invest in a better windscreen for
my microphone at some point. So might as well do the
trail, stretch my legs, take a break from driving,
take in the views. This trail, by the way, just a little over a mile round trip. Let's get a little closer to the rim of the canyon, shall we? Whoa! Check that out. Hmm, the view from the end of the trail is going to be great, or so it seems. There's Minitini. There's the parking lot. Yeah, we're pretty far away. Almost there. (thoughtful music) Oh my gosh. Well this is one of those landscapes that cannot be properly captured by regular photography or video because of the unfathomable scale, the incredible depth
that even our puny brains have a hard time grasping. To put into perspective, this might give you a sense of scale. Well I really hope you can
hear me through this wind here. But this is one of those amazing places that it is impossible to capture
them with a regular camera simply because there's no
depth on a regular camera. If I had a stereoscopic VR rig maybe I could convey the grandeur, the grandness of this view. It's amazing, it's amazing. And that valley is thousands
of feet down there. At first I thought we were
looking at Death Valley, but this is actually
called Panamint Valley. Death Valley lies beyond
that mountain range. (thoughtful music) Okay tip number one: if you come to this Father Crowley
Point, Vista Point-- - [GPS] Turn left onto
California 190 East. - By all means. - [GPS] Next left onto
California 190 East. - Okay tip number one. - [GPS] On California 190 East. - She keeps interrupting me. If you do come to this
Father Crowley Point, 4,000 feet above sea level, do that hike, that half
a mile hike that I did, because the view is 10
times better as you saw. So that's tip number one here. Tip number two, don't take too long, because I'm gonna arrive now,
like in the nick of time. (chuckles) (techno music) This is one of those roads
where I can't be like doing the handheld camera,
as tempted as I am. (triumphant techno music) Okay I couldn't resist the temptation to use the handheld camera now that we are on this straight line. I know I'm gonna say it several times, but this is one of the
most striking landscapes I've ever seen. This here is called Panamint Springs and they do have a hotel and a campground. First signs of civilization
we've seen in a while. And here's a great view
of the straight road going across the Panamint Valley. This is definitely one
of the most scenic places I've ever seen. Let's take this road. Time lapse style. Here's looking back towards
the Panamint Valley. Up and up we go, crossing
the Panamint range. Soon we'll drive over to Towney Pass, almost 5000 feet above sea level. The Colorado, for the first
time, struggling a little bit with this steep grade. Still like a champ, chugging
along with no problem. The engine revving in low gear. Well this is the first time
I've seen the Colorado struggle a little bit. Transmission fluid got up to 170. And I mean it's... Ew, brake check area half a mile. I betcha we got steep
downhill coming up now. (thoughtful music) Here we get our first
glimpse of Death Valley. There, that's a much better view. Really looking forward
to exploring this place. Now descending from nearly 5000 feet to almost below sea level. In fact Death Valley is in part famous for the Badwater Basin, the
lowest point in North America. It also holds the record for the highest ambient air
temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth. I am totally enthralled by this landscape. So different from Florida, huh? I think I see our destination
for today down there. (upbeat music) It is getting late, so I've
decided to stay right here at the Stovepipe Wells Campground. It is pretty much first come first serve. They have this automated machine here where you can pay for your campsite. How cool is that? Let's do one day for now. Pay station with a solar panel. They take credit cards. Here in the middle of Death Valley. This particular campground
is all dry camping. No hookups. But I should be okay
for two to three days. And as you can see,
there is plenty of room. By the way, in that machine back there you can also pay your
entrance fee to the park. I have the annual pass,
so no need for that. What do you know? Made it to Stovepipe Wells
here in Death Valley. It's an amazing place. It is $14 for one night and they do have like
senior discounts and stuff. So yep. So the receipt from the machine, you attach it to your
pole next to your RV. And that's it. That's all there is to it. Here we are. Let's go check out the store real quick. It's just beautiful out here. Stovepipe Wells. Go check it out, gas keeps going up. Actually that's a really
good deal, believe it or not. VW bus. With the high top. Hmm, restaurant, huh? Oo, there's a saloon. You know it is Superbowl
night and I don't have a TV. I betcha they were
watching it at the saloon. Cool, they even have a pool. Amazing reflection. Here we are at the saloon. Let's see if we can watch the Superbowl. Lagunitas IPA. And the big game. Well goodnight. (thoughtful music) Good morning and greetings from the Stovewell Pipes Campground here in Death Valley National Park. Did I just say Stovewell Pipes? (laughs) Today we have a busy day ahead of us. Still a little cloudy towards the north and particularly the west. But hopefully it won't be a problem. I kind of feel sorry for
these people tent camping because last night it got kind of chilly. But I'm sure it's fine. I'm sure they knew what
they were getting into. Me personally, I prefer
to have a hard tent with wheels and a furnace. Just saying. Oo and in case you didn't
notice, it's not Stovewell Pipes as I said earlier. It's Stovepipe Wells. Serves me well for talking
on camera before coffee. (dramtic music) Sandstorm perhaps? Let me get on the roof. Cleaned my solar panels. Hopefully we'll get some solar today. Wow, look at that. Must be a dust storm of some kind. We've got some menacing
clouds coming from the west. Let's go explore. We've got a busy day ahead of us. First I want to see the
Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes, which are just around the corner. And then we're gonna work our way down to Furnace Creek and Badwater
Basin and the rest of it. Let's see as much as possible today, because tomorrow I have
something else in mind. Here we are and there's the
tallest one of the sand dunes. Although I don't think I'm
gonna make it all the way there. Not gonna happen. It's about a mile away. And I want to save my
stamina for other hikes. Here's some information
about the sand dunes and what you might find. Let's hope we don't find one of those. Well apparently they only come
out on cool, summer nights. We should be pretty safe. So let's go for a quick hike. This is amazing It is of course incredibly windy today. I mean I don't know if this is normal for Death Valley, but it is unexpected. And the blowing sand while beautiful, can be painful and it gets everywhere. I must walk backwards. Tired with my eyes being
pelted by this fine sand. Very, very find sand here. Well definitely feel like
Lawrence of Arabia here. Check it out. Whoo! And yes I did bring some water. Glad you asked. (bright music) I got caught in one of these, (coughs) I'm gonna go up there and
then I'm gonna come back because when the wind blows,
I mean it looks beautiful, unless you look towards the
wind, then it gets in your eyes. I am now at the top of one of the dunes. (thoughtful music) Very nice views from the
top of the dunes here. A surreal landscape for sure. I don't know if you can tell on camera, but this a pretty steep hill here to go to the top of this dune. It's hard to climb. The sand is sinking. And yet another strong wind gust at the top of the sand dune. It is certainly beautiful when the sand is not
hitting you in the face. Oo, it's really blowing now. (wind overpowers voice) I'm heading back to the parking lot. All I need is a camel and we'd be complete, right? Anyways I think I got
my desert fix for now. My sand dune fix for now. So oh, look at that. I think that's coming this way. Whoo! And oh yeah. Oh. I should have brought like
a bandana or something. I'm trying to look for a spot where it's not blowing
as much, but that sand. (wind howling) (bright music) Well I won't lie to you,
that was a little painful. Some professional photographers
are really dedicated and show up here at the crack of dawn with big tripods and
long, expensive lenses. Lots of tourists from all over the world. Well even if you don't feel like walking, this is the view from the parking area. So pretty spectacular too. Let's continue. (energetic music) (tires peeling) Let's stop right here. This area is called Devil's Cornfield. Many areas around the
valley have peculiar names like this one which apparently were given by early promoters of
the park or the valley or whatever it was back then. - [Reporter] Winds could occasionally gust over 40 miles per hour. Tonight partly cloudy skies with gusty. - Elevation sea level. And we're going downhill so
that puts us below sea level. I had to stop for a minute
to take in the view. Such a beautiful area here. Oo, I missed an exit! (tires peeling) Let's go back. This one is marked on the
map as Harmony Borax Works. And there is also something
called Mustard Canyon nearby. So let's check them both out. Let's follow this interpretive trail. This used to be a borax
processing plant in the 1880s. But it only operated for about five years. This contraption here. Borax, which is also known
as sodium borate, by the way, apparently a very important compound. It is used to make detergents,
cosmetics, fiberglass. It is antifungal, a fire retardant and the list goes on and on. The things one learns by
visiting Death Valley, huh? (energetic music) The borax was transported out
of here using 20 mules teams which consisted of 18
mules and two horses. And that's where the 20 Mule
Team Borax brand of cleaner got its name from. Let's continue. Let's go into the Mustard Canyon. The mustard color is amazing, especially now that the
sun is shining on it. It is a very short drive
and totally worth it, you know to spend a couple
of minutes doing it. Apparently the yellow rock was submerged under an ancient lake that
used to cover Death Valley. Hence all the erosion and
maybe the yellow color. Onwards we go. It's an oasis. Actually what it is, is the
Furnace Creek Visitor's Center. And here's the campground
with full hookups. This is the main visitor's
center in the park. And here I am going to check in with my America the Beautiful annual pass, get a map and some information. 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Not bad. I'll bet you this says 140 in the summer. Let's check it out. They have this 3D relief
map of the whole park here. Very cool. I love these types of maps. We came through here. Through there. And now we are somewhere over there. Very, very cool. And they have buttons so you can locate the different points of interest. Oh there it is, Badwater. Keeping hydrated. It is the desert after all. So paper map. I think it's better. We're here. And I think I'm gonna do the Artist Drive and then come down to the Badwater Basin. And then come around and
maybe do Dante's View and then do like a loop. Me and my ambitious plans. (jazzy music) Here's one of the hotels. If you don't have an RV,
you know you can stay here. That other hotel, The Oasis. I'm assuming. - [GPS] Take the next
right onto Badwater Road. - It is getting really cloudy, so let's go see the Badwater Basin, the lowest place in North America, first. Just in case the weather
turns for the worse. Such an incredible drive, right? Everywhere you look it is awe inspiring. Sometimes it is even hard
to concentrate on the road, on the driving. Good thing there is
hardly any people here. Here we are, the lowest
point in North America. And I believe in the Western Hemisphere. And I'm gonna walk all the way over there. To the lowest part I guess. Well, apparently not in the
Western Hemisphere, I was wrong. There is a place in Argentina
called Laguna del Carbon that is actually lower. In North America though,
this is the lowest at 282 feet, or 85 1/2 meters
below the surface of the sea. So if by any chance the ocean
water could find a way here, we'd be screwed at the
bottom of a saltwater lake. Yeah. Luckily we have mountains on all sides and the ocean is pretty far. But the possibility, oddly
enough is still kind of lingering in the back of my little brain. Don't worry. I think we'll be all right. All of a sudden it's calm. There, that's the lowest
spot, right there. And there is sunshine all of a sudden. Well the calm didn't last long. It is very windy again. Let's take a look here. The high wind actually makes
the clouds move faster. So we go from cloudy to sunny. We even get a bit of rain
all in a matter of minutes. Or even less, actually. I am really mesmerized by the
texture of this salt flat. And we haven't even
seen the good part yet. It's really windy! It's up about halfway. Yeah, it is so windy I'm
having to overdub myself, like they do in the movies, right? (jazzy music) So interesting how the salt
forms these little hairs. It is that type of wind that almost makes you loose your balance. Well the sun has come out and
here we are, almost there, almost to the salt flats. It is an amazing place. Let me give you a 360, just
in case the sun goes down, I mean goes behind the cloud. It is truly amazing to be here. By the way Death Valley
should be bucket list. Definitely. (jazzy music) It's pretty difficult to
hold the camera steady in this kind of wind. But I wanted to show you this. Fascinating. (frenzied electronic music) you know I had to get a taste, right? Well let's go back. All right, tip of the day. Like I said at Father Crowley's yesterday, you may think like you saw
it from the vista point, but in this one you should
really make the hike. Totally worth it. It's really hard to walk. The clouds have lifted and now we can see the snow capped peaks. Oh I hadn't noticed that. Let me get the other camera. Well, what do you know, they have a sign indicating the sea level. Kind of puts it into
perspective, doesn't it? That's the Badwater. The name Badwater apparently comes from one
of the early surveyors whose mule refused to drink the water because it was too salty. So he wrote on the map, bad water. And that's the story. Bat water, bat water, Badwater Basin, probably made the whole trip
to the Death Valley worth it. - [GPS] Turn right onto Badwater Road. - Definitely, definitely
probably the high point, the highlight of this trip. Not the high point. The high point is somewhere up there. This actually, literally the low point. 'Cause it doesn't get any lower than this in the Western Hemisphere. - [GPS] Continue on
Badwater Road for 15 miles. - And I'm gonna take bat water, bat water, why can't I pronounce that? Badwater Road for another couple of miles just to see the landscape
and then we'll come back and do the other points of interest as we approach, once again,
the visitor's center area. Oh, check it out. You can see it from here. I always like the shots with movement because it's more dynamic. (techno music) by the way, I did bring
a cooler with water. Stay hydrated. Oo, it's pretty cool still. Nice. I'll throw those out later. As cool as this looks, I think I'm going to go
back and actually see the main points of interest that I really want to see. And then if I have time before sunset, we can take this road. But I do want to take, I do wanna see that Artists Drive and go all the way to the top. I forgot the name of the peak, it's a peak overlooking the salt flats. And then hopefully tomorrow
we can go to the Playa. Look at that. Amazing. (techno music) Let's go for a hike to a natural bridge. It is through this dirt road. Can you hear what I'm saying? Neither can I. It's too windy. I'm basically stating the importance to download offline maps
for this kind of thing because there's no cell coverage up here. Right back there, the salt flats. You get a great view from here. Came back to the truck real quick. I went back to the truck
and got me my hoodie. It's a little, it's not cold, but it's probably in the 50s with wind. (wind howling) As you can probably hear, there's wind. By the way, this is my Finnish hoodie. I bought it in Finland. Hmm. And if you ever do this hike,
don't forget to look back. It is a relatively easy
hike through these canyon, uphill all the time, but not very steep. The fact that we are almost
at sea level certainly helps. It's early yet. I don't know, for some reason
I was expecting something more dramatic like. Delicate Arch or something. (techno music) Well there you have
it, the natural bridge. Yes, this is what we came to see. The trail continues here through the canyon, but I don't know how much further I want to go. Unless there is another bridge, which totally possible. In any case it is a beautiful hike here. Almost. All right, let's go back down. I decided to go a little bit further. This might be the end of the trail. I'm gonna ask those people
coming down the rocks. They say the end is a little further, so maybe some rock
climbing will be involved. (dramatic music) This part of the hike, a
little bit more challenging. All right, success. I did drop the little Sony. (sighs) They said a mile round trip. This feels a little longer than a mile. If this is the end, I'm
gonna be disappointed. (thoughtful music) I'm assuming this is the end. Okay, I thought there was
gonna be another arch, a natural bridge. All right, let's go back down. Here, this one was not in the plan. Had I known that there was gonna be so much hiking involved today, I would have brought my hat of course and have a mount on the hat, where I can put this
camera, this little camera. So I could rock climb with
both of my hands free. (triumphant music) Piece of cake. Now let's hit this one. Eh, tiny bit more difficult. There's the arch. Or natural bridge. Or I guess it is the natural bridge. Because the sticker. I don't know. The couple I asked if the
trail went much further, they emphatically said yes. As if there was something
spectacular to see. And this wasn't bad, but I
was somehow expecting more. My tip for this one: If all you care about is the natural bridge, just go there, take the selfie, post it on the soc nets
when you get a signal and turn around. If you want to continue, keep in mind you're doing it for the
mere joy and the challenge of the hike itself. And the beauty of the canyon of course. But the end could seem a
little bit anticlimactic. My two cents. Let's continue, shall we? Actually these views as you're
coming out of the canyon might be the highlight of the whole hike. Which, by the way I
did enjoy tremendously. Next, we're going to an area
called Devils Golf Course. That's incredible. (wind howling) Apparently these ever
changing salt crystals deposited by ancient salt lakes continue to be eroded to this day by the winds and the rain. Today probably particularly the winds. And I should be careful
not to fall on one of them. The edges can be particularly sharp. This was worth it, for sure. Let's continue. Let's go. (exclaims) It's hard to even open the door. It's very windy. (techno music) Our next point of interest
is called Artists Drive. And it is on this one way road. Vehicles over 25 feet prohibited. That's why we want a small RV. Under 25 feet. (jazzy music) The main thing about this
drive is the spectacular colors on the mountains caused by
oxidation of different minerals and other chemical reactions. Beautiful drive. And kind of fun with all
these curves and dips. It is almost like a roller coaster ride. Wow, amazing colors. Almost looks artificial
as if someone painted some kind of abstract mural
on the side of the mountain. We are going to see it up close now at the Artist Palette Overlook. Apparently volcanic activity
millions of years ago splashed different minerals on the slope, which were then altered by
heat and water and oxygen, creating all these different colors like a surreal painting. There is a trail if
you want to get closer, but I'm just going to admire
it from this vantage point. This is probably the part, the reason why they don't allow vehicles over 25 feet in length. It is pretty tight. Truly magnificent. Now, you know what we haven't done today? We haven't eaten. I am starting to get hunger pains, especially after that hike. So let's go back to Furnace Creek and find something to eat. These golden mountains here to the right apparently called Golden Canyon. Before putting fuel in my belly, let's put fuel in the truck. There's not another gas
station for 57 miles. Well that was probably
the most expensive gas I've ever paid. It was like what, four, I even got the receipt as a souvenir. $4.589. That's more expensive than
the Dalton Highway in Alaska, where we went. Have to put it in perspective. (laughs) - [GPS] We found a faster
route via California 190 East, which saves 12 minutes. - [GPS] Continue on this road. - Ah, the two GPSes are
fighting each other. Here, the Oasis at Death Valley, that's where I'm going to try to eat. I figure the hotel ought to
have a restaurant, right? (wind howling) I guess you enter through this tunnel. Pretty cool. I have to go on the elevator to get back. I see all this nice,
fancy oasis gardens here, but no sign of a restaurant. I'm starting to see double. Okay, perfect, more beautiful gardens but where do the guests eat? Well to make a long story short, all I could find was this very fancy, deserted, white tablecloth
restaurant with a bar. But I feel awkward eating
there all by myself. Besides I didn't feel like spending the time or the money on that, so let's find something
simple to get me by. Here's the Ranch, but I have no idea
where the restaurant is. So you know what? Let's find something even simpler. And I can always cook dinner
tonight at the campground. The sun is starting to get
close to the western horizon. And I still wanna go to that Dante's Peak or Dante's View actually. Dante's Peak was that
movie with the volcano. $5.38 for basically, probably fake food, but sometimes they say time is money. So just gonna gulp this down and go to the Dante's View point. - [GPS] Proceed to the highlighted route. - She still thinks I wanna
got to the highlighted route. Accept and route to your
previous destination. Bon appetit. Funny, I shouldn't really complain. It's been a wonderful day. Except this ordeal to find food. It always happens when
you're really hungry and you end up getting the
worst possible meal, but hey. A lot of these class
Bs all over the place. Let's go to Dante's View. I keep saying Dante's Peak, or-- - [GPS] In 200 feet turn right
on Death Valley Museum Road. (upbeat music) - [Robert] This to the
right, 20 Mule Team Canyon. Mm, another time perhaps. What a beautiful drive this is. There is Ryan, formerly a
mining camp and company town, and apparently very well preserved. But it is closed to the public. Vehicles over 25 feet length in length and trailers are prohibited on this road. But if you happen to be towing, there's a parking lot
where you can drop it and continue up to Dante's View. This is where DizTraveler claims he found one of my stickers. And oddly enough he has video to prove it. - [Man] Free in my RV, Traveling Robert. He must've been here. Ha. Hey Robert, I think you left something. - [Robert] I don't recall
dropping anything here, but hey, anything is possible, huh? And here we are, Dante's View, named after Dante Alighieri,
who wrote the Divine Comedy. This is considered the
best view of Death Valley, 5476 feet above Badwater Basin. - [GPS] Approaching
destination in 300 feet on the left side. - Well yeah, this is
one of those wow moments that can't really be properly
captured with a camera. You really had to be there. (thoughtful music) We can even see Furnace Creek
way out there in the distance. Here's a relief map of the valley. Badwater Basin, where
we were this morning. Remember? And those, those are not ants. Those are people walking the same trail I walked this morning into the salt flats. (jazzy music) The view is incredible. By the way, very, very cold, especially with the wind chill factor. And here's an even better view, if that's even possible. As the mountains begins to
cast a shadow on the valley it is time to go. Oh no. Well let's go back down. Sun is setting. (upbeat music) These roads are always more
picturesque on the way down, especially now that it is magic hour. Oo, Zabriskie Point. I want to come here tomorrow. Well, I'd say today was
a pretty productive day. Don't you think? Minitini's still there. And I'm just gonna eat and try
and get a good night's sleep. Because tomorrow we're going
to one of the most remote areas in Death Valley National Park. Bon Aapetit. Yep, it's very windy out there. Anyways, good morning! We're gonna make some, kind of a frittata. Oh, crap, with some tomatoes and spinach. And then we're gonna explore
Death Valley a little more. A little more in depth. All right. Seems like it is going to
be a beautiful day here in Death Valley. Much, much clearer,
much, much less clouds. Hey look at that, look
at the snow capped peaks. We do have some sand storms of course because of the wind. Yeah, winter climate is delightful, but the Valley bakes
under a savage summer sun. Maybe it is the masochist in me, but I would like to come in the summer just to experience it for
a few hours and then leave. Well I got me some hiker's lunch. And then, well let's do it. Well today we are going
to the Racetrack Playa, which is pretty remote. First we gotta drive about 46 miles to the Ubehebe Crater. And then take a dirt
road another 26 miles, which might as well be 100
because it is pretty bad. And you have to go painfully slow. Sounds like a great adventure, right? This is going to take most of the day. (thoughtful music) There they are, the Mesquite Sand Dunes from different angle. You can even see
Stovepipe Wells behind it. Heck, if I had a big enough lens you could probably see Minitini. I just can't get enough of this place. Death Valley is definitely
going to be near the top of my favorite natural
wonders of the world list. Hmm, flash flood damage perhaps? Let's stop here real quick at
the Grapevine Ranger Station. Use the bathroom, take a break. Scotty's Castle has been closed down. Wish I could have visited. Someday perhaps. Let's continue towards
the Racetrack Playa. (tense music) Here's the Racetrack Road entrance. But let's see the crater first. Ubehebe Crater. Half a mile across and
about 600 feet deep. Ubehebe Crater here is a
baby, only 2,000 years old. Although nobody knows for sure. Some estimate 7,000, others 800 and on the National Park
Service website it says, and I quote, possibly as
recently as 300 years ago. So who knows. Let's get out of here quickly, just in case this thing
decides to erupt again. Ubehebe, you behave. Will you? (pensive music) Well you really have to
wanna see the Racetrack. To take this road. I don't have any experience
off-roading, not really. But to me it feels like
the truck is coming apart. I'm probably going too fast too. This is part of the reason
I bought a truck, right? Besides towing, because
I wanted to be able to do stuff like this. Let's take a break. (sighs) Well it's been a relentless
uphill drive through this road. About 1/3 of the way,
not even 1/4 of the way. (wind howls) It's beautiful up here. Did I mention windy? All of a sudden we start
seeing Joshua trees all over the place. Check this out, all this,
I guess Joshua trees. Our biggest regular yucca
got really bad up here. Wow, it's like a Joshua tree forest. (upbeat music) Whoa, that's beautiful. - [GPS] Continue on Racetrack
Valley Road for eight miles. - Only eight miles to go. Yay. And what have we got here? Well this is the Teakettle Junction. Racetrack six miles and Hunter Mountain is that way. But we're going to the Racetrack and... Oh I get it, Teakettle. And they have a bunch of kettles. Okay, how's that for quirky? (chuckles) Oh man, it's cold out here. It's in the 40s, you know. Okay, six miles. It's probably gonna take
half an hour on this road. But let's do it. We've come this far. (sighs) (upbeat music) I think that might be it in the distance. Does look like it. Check that out. That's where we're going. To Racetrack Playa. I'm dying with anticipation. It's been such a long, grueling drive. And we're finally here. The washboard, pretty
intense as we get closer. Here we are, finally. The Racetrack. A curious dry lake almost
a perfect oval in shape. The oval shape resembles a racetrack. The rock formation in the
middle, the grandstand, as coined by one Phil
Townsend Hanna in 1930. The gentleman obviously
possessed great imagination. This dry lake, by the way,
exceptionally flat and level with only 1 1/2 inch
difference in elevation between the north and the south side. Let's walk towards the grandstand. (upbeat music) It is quite a sight. I am really, really glad I came. It's been a rough day
for the Colorado, but. Yep, so far so good. Knock on wood, if I can find any. It's incredible how perfectly flat it is. There go my counterparts here. Let's go see if we can
see the sailing stones. That's another nice view. And these two, they've been following me since the Ubehebe Crater. Well yeah, might as well go all the way to the end of the road, right? (thoughtful music) Let's see the sailing stones. Well here we are by the
southern end of the Playa. I don't know, I don't see any tracks. Am I missing something? Some of the stones in the Playa appear to move ever so slowly, leaving parallel tracks behind them. A mystery that wasn't solved until 2014, when they figured that
a little bit of rain combined with the freezing
and the thawing of the ground and strong breezes would
cause the rocks to move over the course of many
years, even decades, creating those faint tracks on the Playa. Fascinating, as Mr. Spock would say. I don't know why I even
bother to speak on camera in these winds. Anyways, as I was saying, fascinating. This place is fascinating even
without the sailing stones. What an extraordinary place this is. And as much as I would love to linger, it is time to start heading back. Whoo, electricity. There's a lot of static electricity here. Whoo. I'm very glad I came here. Not looking forward to that drive back. (pensive music) With all this movement, the
Fitbit thinks that I'm walking. And it just congratulated
me for 10,000 steps today. (laughs) Yep, some parts you have
to go painfully slow. Now entering the Joshua Tree forest, which is about the halfway point I guess. Well there's a whole
forest of these cacti. It's really cold. We're almost 5,000 feet
above sea level here. I would not advise taking
this road in a passenger car. (sighs) Almost there. Check it out. How beautiful. Well we are almost at the end of our off-roading adventure here. Well not off-roading, but
you know what I mean, right? And I must say the
Colorado performed great. Except for almost losing my
tonneau cover in the process and damaging, to some extent, pretty much everything
I had stored back there, including the generator, some CDs and everything is full of sand. Other than that I'd say
today's trip was a success. I've had enough dirt
roads for a while here. We're not gonna do this again today. Whoo, pavement. Let's stop by the crater one more time so we can see it again,
now in the afternoon light. (thoughtful music) So beautiful in this afternoon light. Besides, it is good to take
a break from the drive. I need to stretch my legs. Yes, this is exactly what I needed after that forced massage. Let me show you what
happened here. (laughs) Besides the truck being completely. Yeah, I need to go to a car wash. My tonneau cover shifted. This side. (laughs) And I might have lost one of the rubber, you know seals. I'm gonna remove it now
and see what I can do. (thoughtful music) One last time gassing up here. It's Furnace Creek. It looks like a painting, right? Like a postcard. Through the glass. And that's our total. (upbeat music) We have time for one
more thing here today. And it is magic hour, so we're going to go to Zabriskie Point. Well I'm sure I was
saying something profound, but you know, the wind. That seems to be a pretty easy hike, just 1/4 mile up this ramp. (jazzy music) Zabriskie Point here
should be a fitting end to our time in Death Valley. Which unfortunately is coming to an end. Tomorrow we're going to Las Vegas. But it's not over yet. In any case, greetings
from the moon, or Mars, or whatever planet this is. And with this view we're gonna
say goodbye to Death Valley. We certainly didn't get to see everything. But I think we hit most of
the main points of interest. We could easily spend two,
three, four more days here and still leave without seeing everything. Death Valley is just that
vast and that diverse. I'm sure we will return
some day to see the rest. Maybe Scotty's Castle
will be open by then, huh? It's such a magical place. (generator rumbling) Hmm, still works. (thoughtful music) Well good morning. And greetings one more time
from Death Valley National Park. Today we're leaving. We're going to Las Vegas. Beautiful cloudless day
here at Stovepipe Wells. We have a very frigid morning here. It was in the mid 30s. (thoughtful music) Death Valley, definitely top 10 if not top five of National
Parks I've visited so far. I was expecting it to be
good, but not this good. And the greatest thing is the variety because you have all kinds of things. You have mountains, you have the Playa, you have the salt flats,
you have badlands, you have regular desert,
you have sand dunes. Well this window is really dirty. Anyways, we're going to Las Vegas. But we might not do much in Las Vegas. I wanna see what's around Las Vegas. I mean we've been to Las Vegas before. And you know do some
chores or things like that. Maybe an oil change for the truck. Car wash for certain. And then we'll go to Lake
Mead or some nature place. - [GPS] Take the next left
onto California 190 East. - Well enjoy the ride. Let's head east, into Nevada. (upbeat music) Well, now we know why they
call it Nevada, right? Which happens to be Spanish
word for snow covered, snow capped, even snow storm. I can only imagine the
first Spaniard who saw these and said Nevada, Sierra Nevada! Before you go, remember
that all this music is available at the website
TravelingRobert.com. Also other merchandise and the blog, the newsletter, the podcast. As always, thank you so much for watching. And see you on the road. Oo, the Nevada sign! (bright music) (soft rock music)
