Death Valley

Another national park, another surprise. We had no idea that there's so much to see in a place that has 'death' in its name. As we entered the park we were impressed with the beautiful colors of the rocks and their impossible shapes.
We pulled over by a view point of carved rocks. There's so little rain in this area (5mm a year) and still, there's water evidence everywhere.
The next day we headed south to the part of the park that is under sea level (-100m). Devil's Golf Course is a land covered with salt deposit. It seems crispy but actually it's very firm when stepping on it.
As we entered this salt field we saw a small water pool and in it crystals of salt, so delicate and beautiful.

In the evening we attended a ranger-led program about the history of the park. The ranger showed a slide of a rock mushroom and said that he's not allowed to talk so much about it because it's sacred to the local Indians (Shoshone tribe) and they asked the park authorities not to mention its location. Of course that intrigued us to go look for it, and voila!... we found it the next day
We hiked in the Golden Canyon, the trail goes inside a narrow and then wider canyon with tilted walls.

We've met some wacky rangers in the past, but ranger Jay surpasses them all! He's a cave freak and gave a talk in the visitor center about caves in the park. He dressed up as if he was going to "dive" into a cave and crawled under some chairs and ladder to show how narrow caves can be. It was hilarious! Best stand up comedy show ever!

We spent the second night in a campground by those picturesque dunes
And another quiz for Cathy - who's that? (hint: try googling it!)
So we're back in California, almost finishing our loop. The plan is to visit the beaches north of Los Angeles and then hopefully it will stop snowing in Sequoia park so we can visit there too and finally Yosemite.