Death Valley

I know what you are thinking. Sure it has a scary name, but is Death Valley really that dangerous? Yes it is, and that’s a fact. Just take a look at these scary Death Valley place names, Badwater Basin, Funeral Peak, Devil’s Hole and Furnace Creek.

Let me break it down for those who have never visited the hottest, driest and most snake infested part of North America. OK, it’s not really infested by snakes, but it is both very hot and dry. Death Valley is hot, so hot that at 134F, Furnace Creek held the record for the highest air temperature recorded on Earth, and in that same year of 1922 the ground temperature was measured at over 200F. And while we are on the subject of records, during the summer of 2001, Death Valley recorded 154 consecutive days of temperatures in excess of 100F.

At 282ft below sea level, Death Valley is in the top 10 of Earths lowest elevations. My ride starts at Lone Pine, California and finishes in Las Vegas, Nevada 5 days later, during the ride I will climb to just over 5500ft above and descend to 229ft below sea level. The pictures displayed in the slideshow to the right are actual Google Street View images from the route I will be taking. Miles and miles of not much but the desert, and ups and downs.

Take a look at any Death Valley map and you will see that the surrounding landscape is dotted with beautifully named lakes, names that conjure beautiful images of mirrored sunsets and oasis views. Silver, Mesquite and Coyote Lake are to name but a few. But look again and you will see that every lake is dry, a baron dust bowl of dusty dust. Death Valley is dry, so dry that in the years of 1929 and 1953 no rain was recorded. The driest stretch on record was only just over ½ an inch of rain over a 3 year period. These record temperatures may have been recorded during the summer months of July and August, and I will be travelling during November, but even in November it will be hotter then a jalapeño in high heels. The scorpions, spiders, killer bees, death ants and rattle snakes will still be there, and they will still be hungry.

So keep all of this in mind when you’re thinking about how much to sponsor me. Oh, did I forget to mention the sponsorship? As Death Valley is so dry, I thought it appropriate to try and raise some money for WaterAid. Check out the following link to see how WaterAid helps those who struggle in some of the driest places on Earth.

http://www.wateraid.org/



Thanks, Kenny.