If you ever wish to prepare your mind for what it could look and feel like on another planet, visit Death Valley National Park (DVNP).

Death Valley NP | Planet Earth Never Looked so Otherworldly

Tourists roll through this California desert park to enjoy views of a terrain of otherworldly landscapes.   DVNP is the epitome of extreme climate with average rainfall of less than 2 inches (5 cm) per year. DVNP is  is recognized as among the world’s hottest places on earth.  With our world becoming  hotter every year, who knows if the thermometer will climb higher than the recorded 136°F  57.77778° C?

Of course, it’s not hot in DVNP all year long, otherwise nobody would be able to set foot on that land skin-EVER. It was actually because of its “comfortable” winter temperatures that we decided to visit this fascinating place during our children’s winter break.  In December, the average high temperature is 65°F | 18°C and average low is 38°F | 3°C.

We experienced some unpleasantly cold and windy trend-bucking evenings while camping in Furnace Creek. One morning we awoke to see that rare precipitation had fallen during the night: it snowed. In today’s photograph, the dusting of snow is visible on the mountains in the background to prove it.  You may have also read of the rare occurrence of wildflower superblooms taking place at many locations in the park right now because of increased moisture.  When we were there, wildflowers were starting to poke through the soil. In one of my future posts, I’ll show what a tease it can be to see one solitary bright color on the desolate landscape.

The above image kickstarts my serving you some of my favorite images from DVNP. I realize many of you reading this will never travel to this distant location. Enjoy the dose of armchair tourism in my upcoming posts, and stay tuned!