Trip Notes

Death Valley, one of the hottest places on earth, was seriously cold. I wore four layers including a down jacket at all times outside. Of course Chris only had on one short sleeve shirt and a thin fleece jacket - not even wind block - and he was fine, but he has a weird internal heating system. Other than that the most remarkable thing for me about the desert was the total silence. We didn't get away from heavily visited areas or roads too much, but when we did the silence was wonderful and a bit eerie.
We did a few hikes with the boys, but they still want to be carried much of the time - especially over rough terrain. Beck is probably close to 50 lbs. and when he rides on my shoulders he grips my head like a vice and grinds his little chin into my scalp. It sort of feels like wearing a heavy backpack on your neck while someone is pulling your hair out by the roots. Not good. We did what we could and it was incredible to be there doing it. I'll try to get a little slide show with more pictures up tomorrow.