ALL TIME LOW

On Monday the 13th we hit an all time low here with the "ultimate off road adventure" ,211 feet below sea level that is. That is the field elevation of "Furnace Creek" airport, (L06) in Death Valley. As you can see from the Photos, there is not much there! Not much Humidity, not much shade. There is a lot of heat, 110 at the least, some fuel and a "Pilot's lounge" complete with a bathroom, a chair, and two "phoneless cords" (cell service is OK).

A call to (760) 786-2345 gets you the front desk the the Furnace Creek Hotel, and a courtesy car will gladly pick you up, and the lunch buffet is not too bad. If you need fuel, they can arrange someone from the gas station to go out and pump some expensive 100 octane for you, but I suggest you plan on landing with return fuel.

Flying over from KTSP required threading the dreaded "Trona Gap" which is a narrow and not easy to define corridor between R-2505 (China Lake NAWS) and R-2524 (Edwards AFB), then hanging a hard right over Trona.

Dropping into Death Valley itself is visual overload. It is as the same time incredibly bleak, and otherworldly. Impossible for a camera to do it juistice. To think that this was once a giant lake is hard to picture. About thirty nautical miles south of L06 is the lowest point in the USA, Minus 282 feet below sea level, and to think it is less than 70 NM due west from the highest point in the Continental US, Mt. Whitney, at a plus 14,491 feet above sea level.

There are jeeps to rent, tours, visitor's centers, a museum, lots of rocks, a gift shop or two. Bring LOTS of water, and good comfortable shoes, sunscreen (the Rangers reccomend lightweight LONGSLEEVE shirts and LONG pants rather than shorts to avoid rapid dehydration and sunburn).

It is worth the flight, and seeing your altimeter read "backwards" on short final is a bit odd, but anyone who has not flown out here is missin a real treat.