Zabriskie Point | Essential places to visit in Death Valley
Zabriskie Point is an essential stop off when you’re travelling through Death Valley
After a brief stay of one night only in Vegas, we made our way through Death Valley to Lone Pine—chosen mostly as a reasonable place to stay after the long drive. Our first stop was Zabriskie Point.
The geology is just as fascinating as any of the places we’d been to by this point, but for the sake of my brain and yours I’ll simply offer a few brief Cliff notes: 9 million years ago Lake Manly began forming here, which then dried up 5 million years ago due to the regional mountains building to the west. These mountains influenced the already somewhat arid climate to become drier, leading to the landscape we know today. It’s weird, breathtaking, and—perhaps because I’m dramatic—feels dangerous. Then again, there are signs everywhere reminding you to drink water and such.
If your mate says, “I wanna go Thailand and hang with my brother and cousin", you know what to do. You ingratiate yourself into the plan, because Thailand. It was my first and, so far, only trip to Asia and I’ve been dreaming about those seas and skies ever since.
Seeking solace, healing, sanctuary?
You’ll find it in the Lake District, in the north of the UK. This is where you go to breath, smell the freshness, know yourself.
Leeds has a train station. Under that train station runs a canal. When it rains that looks canal swell, like it would swallow you whole. It really would.
Let it bee duly noted that if you stand too close to the sea, you’ll be warned away. The Giants Causeway is manned by tour shepherds, and it’s not as though they’re killjoys, but apparently I was pushing the limits. In fairness, it wouldn’t have been great to get washed away.
It’s the second deepest lake in the U.S. and the water is so pure it almost meets the standard of commercially distilled water—just 0.004% off.
Keough Hot Springs is an excellent place to while away a morning. With the mountains on both sides and electricity pylons overhead, it’s a bizarrely beautiful spot.
After a brief frolic we drove an hour down the road and pulled in to watch the stars. It was after sundown, before moonrise, and I’ve never seen a sky like it.
Just as we passed a few warning signs heading onto the long, unending road into the heart of it, the GPS started going crazy—it kept trying to have us make a u-turn right in the middle of nowhere, off-road, to head into non-existence.
It’s weird, breathtaking, and—perhaps because I’m dramatic—feels dangerous. Then again, there are signs everywhere reminding you to drink water and such.
Highlights included Vegas being dubbed “Atomic City” in the ‘50s, since mushroom clouds could be seen from Vegas during nuclear testing in the desert, and the dark history of mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, who were all up in that gambling biz.