Death Valley
Death Valley National Park boasts a number of superlatives.
Badwater Basin is the lowest spot in North America at 282 feet below sea level. There's a roadside stop and sign proclaiming this, which attracts a lot of tourists, so to get this naked picture, the guy above said he walked way out onto the Badwater salt flat until the tourists were just little specks.
Death Valley also holds the record for the highest temperature ever measured anywhere on Earth, 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 C), at a place called Furnace Creek, not pictured here. Summer is not a good time to visit!
If you go hiking in Death Valley, it's important to bring plenty of water, not necessarily like this guy is doing (is that a bottle of wine in his hand?)
Another Death Valley curiosity is Racetrack Playa, a salt flat where rocks have mysteriously moved across the surface by themselves, leaving trails behind them. No one had ever seen the rocks move until 2013, when they were observed being pushed by a windblown sheet of melting ice that had formed on the playa.
Not all of Death Valley is desolate. I've seen it in the spring, when some areas were covered by wildflowers. This guy is hiking up a side canyon called Fern Canyon.
There are also man-made points of interest. This guy is investigating the Lipincott Mine.
But by far the best spot to be clothes-free in Death Valley is at Saline Valley Warm Springs. Enough people enjoy the springs nude that someone posted this "Bare Crossing" sign.
You can also camp at Saline Valley Warm Springs. Here's one camper.
And here's another.
The springs provide water for a series of pools. This one is called Wizard Pool.
A second pool.
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And a third pool is shaded by palm trees. Even in Death Valley, where there's water, there's life – and there's skinny-dipping.
4 comments:
Great: I love their nudism!
It's a very fascinating place. Been there a few times, but never hiked nude or been to the springs. I need to change that.
Very neat!
I used to love camping with my dad. We'd set up our tent, strip, and spend four or five days naked. Never really hiked, but my dad's buddy, who owned the land, and the forest ranger, joined us skinny dipping. A couple policemen came by, but while they did not strip, never batted an eyelash at our being naked. I think hiking naked out west would be terrific.
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