Thanks to the tip from our British friends we headed for Dante's View for sunrise. The Pontiac's handling at high speed on narrow desert roads leaves a lot to be desired but we reached the 5475 foot summit just as the first rays of light made their way over the Greenwater Range. From Dante's View you can see across the main valley to the Panamint Range already lit in the golden California light. The next stop was Zabriskie Point, location of the cover photo on U2's album “The Joshua Tree” I hiked down to the dry river bed explored until the rapidly rising desert heat indicated that I should head back. Badwater was our next visit. At 282 feet below sea level this is the lowest point in the western hemisphere. Lucky for us it was still in the shadow of the mountains. As the name indicates there is water here, a small pool of water with a high salt content. The early morning reflections made for some nice photos. It wasn't long before the heat started to reach the unbearable level, and we needed to head for higher ground. A quick stop at the sand dunes and a hike in Mosaic Canyon completed another visit to Death Valley. There was still much driving to be done if we were going to get all the way to Big Sur by sunset. The sun set long before we were out of the central valley of California and the road we chose, Highway 58, was far to twisting to get to the sea so we picked the town of Atascadero for lodging. “If people and their manner of living were alike everywhere, there would not be much point in moving from one place to another.” -- Paul Bowles

Mileage Start: 4581.5 End: 4960.0 Day 13: 378.5 States California