Death Valley, July rains, 2021

[Dr. Tequila]

Broke in the van, bone stock, climbing to the mountain tops through dirt and rain and mud, and ran into grinning Mercedes testing engineers in their "beyond new" cars in the desert's wide open spaces along the way. I think they were happy to see the van out there! It was just us and them and 70 degree weather for a single day. Good trip in the van

...then we went to Seattle and back...

here's some good snaps from along the way

 

[Kajtek1]

It is August rains this year

Roughly 1,000 people trapped in Death Valley due to severe flooding

Cars buried in debris, flooded buildings and roughly 1,000 people trapped. The National Park Service (NPS) says that rainfall has caused “substantial flooding” in Death Valley National Park, leading to the closure of all roads leading in and out of the park on Friday.

www.fox5vegas.com

 

[CJPJ]

Adventure do

 

[Mike DZ]

Who thought surfing would be a Death Valley sport ...

 

[Kajtek1]

It is not enough water for surfing.
Take into account 2 things
1 desert is hardly absorbing any water
2 DV does not have any water outlet. It is all up to ground absorption, when most of water has to evaporate.

 

[AK_Sprinter]

It is not enough water for surfing.

No. But a few years back I recall hearing about some folks who paddled kayaks around Badwater after a rain. It only takes a few inches of water for a kayak, and after a big rain Badwater was briefly one big but very shallow lake.

 

[CJPJ]

 

[Midwestdrifter]

Should be a pretty good wildflower bloom this fall/winter. It will probably be a couple years until all those roads are paved again. It will take a month to get a decent gravel road in many of those areas I think. Especially with summer temps slowing the work down.

Random fact, the badwater basin was a big lake during and just after the last ice age.

 

[CJPJ]

A good blade operator could have that stretch of highway cleared of debris and the holes filled in, all in one days shift.

 

[Midwestdrifter]

A good blade operator could have that stretch of highway cleared of debris and the holes filled in, all in one days shift.
View attachment 229078

Sure, but a dirt road is a far cry from the layered and compacted base of a good gravel highway, and even further from a paved road. Not to mention all the side roads, and the damage the area around the visitor center.

 

[glasseye]

Somebody's gotta say it: "That'll buff out."

 

[CaseyTibbs]

Does anyone know how the Northern end of the park faired? Primarily, the road to Eureka Dunes?

 

[John Robins]

THAT'S COOL!