Standing at the entrance to Death Valley and our first stop on this adventure is the old Ghost Town of Rhyolite, a long abandoned gold mining community and the set for many movies and documentaries. We then enter the center of Death Valley from the east sort of like entering a foreign and strange world of endless desert, vast valleys, harshly sculpted peaks, garish colors, superbly adapted plants and animals. All things around us are visible expressions of geologic time reckoned in millions of years. The driest, hottest climate imaginable - this is Death Valley, an immense, wild land that man has never tamed. Next is the wonderful view from Hell's Gate, then on to Badwater at 282 feet below sea level. The majestic mountains, colorful canyons, volcanic craters and salt pinnacles all make this trip a photographic sightseers dream come true.