Death Valley, 88m below sea level (Badwater Basin)
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the hottest region of the country
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a land of naked rock and spectacular geology
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Death Valley
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Death Valley National Park extends into the highlands above the valley
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Great Basin high desert far above the valley floor
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In late spring, this land is carpeted in flowers
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Death Valley National Park
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Death Valley National Park
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Dave Groenfeldt and I surveyed 40mi of the monument boundary
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Dave Groenfeldt
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Stone artifacts left from prehistoric hunter/gatherer camps blend into the desert pavement
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sometimes we found stone rings from ancient campfires
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rumors of gold brought prospectors and speculators in the 19th century
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their towns boomed, but most are now abandoned (Rhyolite)
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a few quirky individualists hang on
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the one remaining "thriving metropolis" of Beatty, NV
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we helicoptered to the crest of the Grapevine Mountains
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and hiked out over two days
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near the crest of the Grapevine Mountains
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in the mountains we recorded rock shelters with textile fragements mixed with lithic debris
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a low-elevation rock shelter with grinding slabs
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an empty landscape with roads that lead to ???
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dreams of riches fade as the desert reclaims its own
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