We had a good time at Death Valley today. To help celebrate “Dark Sky”, they brought scientists from NASA Goddard, JPL, and other places to give talks. I learned why there are parts of the Moon that never receive sunlight. I’ve read that many times. It always seemed a little off. I just assumed the scientists have been thinking of this a lot more than I. Actually, the answer is quite simple. The Earth’s declination is about 25 degrees, Moon’s is less than 2. So the sun doesn’t change its path with seasonal changes. We also learned a lot about the mission to look for life in Europa. We even learned that last year’s Dark Sky was a bust. They had the heaviest rain ever recorded. Water couldn’t be absorbed quickly so a temporary lake was formed. There was mud everywhere. Then high winds came in and moved the lake about 2 miles downwind. Needless to say, nobody wanted to put up their expensive telescopes.

Besides the interesting talks, we visited interesting sites. “Artists Palette” highlights all the colors provided by the minerals in rock formations.

Natural Bridge is distinctive enough that Danita and I had our lunch there. We think it was a bit of a bust. Access requires driving 1.5 miles on a rough gravel road, then walking 2,000 feet uphill in loose gravel. When we got there, we found the formation just isn’t very exciting.

“Badwater Basin” got its name when somebody’s mules refused to drink the extremely salty water around the salt flats. This is the lowest point in the US.

Here’s a site we in the eastern US don’t see. Salt in the foreground; snow in the background.

Our last challenge in Death Valley is to get dinner. Dark Sky pulled a few extra visitors this weekend. Park attendance was about the same as on the 3-day President’s weekend. Food facilities are inadequate to the task of feeding all the visitors. Breakfast is easy for us, we’re up early. Lunch is even easier — crackers at extraordinary sites. Dinner is not easy. The restaurants that accept reservations are booked up to 8:30 in the evening. Informal restaurants are slammed with people. I can’t imagine what the crowds must be like in the summer. (Actually, I can’t imagine why anybody would come in the summer. But they do. In droves.) There is one dinner place that opens at 5:00. We will try arriving at 4:50 so we can be near the head of the line. We’ll see how well that works. If it’s too outrageous, we have a few crackers left.

I hope this finds everyone doing well.