Woke early and left the hotel with the sunrise at 6:30. Drove west to Death Valley national Park where the temperature got to 96.

Walked the badwater salt flats at 280 feet below sea level, drove artists drive, walked a bit of Golden canyon and stopped at the sand dunes. Also walked to Zabriskie point for an overlook. All very spectacular but not quite as desolate as we thought it would be.

The drive west out of the park was over steep mountains and the new brakes didn’t enjoy being over heated. Got down the other side and after cooling off at a subway, drove a short distance to some BLM land for a windy but peaceful night with views towards the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.