I was going to go to Death Valley as the second part of my trip. But then I read about the 100-year wildflower bloom in the LA Times. So I figured I'd better head out to Death Valley first, in the middle of the week, rather than deal with crazy crowds on the weekend. I really had no idea how huge the park is or how much there is to see. Please forgive me if I have mis-identified any of the flora. The colors on the pamphlet I bought aren't always true.

In the 1800's a group of emigrants got stranded here on their way out west. Amazingly only one scout died, and they were eventually led out of the valley, through what is now known as Emigrant Canyon. As they came over the last crest out of the valley, one of the women in the party turned back and said "Goodbye, death valley". The name stuck.