It is a land of extremes. Hottest, driest, lowest: A superlative desert of streaming sand dunes, snow-capped mountains, multicolored rock layers, water-fluted canyons and 3 million acres of stone wilderness. Home to the Timbisha Shoshone and to plants and animals unique to the harshest deserts. A place of legend and a place of trial. Death Valley.

Our trip into the Valley of Death started on March 23rd. It was going to be a trial for us and the new rig (Toyota FJ Cruiser picked up 2 weeks earlier). We had to prepare to be totally self-sufficient for the duration of your trip. For 5 days, we moved about this remote, starkingly beautiful part of California. We logged over 500 miles of travel in the park, driving on everything from smooth paved roads to rocky, rutted-out steep trails on the sides of mountains. We never camped in the same spot twice, always wanting to explore a different area of the park. It was the first time we tried this expedition style of traveling/camping and we fell in love with it. We returned back to civilization in Lone Pine, CA on the 27th, where we decided to stay the night and get a good meal before heading back home to San Diego in the morning.