Zion to Mammoth Lakes, by Way of Death Valley
Our California adventure continues, and today was definitely a different kind of day!
We said goodbye to Zion and headed toward Mammoth Lakes, driving through the Virgin River Gorge, past Las Vegas, across the Mojave Desert, and through little desert towns like Pahrump and Beatty.
Then we dropped below sea level into Death Valley.
OMG. It was HOT. It was 122 degrees... let me say that again...
IT WAS 122 DEGREES!! š„µ
We stopped at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, then took Highway 190 up and over the Panamint Range. The road climbs steeply through Towne Pass, almost 5,000 feet, before dropping into Panamint Valley. Once we crossed the valley, the Sierra Nevada came into view, and we drove along the edge of the Inyo Mountains all the way to Mammoth Lakes.
This was the most nerve-racking driving day of the whole trip. My mom led the way, and I followed behind her in my own car through every mountain pass. Iām not going to lie, those roads were intense! But I stayed calm, took it one curve at a time, and made it through. My mom says she was white-knuckling it the whole way, worrying about me, but she also told me she was really proud of me. That meant a lot. š
Death Valley tested us, and the mountains were no joke, but we made it to Mammoth Lakes!
