Tuesday morning, we woke up to a fiery sunrise behind the hotel.
The area is named for the arrowweed that grows in the area that resembles bundled corn in the field after harvest.
Continuing towards Furnace Creek, we made another quick stop at Harmony Borax Works.
It was really windy so we didn't walk around too much, just a couple photos.
I did run down Mustard Canyon Road a little ways to check out some of the ruins along here.
Then we stopped at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to get a map and the ranger gave us a list of locations in the park that were used to film the original Star Wars. Our next stop was Golden Canyon, but along the way, we had to pull over to see a rainbow in the valley.
The trailhead was just past this point. After getting our stuff together, we set off on the trail into Golden Canyon.
This was an exceptionally beautiful hike and ended up being my favorite in Death Valley.
The rock walls of the canyon were a beautiful golden-yellow color with stripes and patches of various other colors.
There were a number of side canyons as well to climb up. Most were too steep to go very far.
The lack of any visible life gave the canyon an otherworldly feel to it.
A little further we followed another side canyon up. This one wasn't too steep and led to beautiful rock outcrops with striped patterns.
Turning around, the view back towards Golden Canyon was breathtaking.
Soon we came to a split and went straight towards Red Cathedral.
The trail was gradual at first and then became more steep and narrow as we approached Red Cathedreal.
The last part required passing through a very narrow opening and then I climbed up to get an amazing panoramic view.
This was my favorite viewpoint in the park, just so beautiful with the striped mountains stretching around.
I took a break up here to enjoy the view for a while and talked with an older guy who also made the climb up.
From here, we headed back down and to the trail split towards Zabriskie Point. The trail initially headed up the badlands towards Manly Beacon.
The views of Golden Canyon and the badlands were just fantastic.
The trail ran around the base of Manly Beacon and then dropped back down into the badlands.
The area was really beautiful and stakes made following the trail easy.
The painted hills and complete lack of vegetation in here made it really beautiful.
At the trail split, we turned left on Badlands Loop and this portion of the trail stayed up on the ridges.
There were great views of the badlands and Manly Beacon from along here.
The trail continued along the ridges and then dropped down into the gulch.
From here, I went left to climb up to Zabriskie Point.
The views were great, but it was really windy up here so I didn't stay here long.
Then we climbed back down and got back on the loop. The second half of the loop ran through the gulch.
The views from the lower part were very different than the upper part of the trail.
At the far end of the loop, we got on Gower Gulch Trail to head south.
The sun had finally come out and the views were different from the start of the hike.
At the end of the gulch, we turned on the connector trail to hike back to the trailhead.
The full circuit hike was really fabulous and was my favorite hike in Death Valley.
From here, we drove south a little further on Badwater Road and then turned on Artists' Drive. This one-way road leads through a beautiful area of colorful mountains. The road is very narrow, so not many places to pull off, but found one about a mile in to get out and enjoy the views.
About half-way through the drive, we stopped at Artist's Palette, one of the most beautiful spots in the park with the fabulously-colored hills.
There's a parking area here and paths to climbs around.
This was certainly one of the most beautiful spots in the park.
Oxidized minerals formed the shades of blue, green and purple.
After exploring a bit, we headed back.
The rest of the drive was scenic but few spots to get out and walk or take pictures. At the end of the drive, we got back on Badwater Road and headed to Inn at Death Valley. At the turn, there was a coyote in the road!
Checking in, the lady at the front desk said there were a couple of coyotes that hung around the hotel. After settling into the room, we went to the ranch and had dinner at Last Kind Words Saloon. Our steaks were good, but prices were a lot higher in Furnace Creek than Stovepipe Wells.
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