HIKING DEATH VALLEY: A DEATH-DEFYING EXPERIENCE

You’d think with sixty-some years of experience under my burgeoning belt, 212 years between the four of us (me, Jimmy, my brother Chris, and my son Ryan), dumb decisions would be a thing of the past.  Experience, after all, is the best teacher.  So says this retired teacher.

Of course, travel is all about new experiences; which is simply my way of rationalizing our recent near-death experience.  After all, we were experiencing Death Valley for the first time; which is to say, we had no idea the real dangers of hiking in 116 degree Fahrenheit temperatures.   So says dumb and dumber!  

We obviously had trouble reading the fine print, which said 'Walking after 10 AM not recommended.'

We’d spent the better part of the day making our way to Death Valley, flying into Vegas and then driving the remaining 120 miles to this geological desert wonder. With time slipping away, we were determined to make the most of our overnight visit.  What could be the harm in an afternoon hike through Death Valley’s Natural Bridge Canyon?   

We hit the dusty trail immediately, lamenting not having rented a jeep as we traversed the rocky dirt road leading to the canyon.  

We were anxious to hit the dusty trail.

We’d donned hats and an ample supply of sunscreen before exiting the car; we weren’t complete idiots when it came to spending time in the sun!  Ryan had even thought to grab a bottle of water from the small cooler we’d stocked in preparation for our Death Valley visit.

Look closely and you might just see a smidgen of the water bottle in Ryan's right hand.

Did we know the body can lose up to a half-gallon of water (as in per hour) via sweat just keeping the body cool in this desert environment?  Obviously, not! We picked up that tidbit of information when we made it to the Visitor's Center the day after our hike.  

Let’s do the math; that I know.  We had 12 ounces of water between the four of us. There are 8 ounces in a cup; 2 cups in a pint; 2 pints in a half gallon.    

Sorry, I went into auto mode after years and years of kitchen duty, not to mention all the years of teaching math.  The bottom line: hiking a hot desert canyon in the middle of the afternoon necessitates a minimum of 32 ounces of water per person per hour to insure proper hydration.  The alternative; heat stroke, possibly death.           

So glad we didn't become a statistic.

Ah, yes!  I'm here to report, experience is often the best teacher.  The rub?  Living through the experince to come away with the lesson learned.  

Our experience was as timeless as it was educational.      

Gateway to the last two million years; and hell.

Millions and millions of years had gone into the creation of this magnificant valley.   

Death Valley's Badwater Basin; as beautiful as it was hot.

Walking the dry, rocky riverbed (in geological terms, an alluvial fan of water-washed and sorted sands, silt, gravels and boulders), I envisioned the once raging river that had sculpted this magnificent canyon so long ago; I marveled at the power of nature to shape our world so eloquently and ferociously.    

As the photos suggest, I was usually at the back of the pack and continually losing ground.

Large boulders, randomly deposited along the riverbed, were a testament to that power, to the glaciers that had come and gone during the last ice age.     

I wondered if we'd taken a wrong turn and walked all the way to Boulder, Colorado.

By the time we'd hiked the canyon to the natural bridge,  both Jimmy and I were beginning to feel the effects of dehydration.   

Voila! The natural bridge; the motivation behind today's lesson.

“You guys go on ahead,” Jimmy said, settling on a boulder in the middle of the riverbed, just past the natural bridge.   

“I’m feeling a little dizzy.”

The heights along of the canyon walls were dizzying.

“Maybe we should go back,” I suggested, eyeing Jimmy, even as the pounding in my head grew in intensity; even as Chris and Ryan, the youngest members of our foursome, forged ahead, seemingly unaffected by the oppressive heat.  

The Energizer Bunnies; they kept going, and going, and going. Of course, they had water.

Did you know the human brain is made up of approximately 85% water?   Brain cells need two times more energy as any other cell in the body.  Water provides that energy more effectively than any other substance.  Studies have shown that if you’re 1% dehydrated, you will likely have a 5% decrease in cognitive function. Deprived of water over long periods of time, the human brain will actually shrink. Holy headache!  I need all the brain cells I can hang onto.  What was I thinking, going into that canyon empty-handed?  

Actually, I wasn’t exactly empty-handed.  I had remembered my camera.   

I know; apparently I was dehydrated long before we’d headed into that canyon.  It’s the only rational conclusion for the choices I made that day; that, and my lack of experience when it comes to the desert.

We did make it out of that canyon the same way we went in; on our own steam, an hour later.     

The sun, and temperature, never did let up during our hike.

You might call it dumb luck (emphasis on the word dumb) given all we had to show for our death-defying experience was a headache (me), dizziness (Jim), and an upset stomach(Chris) that lasted most of the evening.  We all retired early.    

My son Ryan, the youngest, healthiest, and obviously smartest member of our group, the one carrying the water, came through the experience unscathed.  

Lesson learned: it sucks to be old, dumb, and dehydrated.  Drink lots of water! Eliminating two out of three ain't so bad, after all.