Darwin Falls at 118° Fahrenheit
Darwin Falls with the reeds on the left. What a beauty! I found myself passing Darwin Falls trailhead this past summer en route to the Sierra Mountains. As cool as they would be, Death Valley was roasting at 118° F. Though I'm no stranger to triple-digit temperature, this was a new record for hiking conditions. I was literally passing through in the middle of the day, with the sun directly overhead. One step out of the air-conditioned Subaru and I was uncomfortably hot. I felt like I was standing too close to a roaring campfire the whole time. 2 miles and I could see no sign of shade. Taking only my hat, water bottle, camera and tripod, I marched off as efficiently as I could. Marching in place in a sauna would be the best training for this hike. After 20 minutes of hiking up the wash, water and trees appeared in the canyon. Grateful for the shade, I hopped over a few puddles and then water flowed slowly down the sh...