8 Must See Highlights in Death Valley National Park

I fell in love with astrophotography as of late, so I decided to research into parks within the States recommended for stargazing. Even though stargazing at night was where Death Valley originally caught my interest at first, I ended up liking a lot of spots within the park just as much. You can expect very little to non-existing light pollution at night in the park, so prepare yourself for a stargazing feast under the starry night.

The main reason I chose Death Valley was because there is a direct flight between Vegas and Philly. The park is roughly 2 hours drive from Vegas, which isn't so terrible if I want to make a weekend trip after work on Friday!

Here are the top 8 must-see highlights from my trip with 1 honorable mention that unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to make a stop at, Devil's Golf Course.

1. Dante's View
2. Zabriskie Point
3. Golden Canyon
4. Artists Palette
5. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
6. Badwater Basin
7. Racetrack Playa
8. Ubehebe Crater

The first point of interest I would recommend is Dante's View. Standing atop the mountain hill here allows you to capture the entire view of the valley as well as the Badwater Basin, and it's the lowest point in all of North America with a record of 282 ft. below sea level.

Did you know a shot of Dante's View was used to recreate an overlooking sight of the spaceport town Mos Eisley on the fictional planet Tatooine in the film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope?

Next up, the Zabriskie Point! This was definitely my favorite spot in the park. Not only did the valley have a unique landscape of erosion, but it also offered multi-colors badlands with stunning rock formations.

Did I mention that Zabriskie Point is also one of the most famous sunrises or sunset photo spots? During both sunrise and sunset, the sunlight brings out the contrast and enhances the color variance that mother nature grants us daily.

Since Zabriskie Point was only a few minutes from The Inn at Death Valley, I also came here to stargaze at night.

Here is the Red Cathedral at the end of 3 miles hike

When I reached the Golden Canyon, I realized I had plenty of spare time before sunset, so I decided to take a hike in the canyon (which was roughly 3 miles one way.) Unfortunately, nature would prove me underestimating its might yet again, as I found myself slightly dehydrated and sunburnt due to the lack of shades throughout the hike, so you should certainly come here well prepared.

Artists Palette was located on Artist Drive, which was a small loop. Its vibrant colors looked absolutely surreal, and it would look even better at sunset (if you are not impressed with this stunning view already)!

Mysterious spot on Artist Drive

This mysterious spot cannot be found on the map because it didn't have an official name. However, the view was just as good as Artists Palette but in a different way.

Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, is essentially a giant salt flat. I found it interesting that there is a sign suggesting people not to walk on it after 10am because of how hot it is in this area!

The best time to visit here would be sunset because the salt flats were facing west, which makes it another popular sunset spot. consider walking further inside if you want to avoid the crowd. The further inside you get, the easier you can find some interesting hexagon-shaped formation of salt flat on the ground.

The last activity of the day was viewing sunset at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes before stargazing at Zabriskie Point at night. In hindsight, I should have arrived earlier, so I could walk far past the tourists and avoid tons of footprints to find a spot filled with a beautiful pattern of hills.

And I finally understood how it felt when one walks in a desert. Each step I took required so much more effort because there was an equal force on the opposite direction from the sand.

Teakettle Junction, on the way to Racetrack Playa

The next morning, I spent 6 hours round trip to visit Racetrack Playa, which is a dry lake feature with moving rocks. The drive was not fun at all because I had to drive a high clearance vehicle with four-wheel drive to be safe. And it was probably better to get there for sunset or stargaze at night as I was not impressed with what I saw during the daylight hours, quite dull and boring.

Ubehebe Crater is a volcanic crater on the way to the racetrack. Everyone should visit here at the very least, and whether to drive another 2-hours from here to the racetrack is your choice (I don't think it's worth it unless you are going there for sunset, stargaze at night, or you are a photographer). Be aware that the wind was very strong here.

Death Valley was one hell of a national park to visit because of much incomparable landscape it provided for photo shooting and hiking opportunity. However, the temperature here was also unrivaled to any other park, which held the highest record of 134 degrees F. Best suggestion? DO NOT COME HERE DURING SUMMER!

View more photos of Death Valley, click here

Will you be interested to come to Death Valley and see all of these phenomenal landscapes?

Let me know in the comment below and follow me on Facebook to see what I'm up for the next journey.

Cherry Blossom in Washington DC

Every April, travelers all over the world were thrilled for this one event: Cherry Blossom!

Today, I'd love to share my hanami, cherry blossom viewing, experience in Washington DC with you.

At first I didn't even know cherry blossom could have white color. Here they were, I was able to capture three different colors behind me in the first picture!

When I walked through cherry trees one after another one, some pink flowers started to fall, but they were just like dancing in front of me. I couldn't think of any other word better than romantic to describe this particular moment.

Tidal Basin by far was the best cherry blossom spot in DC because it was such a great spot to have a picnic and there were tons of cherry blossom surrounding the lake. I was able to find a lot of good angles for photo shooting with the Washington Monument or Thomas Jefferson Memorial in the background.

Be aware that this area was filled with full of tourists after 10am, and the traffic started to get worse as each hour went on until the end of the day. I would recommend to get there early in the morning and come back for the sunset.

Little did I know, there were two other variety of pink 5-petal flowers blooming almost at the same time as Cherry Blossom. First one was Plum, and it grew directly on the branches themselves, which flowers didn't have any stem. Second one was Peach. Its flowers usually came in pairs and have short stems. Unlike the Cherry Blossom pictures you see throughout this article, they had long stems and always formed multiple-flower clusters.

The US national park service will announce the date of peak bloom forecasts annually. 

Since the flower is heavily depending on the weather, the peak-bloom date may change from week to week. If you are not flexible with the time, I would wait until the last few days before making a reservation whether it's a hotel stay, flight, or transportation. 

You can check the peak bloom status here

I chose to stay at JW Marriott Washington DC because it's close to a lot of points of interest including Tidal Basin, White House, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and National Gallery of Art, etc.

The hotel lounge didn't open on the weekend, but it had a decent restaurant, Avenue Grill, on the lower floor inside the hotel. I didn't find the property particularly attracted other than its location, but I would suggest to find a stay within the area in the picture shown above.

I spent some time in Georgetown, but the town itself wasn't that special to me. However, the national gallery of art was fantastic on the other hand. It had so many collections, and they were all from many different era. One day wasn't even enough to see half of them.

If you were also interested in high end restaurants, I would recommend three of them, but you needed to make a reservation ahead of time during cherry blossom season.

1. Sushi Taro: 1 star Michelin high-end sushi spot
2. Little Serow: Weekly innovative set menu of Northern Thailand specialties
3. Farmers Fishers Bakers: Farm-inspired American food with great weekend buffet brunch 

Overall, my experience here was amazing. The city consisted of some upscale city vibe while retaining many historical sites. The street were spacious, and the area was unbelievably clean.

Last but not least, cherry blossom was beautiful. Every second here was well worth it!

Would you come to DC for Cherry Blossom next year?

Let me know in the comment below and follow me on Facebook to see what I'm up for next journey.