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LIFE ON THE EDGE

Death Valley’s Badwater Basin contains the lowest walkable land in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. It is an expansive salt flat, surrounded by two large mountain ranges, with summer temperatures that have been known to reach at least 136 degrees Fahrenheit. Common July and August highs are often in the 120s. Humidity can reach lows of only 3 percent. From the highest point of Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet above sea level, it is more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon to the bottom at Badwater.

Badwater Basin – photo by Mike Reyfman*

This remarkable land of legend played host to some of the wildest Old West mining towns the United States has ever seen. One preacher in the early 1900s called Badwater the roof of Biblical hell, and swore the wails of the damned could be heard emanating from beneath the parched and deadly ground. Widespread public perception views this as an unsurvivable chasm of death, although people have lived harmoniously with the valley for approximately 10,000 years, since the last ice age ended.

Steve Greene has been exploring the fabled Death Valley territory since 1955, when his parents first took him there on a visit at age four. At age 58, Steve is currently a noted authority on Death Valley National Park, has authored two Death Valley books to date, and maintains two Death Valley web presences.

Steve on his ICE Qnt tricycle

Due to his personal environmental preservation paradigm of minimizing the human carbon footprint upon planet Earth, Steve has abandoned personal ownership of petroleum-powered vehicles, and has chosen walking and pedaling as his alternative transportation methods. It is his desire to use this nonconforming tricycle odyssey to further focus public attention on vehicular options that do not degrade the environment of Planet Earth. Steve will be camping primitively and in campgrounds en route, as he gathers new life knowledge about experiencing the natural world from the seat of a recumbent trike, only nine inches from the ground.

For those who wish to learn all about the 1300 miles of rugged unpaved roads in the wild Death Valley territory, Steve’s guidebook will accomplish the task. Available: Paperback

IF YOU’RE NOT LIVING ON THE EDGE,

YOU’RE TAKING UP TOO MUCH SPACE

* Be sure to visit Mike Reyfman’s Photography website, where the Badwater Basin photo appears, along with many other outstanding images! Click HERE to view his Death Valley gallery … well worth your time!

Desert Dunes in Death Valley – photo by Mike Reyfman

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