Experiences with Space and Time in Death Valley National Park

Tarantula crawling on the Racetrack near Death Valley National Park, a playa (dry lake bed).

The title of this post, as you will notice, is "Experiences with Space and Time" and not "Experiences Through Space and Time."  So I'm sorry, but don't expect a trip spanning eons into the future and ripping through the fabric of space-time.  This is much simpler, but it does involve several important insights I gained into the importance of space and of time.

Death Valley

Last weekend I was on a Geology field trip in Death Valley, which is an incredible and extremely unique place.  We drove there from Provo, Utah starting Friday morning, so by sunset we were up at Dante's View, a viewpoint from about 6,000 feet elevation looking down on the valley.

Death Valley is the lowest area in the western hemisphere, -282' at its lowest point in Badwater Basin.  It is so low because the crust of the earth is being strongly pulled apart in that area, leaving a very deep valley in between two mountain ranges: to the east the Black Mountains rise up past 7,000' and on the west the Panamount Range rises past 11,000'.  Those are absurdly tall walls between a narrow little valley only about 10 miles wide.  The valley is so dry because air from the oceans rains all of its moisture out as it climbs the Panamounts, leaving Death Valley with only hot, dry air.

Dante's View in the Black Mountains of California, looking west into Death Valley and towards the Panamount Mountains.  The Black Mountains rise over one mile high in less than three miles, an incredibly steep slope.

My Eyes!

Anyways...we saw a fantastic view at Dante's View, then drove down to our campsite, where at night it dropped all the way down to 70 degrees F (in late October!).  My eyes had been bothering me a little that day, but they were not too bad, so I decided to sleep with my contacts in (which I had done before with no problems).  I know already, you don't have to tell me...BAD IDEA.  I woke up in the middle of the night (still about 70 degrees) with my eyes stinging like crazy, and I hurriedly took out my contacts and went back to bed.  When I woke up in the morning I could not open my eyes.

Still can't see...at the Racetrack near Death Valley.

This had happened to me once before, but not while trying to enjoy time in a bright sunny national park (the last time it was a state park).  I literally had a very very hard time opening my eyes, especially in bright light.  If I could I could only open them for a fraction of a second at a time.  So I stumbled towards my breakfast and ate it, feeling very miserable.  It was a good thing that we were not going to a highly reflective white surface first thing, and that it was overcast!  We headed out to the sand dunes (a highly reflective white surface) with not a cloud in sight.

I tried to have fun as best I could, but it was a hard thing.  I was in a lot of pain and I could see hardly anything.  Every time I tried to open my eyes they stung relentlessly and my nose ran.  I realized just how valuable sight was, and probably just how much I had taken it for granted.  How much do we not appreciate the things that are around us, no matter where we are?  How much do we walk or drive the same path to school or work each day and not even notice what kind of trees we are passing?  My one desire was to see the world around me.  This was my experience with space--I learned to better appreciate and understand the world around me.  I feel like now I appreciate the world around me and the gift of sight a little bit more, no matter where I happen to be.

Ubehebe Crater

My eyes slowly got better, and I immensely enjoyed the rest of the field trip, soaking everything I could in--Ubehebe, 7 or 8 giant volcanic craters, Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the western hemisphere, the Devil's Golf Course, Mars Hill, the Racetrack--Death Valley is well worth visiting; I highly recommend it.  It is like no place I have ever been.

A "Pointless" Walk Home

My experience with time came the week after the field trip.  That Monday I had a break in classes between 10:00 and 1:00, but I had a whole lot of homework to do, I felt, if I was to have any time to relax that night.  However, Jenn (my wife) was very insistent and persistent in that I come walk home with her and back because she had forgotten something.  The logical part of me screamed that this was impractical and not a good use of time, and that I needed to get my homework done.  But I wanted to make Jenn happy, and I would love a walk with her, so I went.

And I am so glad I did.  It was such a beautiful, pleasant crisp fall day with so many leaves changing color and falling down.  We talked and had a great time.  I've heard it said that when life is over, no one ever regrets not spending enough time at the office.  Instead, they often regret not spending time with family.  What are we doing with our time?  Are we spending the most time on things that matter most?  The things that matter most are usually people, especially our families.  In addition, we all need time to relax and look around at the world around us.  Often we wear our busyness as a badge, priding ourselves in being occupied all the time with "important matters."  Pursuing noble and good interests is very good, but we need not completely occupy our lives with so many things to do that we neglect to spend time alone with God, alone with nature and alone with our families.  In these alone moments we learn more about ourselves, how we can improve and what is really important.

In short, in this last week or so I learned how important it is to stop and appreciate what you have.  Life is not a long checklist for us to pass off--life is for us to enjoy and learn.  Take time to look around you, to realize what you have, and to focus on what matters most.  I know we will be happier people if we get our noses out of our computers and look around, to nature, to our families and to God.